Recently,
the President of a volunteer board I’m part of
publicly placed the blame
for a board mistake
on a board member.
As we say in business,
she threw the board member under the bus
and the loyalty of the board
was thrown under the bus also.
The next time,
the President asked for assistance,
no one volunteered.
In private, leaders can rip the group a new one
but in public, leaders should be the group’s defender.
That’s how loyalty is gained
and with loyalty, the impossible becomes possible.
“When the leader is in public,
and the arrows fly about the team’s performance,
the leader takes the hit
– or, if the critique is unjustified,
the leader passionately defends the team’s honor.
The blame is never on the team
– it’s on the leader.
Conversely, when things go well,
the praise is always on them
(Think Jim Collins and his concept of
the Level 5 leader in his book
“Good to Great”).”
Leaders defend their team in public.