It is amazing to see so many leaders, when failure occurs, point fingers at others instead of taking responsibility. A true leader accepts the failures--and enjoys the successes--when her or she is at the helm of an institution.

Unfortunately, we live in a society that permits and accepts individuals when they offload their mistakes and failures to others. How often have we heard "Taxes are high because the Democrats keep throwing money at social services."? Or, "The Republicans are going to use Social Security to pay for this tax break."? I can't remember the last time a political leader or group stood up and said, "Yes, the policy we put forward was a mistake." How refreshing such honesty would be.

Of course, failing to take responsibility is not an exclusive sin of politics. In the course of my professional career, I have seen many CEOs and other senior managers pass the blame to their coworkers for not meeting expectations. Nor have I been immune to this practice

Fortunately or unfortunately, financial professionals (my original field of specialty) are infrequently the reason why results aren't achieved. However, I remember (at least) one time when my company missed our earnings objective for one quarterly period because my financial colleagues and I did not "forecast" correctly all the various departmental inputs. I let the company and my colleagues down for not doing the job accurately.

This is one small example where leaders (department managers and above) need to take responsibility for the accuracy of their department's work. After all, it is y/our department or organization in times of failure and success.

Leaders need to have the integrity to accept the responsibility for their actions and those of the individuals for which they have collective responsibility. Of course there will be those exceptional instances where a particular individual vehemently refused to 'buy into' the vision or tasks that needed to be accomplished, but I'm speaking more of those instances where there was collective failure to achieve a particular goal.

Sports offer great examples of leadership issues. Take the baseball manager who, in the ninth inning, puts in a pinch hitter when there's a man on base. The pinch hitter's job, and the manager's expectation, is to get a hit and advance the runner. But, instead the pinch hitter hits into a double play and ends the ball game. The pinch hitter didn't do what he was supposed. Maybe the first base umpire blew the call when the opposing team turned the double play. Regardless, the manager must take responsibility. It was his decision to enlist the pinch hitter and it's his team. A leader must have the integrity to accept the W's and L's.

In my opinion, the buck stops at the top of the pile. A good leader takes responsibility when he or any part of his/her company fails. Such action will earn him/her the respect of subordinates, colleagues, and in the long run, shareholders. And when success rules the day, that same leader should push the limelight toward those around him/her. The employees deserve it, and despite efforts to diffuse attention given to a leader, people always remember who was leading the charge when victories are realized.

Now ask yourself... Am I a Leader?