Take Responsibility or Decline It

An NGO advertised for the position of a fundraiser whose major target was to raise 50million Naira for a project focused on improving the infrastructures of schools in rural areas. The successful candidate had a timeline of 6 months to generate the funds required and was responsible for developing and implementing strategies to achieve the desired result.

I heard that the successful candidate; Monday was fired after 7 months due to failure to meet set targets.

During his exit interview, he blamed the reason for his failure on:

• The current recession in the economy
• Lack of dedicated staff
• Inadequate resources to manage program activities would have ensured his success
• Inadequate knowledge about the behaviour of people residing in Abuja, Nigeria.

Well, there will always be reasons why we fail at many things but in the end, what matters are the results. Robert Greene advocates that ‘WE SEE THINGS AS THEY ARE NOT AS OUR EMOTIONS COLOUR THEM’.

Many like me have accepted responsibilities we have not been able to carry out fully and then blame the system or other people or things for our failures.

The result is what counts. Let us weigh the cost of winning before commencing and when we feel unfit, may we have the courage to decline the responsibility and take the lessons.

Shalom.