One of my favrit movies is GI Jane because Demi Moore totally tears it up in her quest to become the first woman Navy SEAL. At one point of the movie she is put in charge of her team and is reluctant to take the position. Master Chief John Urgayle responds to her by saying, “ There are no bad crews, only bad leaders.” Pretty much, he told her to suck it up and get the job done. And of course she does. But that quote really stuck out to me. There are to many leaders in organizations that like to blame everyone else besides himself or herself. And what I have to say to that is... suck it up.
When you became the leader of your team you decided to take all of the responsibility and none of the credit. Everything that goes right is because of the peeps on your team and eveything that goes wrong is because you screwed up. And when I say that I mean even if someone on your team did something that was “less than informed” and it is their fault – you better check yourself and realize that ultimately it is a lack of good leadership on your part that let it happen. I know you are gonna say that you did all you could that was in your power and that there was no way that you could prevent it. Whatever it is... it happened and it happened on your watch.
John Wooden (2003) has two sets of three that he lives by and teaches. The first of those is “Don't whine, don't complain, don't make excuses.” so check this out. If you expect your team to perform at the highest level then you have to first do it yourself. When you give yourself the OK to violate any of those principles then you are giving your team licence to do the same but at a much worse level. When you become a leader you automatically accept responsibility. So stop blaming others and get the job done.
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