The First Rule of Leadership

“First rule of leadership: everything is your fault.”

This quote comes from the villain of A Bug's Life, Hopper, but there is truth and wisdom in it nonetheless.   Of course, this “first rule” is technically not true all of the time.   There will always be things out of the leader’s control, making any degree of competence a non-factor.  Nevertheless, a good leader understands that this seemingly unfair “first rule” comes with the territory of being a leader.  Leadership is a great power.  And, as what Spider-Man taught us, with great power comes great responsibility.  If something goes wrong during the leader’s watch, then the leader should be ready to take the responsibility for it.  No excuses.  Thus, it takes a set of serious balls for someone to embrace this harsh reality.  But that’s the main point: a good leader has balls.

Besides, a good leader is always rewarded by good subordinates.  And good subordinates, whenever the organization falls short, are willing to take the fault to themselves to shield their leader from damage.