ASSUMING RESPONSIBILITY

From Drew

Responsibility is one word people dread to hear. It is also something that shows how mature someone is. For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry his own weight, this is a frightening prospect; these are the words of Eleanor Roosevelt. This quote to me, explains the reason why people hate or love the word; responsibility.

The very day I wrote my last paper to complete my first part of tertiary education, I got an internship with a software company to learn about the practical aspect of the career that is ahead of me. (I must say that I have been convinced by someone important to me to choose this career path, but that is not to say that I don’t like the career, I mean who wouldn't want to be a corporate communication tycoon someday).

I had to quit my internship because of delays in my project work after a week of starting work. I will tell you why I delayed in my project work some other day. It is an entire story on its own. Hopefully, by then I will be laughing about it.

Since the day I had the internship, I knew from the word go that my career is my responsibility, my father’s, was to get me an education which he has done. I am now responsible for the success or otherwise of my career.

This got into my head so much that I thought the only responsibility I had in life was my career. Everything else happening around me was not my responsibility but that of others.

For instance, I thought I wasn't responsible to cook though I was the only one who stays at home, neither was I responsible for cleaning the house since a it is a woman’s job, yet my house is infested by men; my mum lives and work at Cape Coast, while I live with my dad and brother at Accra. To me, everything I do in that house is like a charity, I’m donating my time and service to.

This whole responsibility thing really hit me in full force when my dad started an extension on our house. I was handling the project money and everybody but me, goes to work, so technically I am the foreman or the contractor of the project. Yet I convinced myself that it was not my responsibility to supervise the work. The only responsibility I felt I had with this project was the financial aspect. Knowing my dad, I know I better render proper accounting to him, especially when the money is finished and there are still lots of work to do.

After weeks of constant complaining from my dad that the workers aren't doing the right thing, I got the sense that he was disappointed in the contractor of the project; me! Yet, I did not see the reason why I should be held responsible for the mistakes of these grown professional men who have been doing this job for more than five years. Mainly because, I knew, I have never done any form of construction before except for the ones we did in Mathematics and Pre-Technical Skills class.

 I later realized how I have failed to show up as a contractor.  Here I was, after being forced to quit my internship and now looking forward to starting  my National Service in a company where I can learn and practice as a Public Relations Officer,  I have completely blew away the opportunity of learning how to execute a project successfully.

 I realized I could have used this as my internship, though it is not exactly communications related but I know that as a corporate affairs manager of company I have to know how to execute a project well.  A Public Relations Personnel should be able to manage both human and material resources to properly execute a project; it however, demands efficiency among your staff, an attribute that was clearly absent in my construction staff.

I failed to turn our house extension into the best ever working-from-home-internship.

But one thing I have learnt from this project is not to focus too much on the negatives, besides my boss (my dad) did not fire me partly because he is stuck with me as his only intern which is a good thing for me because I can make up for my short falls (the project is still ongoing).

Besides I currently have a firsthand experience on how to fail as a project manager so at least I have fair knowledge of how not to fail as a project manager.

In the end I’m doing my internship, I don’t wear a tie and a jacket and go into a fancy building, instead, I work from home and I’m learning about project management and execution. I can now get these old masons and carpenters to work to my specification. I have realized my dad rarely passes bad comments any more.

My career is on course and I’m responsible for it.