What Every Leader Must Own

I’m a leader who believes wholeheartedly in delegating – not in an effort to get rid of work but to give our teammates the opportunity to grow, to take on increased responsibilities and to allow us to focus on the big picture.

However, there are some things a leader never delegates. We never delegate the ultimate responsibility of our position in leading the team. This includes:

  • Making the tough call (when it’s yours to make)
  • Owning team failures
  • Holding the line on ethics, standards, etc.
  • Casting a vision for the future

Maybe that’s why they say it’s lonely at the top. While you shouldn’t be lonely in the sense that you are the only leader around (because you should be bringing others with you), there is a place of solitude, and it’s in this place of serious responsibility that we are alone. It’s where we alone carry the burden or operate at a very high level of sacrifice that’s hard to describe. It’s the stomach ache that doesn’t’ go away or that awkward feeling you can’t really verbalize.

It’s the same responsibility a mother takes on with her children, a father takes on with providing and protecting, and an adolescent takes on with relationships and school work. These are things each of us must own and answer for.

Yet as leaders, we wouldn’t have it any other way. That burden we bear is also a high because along with those burdens come rewards, and we’ll experience both throughout our leadership walk – the thrill and the burden of our leadership responsibilities.


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