Have you ever lived the situation in which people were expecting the others to do things, or in which things have been done twice… This is annoying isn’t it?
I consider it really important for any action, activity, or part of a project… to know who leads it (in charge) and who contributes to it ; and for each person to understand what it means.

The leader (L)
As a leader of a task or an action, or a stream or something else…and whatever the size ; you are the person who organizes the things, who is proactive, motivates, organizes, and executes as well. You are not in a passive mode but responsible for the outcome of it. If it’s done on time, if it works, if it delivers high value, if people love it …it is because of you. On the other hand, if it’s not done, late, delayed, not functional, doesn’t work… it’s on you. You are the leader of it! That’s it.

The Contributor (C)
As a contributor to a task, subject, or action…, you help and support, but you are not in charge. You follow the leader’s guidance, you are at their disposal, you contribute to achieve goals, you can help with all the execution steps of it but you’re not leading.

So, make it clear
Which role am I having on this action (L or C)? So you can act and behave in accordance and the others too.
And guess what, this rule can be applied whatever the subject – in the personal life, in the professional life, and in all the activities of life.
So by asking – Do you lead this it or do I lead it (Leader) ? Do you need help (Contributor).

This is a very powerful tool to:

• Avoid misunderstanding and to avoid someone saying: “I thought you were doing it…grr”,
• Make people accountable, motivated for what they do
• Clearly define your action based on who leads the subject, and who is contributing.
• Create peace of mind

It really helps achieving success of the execution of the activities that are related to it.

So really, I would recommend to think and define for each part of a subject, project (pro, perso..) to define clearly who is leading, who is contributing.
If you pay attention to all professional and method frameworks, such as Lean Six Sigma, ITIL, PMi methods…they all insist a lot about the accountability, ownership, contribution of different roles and the communication around it. This is just key!

You want more details, share your thoughts or just consider this is just awesome and want to discuss it 🙂 !

Contact me at: jclaurent@penonpartners.com
or schedule an appointment: https://calendly.com/jclaurent

Regards,
JC Laurent – CEO at Penon Partners