Everything in your area of responsibility is your personal responsibility

This is one of the most important lessons I’ve learned over the years of my corporate career.

Have you ever been in the following situation: a superior manager (very superior, sometimes) tells you what should be done and how it should be done. You may disagree but fail to defend your point of view, so you do as you are asked.

Then, as expected, the project is stuck, and you are asked why. Well, the response “You told me to do it this way” is wrong.

I’ve been there more than once.

There can be a variety of complex interrelationships of roles, competencies and management in a company. Still, you must always remember that whatever you need to do in your area of expertise, the responsibility for success or failure will be yours and yours alone.

If you are an employee, your most important job is to think like a principal.

[Unfortunately, I am not the one who said this phrase. Naval Ravikant formulated this principle in a “How To Get Rich” book. You can read my post about the book in Russian here]

If you disagree with something, by all means, fight and stand up for your opinion. Offer to test the options, and look for alternative solutions, but never ever agree in blind.

Or, if the management is very insistent on a particular decision or process, perhaps this person is actually the one who thinks like a principal. Your job here is to try and understand their point of view.

Employees who are able to think in such categories are rare but highly noticeable in the work environment. No wonder the management wants to train and promote them, as they are the people you want to rely on.