Most leaders get more than their fair share of blame and many of the best leaders own it as part of their role. Praise however is hard to come by, but when it does the best leaders are sure to share it with the team. There are two benefits to owning the blame and sharing the praise; everyone knows the leader is responsible and the team knows it as well.
Everyone knows the leader is responsible
Real success and improvement comes as the result of a team effort. Many contributors to a single vision with resources and focus to get the job done. This doesn’t happen without great leadership creating the vision, providing the resources, and ensuring the team is focused.
Once the goal is achieved and victory is in hand the leader can spend all of their time praising the team. Talking about how well they executed the vision, how well they utilized the resources, and how well they were all able to focus. And everyone who hears the leader will know that it was the leader who orchestrated the effort. Everyone will know they were the leader.
The Team Knows it as Well
When the time comes to share the success with the public, or a group of higher leaders the team is usually is part of the audience as well. And when the leader says, “we did it.”, “the team pulled together and made us successful”. Everyone on the team knows the leader helped hold them together or simply did a great job staying out of the way. The team knows the leader was the leader.
The great thing about being the leader is you never have to declare it. And as a result, you own the blame and have a wonderful opportunity to praise you team.
Help you leaders praise their teams when things go well. There is no need to say I did this or that. Everybody already knows.
Jeff Boris
Latest posts by Jeff Boris (see all)
- Great Leaders Address Non Compliance to Standards Quickly - May 18, 2020
- Do Leaders Need Standard Work? - May 18, 2020
- Just do it! - May 18, 2020
Speak Your Mind