Understanding and Investing in Your Responsibility Talent

In this Theme Thursday Season 4 webcast, Jim Collison, Gallup's Director of Talent Sourcing, and Maika Leibbrandt, Senior Workplace Consultant, talk about Responsibility.

The CliftonStrengths theme of Responsibility describes people who are exceptionally talented at keeping promises to others, following through on what they say they will do by taking ownership of their commitments. Responsibility describes loyalty and dedication to tasks. It's an executing theme that drives people to complete projects and deliverables, especially when other people are counting on them.

If you have Responsibility as a dominant theme, at your best you bring the value of stability to your team. You are predictable and can be a clarifying force in helping everyone understand outstanding commitments and our progress toward them. You can offer awareness as a gracious gift, putting the "partner" in accountability partner.

Lean into this talent by raising your hand and sharing out loud what you're already keeping track of in your head. Be the one that others look toward for updates on progress and outstanding commitments. Perhaps you could do this by making sure you get the last word during team meetings and use that word to summarize what the group has committed to doing. Through this practice, you will help everyone to stay accountable, not just take it all on yourself. Another way to invest in this talent is through thoughtful prioritization of tasks. Ask yourself and others how new work compares to existing work, and how all work stacks up to your most important priorities.

The environment that could best support your Responsibility talent will be one where clarity is king. You can help others understand commitments in the same way you drive toward your own clarity. Ask, "what does done mean?" Paint a detailed picture, on purpose, of what exactly we are saying we will do. That way everyone can work together with the ethics and efficiency to which you are naturally drawn. Ask for confirmation when plans change. You may find you need explicit permission and agreement to let go of something that no longer deserves a place on your list.

With Responsibility as a dominant theme, you are not likely to be spontaneous or emotionally influenced. Your existing commitments will anchor you, and this can be a beautiful thing.

If you're working with someone high in the Responsibility theme, you can expect an extraordinary capacity to function independently. When it comes to projects, this person will likely tend to manage him or herself. A part of this is his or her acute awareness of progress toward existing goal completion, and concern with closing the loop on current tasks rather than creating new ones. Interpersonally, this talent often displays as loyalty and emotional consistency. There is something deeply comforting about working with someone who makes good on their promises. This theme helps people do exactly that.

Recognize and celebrate this person's persistence, diligence, and ability to stay the course, despite changes or challenges. You can elevate this by acknowledging the effect this has on others. Often it encourages resilience among colleagues and deepens trust within a team. If you are leading this person, strengthen this talent by helping him or her better understand his or her commitments. People who are good at finishing are often asked to take on more and more tasks, labeled as the "it person" for just about anything that needs doing. It may be a much more powerful use of this person's talent to help aim this talent toward specialties, either in subject area or ways of working. Help this person know where to give their time, and how to redirect requests that are not the best use of their talent.

Partner with someone dominant in Responsibility by checking with them on existing or outstanding challenges. Do not assume out of sight means out of mind, because it just may mean it has fallen off your radar and onto theirs! Honor their talent by having regular check-ins on how things are doing and admitting when you may have forgotten to do something you said you would. Discuss what completion looks like, and reach an overt agreement. Plan to share success and celebrate when a task is complete.

If Responsibility is one of your Dominant Themes, invest in it this week through the following challenge items:

• Name what you get paid to do: Define 1-2 Functional, Relational, and Emotional responsibilities.
• Recognize some else who displays strong ethics or total dependability. This celebration will elevate both of you and plant seeds of partnership.
• Rank you to-do list based on priority to your own values. Color code/number score/post-its? Re-name your most important to-do's afterwards.

If Responsibility is not one of your Dominant Themes, invest in it this week through the following challenge items:

• Who keeps you accountable? Thank them. Write it down.
• Refresh your system for getting things done. Download an app, revisit your planner, or track your week.