Hey, watch this:
As per usual, Pixar nails it; this time in area of leadership. Hopper’s right. If you assume leadership, you assume responsibility for team failure. All of the responsibility. It’s what great leaders do, and that’s why all aren’t called to be leaders.
And if the first rule of leadership truly is, “Everything is YOUR fault,” then the second rule should be, “Credit should never be taken by YOU alone.” If you experience team success, then it was the team that succeeded, not the leader.
A brief review: Failure, your fault. Success, someone else’s “fault.”
Credit should always be given away.
In his excellent book Good to Great, Jim Collins names humility as the one of the two characteristics that define the highest level leaders (“Level 5 Leaders”). He further defines humility as one who gives credit away while, conversely, taking the blame when things go wrong.
In all honesty, I’m still growing in this. I catch myself listing off wins in conversation while simultaneously hogging the credit. I have realized that if I’m not intentional about giving credit away, it tends to stick to me as the leader.
However, “individual success” is a myth. Someone else helped me get there. God and my wife can always be “blamed” for my success even if I can’t find anyone else, which is rare indeed. I am surrounded by my betters.
Who can you give credit to today? What do you need to take responsibility for?