Who Gets the Credit? A Simple Question for Leadership

Ah! It feels good to be coming back to the basic leadership questions. It’s amazing to read through the journey of leadership philosophies and understand its evolution.  

One thing I am sure of in a leadership position is that it is not a perfect science. These principles are certainly great as guiding beacons. But they are not always the ones which are put in 100% practice. One such question that will be posed throughout the discussion is – who gets the credit?  

And I do take a certain inspiration from a lovely quote by Harry S Truman 

It is amazing what you can achieve if you don’t care who gets the credit  

– Harry S Truman 

Who gets the Credit Vs Blame 

These two represent an age-old debate. Looking at it very objectively from a leader’s perspective: you are expected to give full credit to the team and take the entire blame squarely on your shoulders.  

From an external point of view, it does seem a bit unfair on the leader. By this record, you’re always representing yourself under failures and when succeeded it is the team! I know I sound incredibly selfish as soon as I make this statement above. Perhaps I am making an argument for the sake of one.  

Let me ask this question though. Why should a leader do it? What is their motivation?

Leadership by Trust  

This is probably the most important thing for me as far as a leadership principle is concerned. I have highlighted this in a few other discussions, but squarely – the ultimate skill of a leader is in invoking trust from their team. This translates into the actions which gain the team’s conviction. And what better than handling credit in an honest manner.  

This doesn’t necessarily mean that a leader throws a team under the bus when things are not done. The job is to get things done. It is as brutal as that. If as a leader, someone is not willing to take the blame and find ways to get around it; it poses a new challenge about efficacy of such a leader?  

Who takes the credit in that case? To be honest, what does it really mean? It means highlighting a great job when it is in our view. Isn’t it sheer honesty and taking oneself away from the equation?  

We all talk about transparency, but if that’s not practiced in these simple actions, it is rather a shallow practice isn’t it?

What is a leader’s credit?  

Ultimately, does a leader really have to worry about getting the credit? Isn’t the job about getting things done? If a job is complete – isn’t the credit on the leader that a job is complete in the right manner.  

Of course, every project or a completed item has a leader and it is an honest responsibility to highlight such heroes.  

We certainly learn from each of these tasks – particularly failures. Part of the responsibility is also in taking that blame and trying to find a solution. As long as the blames are being taken in the right way for reparations, it is still a very noble skill to possess.  

Maybe that leads us back to the inspiration for this post:  

It is amazing what you can achieve if you don’t care who gets the credit  

– Harry S Truman