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Chapter One
TAKING ULTIMATE
RESPONSIBILITY
William Damon
Kendall Cotton Bronk
It's not enough that we do our best;
sometimes we have to do what's required
-Sir Winston Churchill
The buck stops here.
-Sign on President Harry Truman's desk
SOME PEOPLE, WHEN THE CHIPS ARE DOWN, can be counted on to step
forward and do whatever they can to salvage a difficult situation. They "take
responsibility" for finding a solution, no matter how burdensome, risk-laden,
or even hopeless the situation may seem. Others, fearing the personal
costs of becoming entangled in a hard problem, find excuses for absenting
themselves or looking the other way. They disclaim the problem, perhaps
because they believe it was not of their making, or because they have not
been given sufficient resources to solve it, or because they ha ... read full excerpt from Responsibility at Work: How Leading Professionals Act (or Don't Act) Responsibly ebook
