This is the first in a series of articles that will help employers better identify the candidates who are superior. What makes a candidate “superior”? Answer – living a life based on principles such as being responsible, committed, authentic, in-service, and in collaborative agreement. Besides being a benefit to employers, a candidate can benefit by assessing their understanding and application of these principles in their life. Let’s see how you, as the employer or candidate, “measure up” to understanding and applying the first principle of responsibility in this article. Ok, here we go.
You Have a Choice to Either Be…
- openly and curiously approach what this article is about as an “option” for living life or
- figure out if it is right or wrong.
Be careful. The figuring-out-if-it-is-right-or-wrong approach won’t serve you to “be responsible.”
Being Able to Respond
Think of being responsible as being “able to respond” in the present moment newly, not based on a previous way of being or based on a decision from your past.
Why Does This Matter?
Well, when you can adapt your responses to “work” in the present moment, you can be more effective at producing the outcome you want that works. Reactions, on the other hand, can lead to ineffective outcomes. If you had a choice, wouldn’t you prefer an effective outcome? You do have a choice.
What Will Support You to Be Responsible?
Answer: View “being responsible” as an option. Viewing it this way is not a “requirement.” You have free will to choose. Being responsible is a choice you can make. You are allowed to make it. You don’t have to. There are consequences either way. So, I am not saying this is “THE WAY”. I’m saying it is a way and it is empowering and you can choose it.
When you take responsibility for your experiences you can create them. Meaning, you can bring them forth into your present experience. Experiences are what make up our “life.”
Life is what we experience
The “stories” (descriptions, explanations, examples, etc.) we tell about our life experiences express and reflect the interpretations we make about our experiences and those interpretations act to reinforce our stories that then form our next experiences. That is why we often have the same or similar experience as we have had previously.
What you “experience” is always an interpretation by you. This is huge! What do I mean by that? As the “beholder” of your experiences, you decide or interpret what to see and how to experience it. For example, when someone tells you, in a judging way, that you are a green frog, you can then, if you aren’t triggered negatively by it, laugh it off and think how silly that is. So, start with the idea that everything is neutral. From there, you can add any interpretation that you so desire.
Your Conscious Choosing is Powerful
You regain your power when you accept responsibility that you are the beholder, the source, the creator of your experiences. The counter to this is being “at the affect” of people, things, situations, etc. This is a “victim” way of being and living. It is dis-empowering. Choose wisely.
Watch Out for the “Blamer”
Do you or the candidate demonstrate this understanding and application of “being responsible” in life? If a candidate is “responsible,” they are likely to NOT blame others for their experiences. Blamers end up reporting people to Human Resources for “making them unhappy” or making them fearful or irritated, ad nauseam. During interviews, find out if candidates are explaining and telling stories of why they were “made to feel” whatever, and thus being victims rather than being responsible (consciously able to respond instead of reacting).
The next article will continue with discussing principle-based living. We will continue to explore the other principles that support being a superior candidate. Next, we discuss the principle of commitment and how it’s a powerful indicator of superior candidates.
