WHAT IF Responsibility MEANT Impact AND freedom ?

In our daily lives, being responsible is often seen as a burden or a price to pay for a mistake. “You are responsible for this mess.’’ “It is our responsibility to take care of the planet.” “This is not my responsibility but yours.”. Who has not felt stressed, angered, or even powerless when hearing similar statements?

Is having to be responsible so troublesome? Is there an alternative to either suffering from or ignoring our sense of responsibility? 

FINDING MEANING 

“where does our responsibility start and end”? 

Originally, the notion of responsibility was positive. In Latin, “respondere” means “answer to, promise in return”. Basically, having the capacity to hold oneself accountable. What shall we be accountable for?

• Shall we still be held responsible if the requests we face are unrealistic? When your boss asks you something impossible considering the resources at your disposal, should you try to turn the impossibility into a possibility?

• Is it a person’s responsibility to take care of others’ irresponsibilities? For example, should Greta, a 15-year-old child, be responsible for fighting the climate change crisis created by previous generations?

The growing awareness of our human responsibility, for climate change and epidemics like the Covid19 pandemic, illustrates a shift in the people’s perception of their sense of responsibility. Whereas pre-industrial societies thought that natural catastrophes were caused by forces external to humans, modern society holds a different understanding.

If it is important to face reality, putting the job of changing human behaviors on the shoulders of individuals’ may be too overwhelming. Rather than being empowered, our reptilian brain tends to activate our “fight-or-flight” mode in front of such a monumental task. Could we see our responsibilities as a trigger for our expressing our humanity and sense of creativity?

FreeDOM to Determine our responsibility

We are neither omnipotent nor powerless. If we can't change the many circumstances of our world, we can change our perception of it, by tapping into our superpower called consciousness.

If we are conscious about what we think of a situation, we have the power to decide what we want to do about it. In doing so, we regain the ownership of our responsibility.

As Victor Hugo said, “everything that increases freedom also increases responsibility”. Yes, it is scarier to be accountable for our choices. But isn't it also exciting to see we have the power to act upon our environment and control its effect on our lives?

What impact do you want to HAVE? 

When facing a situation, thinking about the reality you want to shape (rather than the effects or causes of that situation) may help you shift your mindset around the notion of responsibility. 

Let’s escape from your rational brain for a second. Let’s imagine you’re diving in the Indian Ocean. You are enjoying being immersed in another dimension and being surrounded with nature. You’re peaceful… until you see a plastic bag on a coral reef. 

Here, you have a few options:

• You may think: “What a shame! Nature is getting destroyed! People are irresponsible!" You most likely feel pretty angry, ashamed or depressed.

  • You may decide to do nothing because, you have nowhere to put this bag, and there are so many other tragedies in the sea that it’s useless to take this singular action.

  • Alternatively, you may become enraged, pick it up and spend the rest of your dive being infuriated with human society. 

• Another way to think could be: “This is unfortunate and terrible for nature. We need to change the way we produce and consume on the land. In the meantime, since I saw it, I can pick it up even though it’s not convenient. It will at least be one less threat to fish.” Proud of your sense of responsibility, you enjoy the rest of your diving experience. 

Some will say this reframing of the situation is positive psychology’s brainwash. Others will think that we will not save the planet by focusing on an individual’s small actions. Someone else may simply wonder what is the “right” attitude to have in this situation. 

Honestly, this question is too complex for a simple singular answer. It’s up to you to decide what you want to think and do in relation to a given circumstance. Your impact depends on YOUR CHOICE. 

actualizing your change

A SIMPLE TOOL 

When facing either an obstacle, a fear or a rejection, what about taking a step back and asking yourself:

• What are the facts?

• What thoughts are generating a negative emotion within me?

• What do I want to be like instead?

• How may I act the way I want to feel? 

Here is an example: 

• Facts: a business leader is explaining “sustainability is, at best, a cherry on the cake that shall be tackled only once the rest is taken care of and if time and resources allow”

• Thoughts & emotions: “This is so wrong. With this kind of thought, our world will end pretty soon. I can’t work with people like that. I am feeling hopeless, exasperated & drained”

• Ideal me: responding with empathy, trying to understand the real needs of the person and the smart ways to demonstrate sustainability’s added values 

• Aligned action (amongst many others): “do you feel overwhelmed and pressured with all business development & cost savings targets you are facing”? If yes, “what about discussing your challenges and seeing if we come up with some sustainable solutions?” 

A MANTRA TO ACCOMPANY YOU 

““If you own this story you get to write the ending.” ”

— Brene Brown

Now, back to YOU! How do you want to be responsible for your story today?

