As a Leader, The Buck Stops with You
Great leaders accept responsibility. Period. There really isn’t a whole lot more to say about this, however, in case you’re in any way confused by what I’m trying to share with you, let me expand just a bit.
When you’re in a leadership role, and when your objective is to fulfill that role to the best of your ability, there is no room for blaming or abdicating of responsibility in any way. By virtue of the fact that you are the leader, you must be willing to own all that you do, all that falls under your domain, and the results that are generated under your direction. Even when the actions of one of your team members results in a particular negative outcome, there’s a way that you must ask yourself, what did I say/do/ignore/miss that resulted in this outcome? You are the leader; you impact outcome, always. So you must be willing to acknowledge your part in any given outcome — no more, no less.
Now, here’s the kicker. As a truly effective leader you must, similarly, be willing to share credit. As a leader, if you impact outcome, always, then this applies to positive outcomes also. That being said, great leaders do not toot their own horn. You’ve got to master the ability to share credit without taking credit, and to accept responsibility while not letting your team members off the hook. It’s a bit of a juggling act, no doubt about it. And yet, it all comes down to this: if you want to be a great leader, you’ve got to be able to explore what it is you’re doing — or not doing — that’s resulting in particular outcomes.
Bottom-line: as a leader, the buck stops with you. Accept it, and use this knowledge to build your leadership. Do this, and you can only lead better.
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