As a leader, do not fear responsibility.

In the article “The disease of fear of responsibility” written by comrade Nguyen Phu Trong in 1973 published in Communist magazine No. 11/1973, selected for inclusion in the book “Resolutely and persistently fighting against corruption and negativity, contributing to building our Party and State increasingly clean and strong”, the author pointed out that: “People who are afraid of responsibility often work in a moderate way to “fulfill their duties”, the main thing is not to commit any major mistakes. Because they are always afraid of having to take responsibility for what will happen, they do not want to improve their work, do not dare to boldly change unreasonable things, and only follow the old ways. People who are afraid of responsibility do not dare to make decisions in matters within their scope of responsibility and authority… People who are afraid of responsibility also often use the excuse of working collectively and respecting the collective to rely on the collective. For specific tasks within their own scope of responsibility and authority, people who are afraid of responsibility still do not dare to boldly solve them. Regardless of whether the task is big or small, they want to bring it up for collective discussion and wait for collective opinions to avoid trouble.

Those manifestations were pointed out 50 years ago, but are still present in the activities of many agencies and units of the political system from the central to local levels and a large number of cadres and civil servants. The situation of avoiding, pushing away work, being hesitant, afraid of making mistakes, afraid of responsibility, not daring to advise, proposing to handle work, leaders being lazy in thinking, not daring to do, working half-heartedly is happening in localities and sectors. Fear of responsibility has become a "disease" among a number of cadres and civil servants, even having the mentality of "rather standing before the Disciplinary Council than standing before the Trial Council".

It can be said that fear of mistakes, fear of responsibility, fear of risks leading to cadres and civil servants not daring to make decisions, not daring to act is widespread, causing frustration in society. This situation occurs in many central and local agencies, causing frustration among the people and businesses. Even though the Central Executive Committee and the Politburo have given instructions, and the Government has implemented measures to overcome and cure the "disease" of fear of responsibility, why has this "disease" not been cured yet?

There are many causes, both subjective and objective, from the organization, the mechanism, and from the individual leaders and managers. The main cause is individualism, because they always calculate for personal interests, protect their own interests, lack responsibility and determination in solving problems, do not dare to face difficulties, do not dare to think, do not dare to do, do not work for the common good.

In recent years, the Party's work to prevent corruption and negativity has become more and more substantial, many violations from previous years have been handled. Major criminal cases in recent times have made a number of cadres fearful, because they had previously "did their hands dirty", thereby forming a mentality of hesitation, fear of being disciplined, or worse, criminally prosecuted. On the other hand, due to the mechanism, some legal documents lack consistency, are difficult to implement, and there is a situation where cadres, because they do not have a firm grasp of legal documents, do not spend time studying them, so they entrust everything to the agency and the support department to review before signing. Especially the consequences of mistakes in cadre work in previous years, allowing the practice of buying and selling positions and power to occur in many places, causing a number of cadres with low qualifications to sit in management and leadership positions. These cadres do not have real knowledge, therefore do not dare to be decisive, do not dare to do, and are afraid of responsibility.

It is thought that treating the "disease" of fear and shirking responsibility is something that needs to be done regularly. At the discussion and question-and-answer sessions of the 6th Session of the 15th National Assembly, delegates mentioned a lot about the fear of responsibility of officials, considering it the cause of difficulties, limitations, stagnation, and hindering development. Requiring Party committees, authorities, organizations at all levels, sectors, and each official, Party member, civil servant, and public employee to resolutely treat this "disease" within their own level, locality, sector, and individual. At the same time, for leaders, they must regularly reflect on the teachings of President Ho Chi Minh: "Whoever is afraid of responsibility and has no initiative is not a leader."