leadership Debate: The Misconception of Shared Accountability: 4 Justifications Why True Leadership Requires Personal Accountability
In leadership, you shouldn't expect to share the credit or the blame, it's all on you. If an entrepreneur can't handle this, they might not be ready for a leadership role. After more than 25 years leading the same company, I can tell you that leadership isn't glamorous and isn't for everyone. In fact, an aspiring leader is lost before they even start if they think it's only about titles and perks. It's about ownership. You step up when things get tough and take the hit when things go wrong. You need to be ready to own every outcome, good or bad, before you take the lead.
The biggest misconception I hear from leadership programs is "shared responsibility." While it sounds good, in reality, the buck stops with the leader. If responsibility is spread too thin, it disappears. No one owns it, and failure slowly seeps in. Leadership is about standing tall and saying, "I own this."
Here's how to accomplish this:
1. Make the challenging decisions.
Leadership may not be about making people like you, but it requires the ability and willingness to make unpopular decisions. Your goal is to move things forward, not to be everyone's friend.
I once worked with a young leader running a multi-billion-dollar project. He didn't sit in meetings all day. He visited the site after hours, got into the trenches and took responsibility for every decision. Decisive and direct, but also capable of giving personal praise where it was due. That's real leadership.
Today, he's a globally recognized leader and sits on the boards of many international companies. He didn't make decisions to please others—he made decisions to get results. Steve Jobs put it perfectly: "If you want to make everyone happy, don't be a leader, sell ice cream." Your team will not rally behind someone who wavers. They are much more likely to follow conviction, strength, and clear direction.
Don't chase popularity—chase progress.
2. Communicate straightforwardly.
Ambiguity is lethal for leadership. People need to know exactly where they stand, what is expected of them, and where the ship is heading. If you leave room for doubt, you leave room for failure.
The best leaders I have seen communicate directly. No sugar-coating, no gray areas. Just clear, honest communication. It builds trust because your team knows you are not wasting their time or leaving them guessing.
The same gentleman from the multi-billion-dollar project was a master of this. His team trusted him because he was never vague about the stakes or the expectations. Peter Drucker noted, "The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn't being said." Great leaders anticipate concerns and address them head-on.
Be clear, be direct, and build trust through transparency.
3. Delegate tasks, not responsibility.
Delegation is important, but while you can delegate tasks, you cannot delegate responsibility. The moment a leader passes off their core responsibilities, they have ceased to lead. It's called abdicating responsibility. Tasks? Sure, delegate those. But the outcome? That's yours.
I have seen leaders do this time and time again. They believe they are empowering their teams by offloading responsibility. What actually happens? No one feels accountable, projects drift, and teams lose direction.
As Winston Churchill said, "The price of greatness is responsibility." If you want to lead, you cannot shift blame. If it happened under your watch, it's yours to fix. Leaders who deflect responsibility lose their team's trust.
Fix the problem, own the solution, and keep moving.
4. Reject shared responsibility.
Shared responsibility is a belief that gets pushed in leadership courses frequently. Everyone shares the load, and everyone is accountable. While it sounds attractive, in practice, it can be a mess. Shared responsibility can lead to no one feeling accountable, and that's when things fall apart.
Yes, the best leaders build strong, collaborative teams. They leverage ideas and strengths from everywhere. But accountability? That's a different story. When your team knows their role, they contribute more effectively. The leader owns the win, and the leader owns the loss. If responsibility is diluted across too many hands, it can result in confusion and failure. Every task and decision needs an owner.
Collaboration is key, but accountability must always rest with the leader.
Leaders Step Up
Shared responsibility and the idea that everyone's voice is equally weighted may be appealing in a meeting or program, but it often doesn't hold up in the real world. Real leadership is stepping up and taking responsibility.
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In the world of leadership, embracing the concept of shared responsibility can be appealing at first, but it often falls short in real-world scenarios. True leaders step up, owning every outcome, good or bad. Just like the aspiring leader in the multi-billion-dollar project, who showed real leadership by making decisive, direct decisions and accepting personal responsibility, you too should reject shared responsibility and stand tall, saying, "I own this."
After a long and successful tenure leading a company, I can attest that the biggest misconception in leadership programs is the belief in shared responsibility. While it may sound beneficial, it can lead to confusion and failure if no single individual takes ownership.
