Being able to take responsibilities and actions is a requirement for the political character and job performance of cadres in the new era. It plays a key role in ensuring work effectiveness and governance efficiency in the context of handling public complaints and suggestions. This study conducted semi-structured interviews with 25 cadres in Beijing to extract the types of motivation and dimensions of behavior exhibited in the practices of “taking responsibilities and actions”. The results revealed that the motivations of cadres fell into five categories: pressure-driven, instrumental-driven, identification-based, mission-oriented, and immersive-oriented. These motivations formed a sequence of progressively increasing autonomy. The behaviors driven by these motivations encompassed four dimensions: work positioning, work style, work methods, and work innovation. Each dimension involved actions at two construal levels: high and low. Furthermore, as the motivations transitioned from controlled to autonomous, cadres exhibited a shift in their actions from low to high construal levels across all four behavioral dimensions. This study provides a refined understanding of motivation types and behavior dimensions related to “taking responsibilities and actions”, highlighting their interrelationship and offering valuable insights for the future cultivation and selection of cadres.