Welcome to Friday 411, issue #109. In 4 minutes, with 1 insight and 1 action, you’ll shift out of the blame game for your benefit – and your team’s.
1 Insight
Leaders who embrace 125% Responsibility cultivate trust, reduce stress, and foster a culture of accountability within their teams.
Garland’s First Experience with the Blame Game
I’ll never forget the biggest chewing out I ever got at work.
Early in my career, I held a Director’s role in a large nonprofit. When I took over the role, I sat down with my supervisor, Gene, to get clarity about a strategic direction. Gene told me his decision and sent me on my way to make it happen.
Several months later, Gene barged into my office and instructed me to follow him. The founder was on the phone, furious about our strategic direction – the one Gene had told me to take. The founder chewed me out for fifteen minutes about my choice.
All the while, Gene glared at me, shaking his head in disapproval. After the founder finally hung up, Gene continued the chewing out.
Confused, I interrupted him, “We had this conversation when I first joined the team. You told me that this was the direction you wanted me to take. I’m confused about when things changed.”
He stood up, pointing his finger at me, “Don’t blame me for your mistakes. This is on you.”
That’s the moment I knew that, if anything went wrong in the future, I had a supervisor who would not share responsibility. He would play the blame game.
The Pitfalls of the Blame Game
As a leader, you face a difficult challenge: you are held accountable for results that other people are responsible for delivering. You’re like the football coach who is held accountable for the team’s performance—even though they never step onto the field. If the team loses, it’s easy for the coach to blame the players. It’s easy, but it’s wrong.
When leaders shift blame onto others, they create an environment that hampers growth and collaboration. Consequences include:
- Erosion of Trust: Team members lose confidence in and respect for the leader who deflects responsibility.
- Stifled Innovation: When employees fear repercussions for mistakes in a “blame game” culture, it discourages risk-taking and creativity.
- Decreased Morale: Constant finger-pointing fosters resentment and disengagement among staff, reducing overall productivity.
The antidote to blame-shifting is for leaders to take 125% Responsibility.
100% vs. 125% Responsibility
Taking 125% Responsibility is a core part of Leadership Character. Character is the foundation of the 7 traits that solve 95% of leadership challenges: Character, Competence, Capacity, Clarity, Community, Culture, and Consistency.
Embracing 125% Responsibility begins with accepting 100% Responsibility. When you take 100% Responsibility, you take ownership for everything you have complete control and authority over: your attitudes, actions, words, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. You blame no one for anything you can control.
100% Responsibility should be expected of every person you work with — whether or not they have a leadership role.
But leaders (like you) must take 125% Responsibility. When you take 125% Responsibility, you accept responsibility for the results and outcomes of your team — even if you didn’t directly cause the outcomes. This doesn’t absolve team members of their accountability but demonstrates leadership by owning the outcomes and addressing issues collaboratively.
At the moment that I was being chewed out by the founder, Gene could have taken 125% Responsibility. He could have said to the founder, “I apologize. I didn’t steer Garland in the right direction on this decision. We’ll discuss what needs to change and have a new plan to you by the end of this week.”
The Positive Side Effects of Embracing 125% Responsibility
Taking 125% Responsibility is a tough choice for you to make. It’s easier to blame-shift than it is to look in the mirror and see what you could have done to make things better.
Adopting the 125% Responsibility mindset yields several beneficial outcomes:
1. Reduced Stress Levels
Jeff Olson writes, “Taking responsibility liberates you. In fact, it is perhaps the single most liberating thing there is, even when it hurts, even when it doesn’t seem fair.”
When you take ownership, your stress levels decrease because you’re not trying to protect yourself. Instead, you’re working to change the situation.
2. Higher Sense of Agency
Agency is the ability to make choices and take actions that shape your life.
When you blame others, you feel helpless and hopeless. You exert emotional energy getting angry, but that energy doesn’t help you make decisions or change the situation.
Taking 125% Responsibility increases your sense of agency and causes you to exercise actionable energy to change the situation.
3. Healthier Relationships
Selflessness in leadership fosters mutual respect. By acknowledging your role in mistakes, you create an environment where team members feel valued and understood, paving the way for stronger, more collaborative relationships.
4. Enhanced Team Trust
When you take 125% Responsibility, you build credibility, and people grow in their trust of you. Your team will know that they can be honest about their mistakes because they experience you taking ownership of your mistakes.
5. Increased Ownership Among Team Members
Modeling 125% Responsibility inspires others to follow suit. Everyone on the team stops pointing fingers. Instead, every person accepts responsibility. This reaction paves the way for teams to solve challenges quickly and collaboratively.
1 Action
This week, identify a situation where your team faces a challenge. Practice 125% Responsibility. Acknowledge any role you have played in the issue and work together toward a solution.