Joyce E. A. Russell Contributor O Careers I write about career and leadership development and negotiating. "The buck stops here" is a phrase that was popularized by U.S. President Harry S. Truman, who kept a sign with that phrase on his desk in the Oval Office in the White House. At that time, the phrase referred to his notion that when he made decisions, that he had to accept responsibility for those decisions. That is, he couldn't pass the blame for bad decisions onto others yet keep the credit for good decisions to him. He couldn't pass the buck, or play the blame game and state that someone else was responsible for the decision he made. Since that time, this phrase has become even more popular since most people know that when you use the phrase it means that the buck stops with that person. If you are a leader it even seems to mean that not only are you willing to take responsibility for your own decisions and actions but you are also willing to assume responsibility for the decisions and actions made by those who report to you, whether you want to or not. That is the measure of leadership and what you agree to when you take on the job. THE BUCK STOPS HEREtheir employees, and yet, someone has to assume responsibility. Sometimes, we don't even know all of the things that employees are doing and yet taking the job as a leader means that in your area, you accept the ultimate responsibility for yourself and for them. You can't pass it on to anyone else since there isn't anyone higher who can accept it, and you can't pass the blame back on to those who report to you since it is commonly believed that you as the leader are responsible for the culture you have created. So, what does all of this mean for those who want to be great leaders. History shows that: Great leaders give others (their employees) the credit when things go well and they take the blame when things don't go well. Recommended For You A Ills: Claim Your $1,100 Stlmulusheek Byeloli-er 15 Evaluate Your Career Legacy Impact Wlth These 3 Calegorlesf {mentions New Smitty Shows Rude Workplace Emails Can Harm ProductlviryAnd Mental Health Servant leadership means serving others, not ruling over others. It is a leader's role to mentor and empower others to make decisions and grow. It is a leader's responsibility to provide the needed resources to employees if they make mistakes in order to help them improve or to use disciplinary actions as needed with employees. This is based on performance, not favoritism. Leaders shouldn't pass the buck. They have to take the blame for the mistakes of the [inn and the employees who work for them. This shows that they are acknowledging and teaming from mistakes and thereby leading by example. By accepting responsibility for their own mistakes and those of others, leaders are helping everyone to know that as leaders they recognize that they are not perfect and are willing to grow and change. Leaders take responsibility right away for a problem. There are great examples of leaders who immediately tool-1 responsibility for their decisions or their rm's mistakes. For example, think about the many recent breaches of cybersecurity and the leaders who immediately took ownership for the errors and apologized for those mistakes to their consumers. Or leaders who had malfunctions of their products and took responsibility right away for the problem and for xing it. We expect this of our leaders today. If they start blaming the technician or the manufacturing employee. it just doesn't look leaderly and in fact looks petty. A quality of effective leadership is that the leader will assume and accept responsibility for the rm and all of the decisions taken within the organization. leaders remember that their own personal goals must be subordinated to the group and organizational goals. They know that it is not about what they accomplish that matters, but rather it's about what their team accomplishes that matters. nforbcs .cDmfsileaf]aecarumlh'?020309.926?great-leaders-dumt-pas:~1c-buclo'75b5b5cc5l]f2 Great Leaders Don't. Pass the Buck Leaders take a long view instead of a short-term perspective. They know that developing their talent is critical for the long-term success of the rm. They put time into developing others even if they don't personally gain any reward from this. They know that developing others is critical for the success of the rm. leaders welcome and encourage diversity of thought among their team in order to fully esh out ideas. This can help their rm to avoid mistakes. They don't publicly humiliate team members for disagreeing with them or holding diverse views. All around us it seems evident that some leaders have agreed to assume responsibility for the actions of their followers {the buck stops with them]. while other leaders are passing the buck so fast on their responsibilities it's as if they were holding hot potatoes. Interestingly, President Truman also came up with anolher related eapnession Llll I. .......... I ..... I... is]... ..... ii 14'...\" .a...'.|. \"1...... J at... I. a....|. ..... 'J Lanna... aunt. amul- stall