***

Feel free to share how such an article resonates with you, I’d love to know. Besides, if you want support to find (or refine) your purpose and boost your impact on society and on the planet through professional activities, feel free to contact me in using this form (English / French)

A Real-life lesson: From struggle to impact

FROM feeling useless 

Three years ago, I was exhausted. Every day I would hurry from one person to another, trying to tackle one person’s expectation after another. I was desperately trying to make a positive impact on the company, the society, and the environment and did not always see the relationship between my day to day efforts and my mission. I was feeling overwhelmed and useless. 

I was willing to make an impact without really knowing how to do so. Our planet and society’s challenges are so monumental and complex. I thought I lacked the competences and legitimacy to turn my ideas into effective actions. I was like a little mouse in an infinite tunnel with too much agitation and danger.

This state was progressively damaging my self-confidence and other parts of my life. Everything was falling apart and I knew that if I did not change, I’d lose it all.

via INNER TRANSFORMATION 

So I started to take a step back and redirected my focus. I took time to strengthen my connections with the people I valued and made cultural and intellectual discoveries. I created a routine to nourish my mind, body and spirit.

I (finally) accepted that the search for perfection is an illusion. Change Management & Sustainability are such large, intrinsic, urgent, complex, evolutive and crucial topics these days that it is easy to lose oneself while trying to make useful contributions, easy to feel like an imposter.

On a personal level, I decided that if I can’t win the battle of plastic packaging in Japan, I could mitigate my impact in using my own bottle and grocery bag, creating my own toothpaste and laundry, using a bioplastic toothbrush and so on. 

At work, I strengthened the connection between my purpose and my actions. I explored what had been my personal and professional journey, how those experiences shaped me and revealed why I was acting the way I was. I formalized what my dreams and hopes were, and my values and talents to realize them. I am now confident that - if stretching ourselves is essential to grow - we can leverage our unique strengths, experiences and passions rather than being obsessed with our weaknesses. This is why I started to believe in my creativity, my vision and my leadership to achieve what I am aiming for. 

TOWARDS IMPACT 

Now, I am happily leading a multicultural team of changemakers. Together we act as catalysts for change. We tend to disrupt the business in a way that benefits both society and the planet.

We have made efforts to fully own our company’s purpose and to clarify our department’s mission in that regard. Most importantly, as we assessed our department's mission, we evaluated how well that aligned with our individual purposes, and how that alignment would help us to use our inner talents to maximize our contribution. The recipe for success? Build a collective strategy that makes all those elements work together in an interconnected and meaningful way.

Spoiler alert. I am not saying that our vision is set in stone, our impact is a given and our days are smooth. We know that achieving this ambition is an endless process that requires commitment and the collective effort of each stakeholder. What’s different now is that we have full clarity on what we are aiming for, how we want to work and engage people to make our common purpose a reality.

One way to act as a catalyst for change was to organize creative business workshops. One way to act as a catalyst for change is to organize creative business workshops. Every year we gather people from all across Asia and diverse backgrounds around one operational project. We take time to learn from business units’ approaches to sustainable development, as well as new corporate tools and insights. Most importantly, we spend time discovering the day to day life of operators and we help them overcome their specific challenges via collective brainstorming. All during the year, our sustainability team then follows up with the site to implement the plans that were drawn from such wide, innovative and deep exchanges. In doing so, we have supported some sites in expanding a wetland, building an educational center or even reframing their carbon footprint analysis.

TIME TO SAVE YOUR ENERGY 

Being aligned with our higher purpose helps effectuate a positive impact and inspire other people to act according to their own approaches and capabilities.

That is why I have made it my mission to support wannabe changemakers - working in organizations just like me - to aim for a meaningful impact. Doing so, they feel aligned with who they are and useful to the society and/or the environment they live in. I empower them in taking advantage of my experience, strategy planning tools, deep inner work, coaching and visualization techniques.

• If you are curious and interested in this kind of support, feel free to reach out! 

• If you find all this information compelling but you are not yet clear on what concrete steps to take, sign up for the newsletter to receive new articles that will hopefully refine your ideas!

Meanwhile, in case you are wondering:

• Your PURPOSE is the reason for which you wake up every day. The driver and magical inner power that makes you want to achieve things in life. In assessing your deep purpose, you answer questions such as WHO, WHY and FOR WHOM.

• The IMPACT is the force of impression of one thing on another. An impactful action has a significant or major effect - either positive or negative - on an audience or on a project. It answers the WHAT, HOW and WHEN of a plan. 

• AIMING for an impact that is meaningful to you is the key to happy success.

To finish, let me ask you: 

• Before reading this, Why do you wake up in the morning? 

• And now, why do you want to wake up in the morning ;)?

***

Feel free to share how such an article resonates with you, I’d love to know. Besides, if you want support to find (or refine) your purpose and boost your impact on society and on the planet through professional activities, feel free to contact me in using this form (English / French)