The Most Important Burden Of Leadership
The Most Important Burden Of Leadership
Blame, high-performance teams at Google, and Navy SEALs
A few days ago, I had to call some old teammates of mine.
It’s been years since we’d worked together, but we still stay in touch. Even so, this call was different. I had to apologize to them.
Several years ago, when we were working together, I said some things I shouldn’t have said. I did some things that were against my values. Instead of handling the conversation rationally and logically, I leaned into a new style of leadership: command and conquer.
I needed to apologize because I did things that were wrong, but I also needed to apologize because everything that went wrong in our department was my fault.
It’s always all your fault.
I’m sure this sounds ridiculous, but it’s true. Everything that goes wrong is the fault of leadership.
If my team snapped at each other, it was my fault. I made them work long hours with few breaks, and across time zones with massive jet lag. I made them work with little vacation time and for low wages. I put them in the perfect position to snap at each other.
If they broke something, it was my fault. I made them buy cheap tools and didn’t give them the resources to store equipment safely.
If they took too much time to organize or manage our warehouse, it was my fault. I didn’t give them the space or equipment they needed to do their jobs effectively.
If they slacked off and didn’t do their work, it was my fault. I didn’t create an environment with autonomy, mastery, and purpose.1
And if they straight up sucked at their jobs, it was my fault. I hired the wrong person and put them in the wrong seat on the bus.
Unfortunately, there’s just no way out from the ultimate responsibility of a leader.
Taking responsibility creates high-performance teams.
Years ago, Google did a study to figure out what the secret was among their highest performing teams. They found 5 or so traits that stood out, but there was one that counted more than everything else—and brace yourself because it’s really fluffy:
Psychological Safety.
Here’s a quote from a re:Work article about the study:
“The Google researchers found that individuals on teams with higher psychological safety are less likely to leave Google, they’re more likely to harness the power of diverse ideas from their teammates, they bring in more revenue, and they’re rated as effective twice as often by executives.”2
Of course, the article goes on to to define Psychological Safety as:
“a shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk taking.”
Creating an environment of trust requires taking responsibility.
In his book “Extreme Ownership,” ex-Navy SEAL Jocko Willink explains that successful SEAL teams are built on the ability of the leader to take responsibility for errors. In fact, in a military study, the worst performing SEAL teams were found to have leaders who pointed fingers and blamed others. Remarkably, as soon as the team leader was replaced with someone who took ownership of the team’s outcomes, their performance would not only increase, but sometimes lead the class. Same team of people, just different leadership.3
Once we take on this necessary and meaningful burden, we can find more areas in our life we can control or influence. Once we step into the yoke, we can build the life-long trust that is required of high-performance teams, healthy relationships, and the freedom to enjoy success.