You cannot change people...

Some time ago I had conversation with one of leader in our company. We planned to talk about responsibility and the ways how encourage people to taking it.
My friend started, he told me that he tries as hard as he can, he always repeats to his team there is nothing to be afraid with taking responsibility, "that's a possibility to grow!"

"And after all not all of them want to take it. I really don't know how to change those people!" - he said.

"Is it even possible?" - I asked.

He looked at me quizzically.

Is it really possible to change even a one person?
If we would keep repeating the same sentences all the time what it can change? True, maybe someone will do what we wanted to, maybe he will act as we wanted, maybe he will even give the answers that we wanted to hear, but it doesn't mean that anything changed. There is a chance that he had enough of hearing all the time the same words and he just wanted to stop that.
Of course there are people who will do everything without any complains and they would think that is what needs to be done and this is the way how it should be done. But in that cases we didn't change anything. This person just have similar way of thinking at those things as we do.
We can tell someone which action needs to be taken, we can tell him that he have to do it and it must be done in the way as we want to. And if we are in position to issue a commands - he will do it.

Is this what we want?

No, we want to see people who really believes in what they are doing, who agrees in what needs to be done, who taking responsibilities not because they have to, but because they want to, they want to be a part of the project and they want to show it in any possible way.
If your team is engaged in this way you can be sure they would do everything what they can to make this project successful.

You cannot change people, but...

It's true, you cannot change people, it's impossible. Well, you can do them a brainwash, but I believe that is not a solution you are looking for.

Leaders influence people, leaders have followers who choose to follow them, leaders presents a vision, an idea and they are doing it in the way that people choose to follow this idea, they choose to be a part of it.
Leaders don't change people. Leaders show people other alternatives of acting and thinking. Leaders encourage people to making own choices, even if it would mean something completely unknown.
Leaders help people to grow, to become more confident. They help to develop strengths and reduce the importance of defects.

Leaders don't change people, they're encourage them to make choices and try other solutions and ideas. They decrease the fear of unknown, the fear of failure.

And if you know that failure is nothing which you should be afraid of, then you won't afraid to take responsibility.