Leadership Howler 7 - The Blame Game

“These things shouldn’t have happened because we’d organised the players to be picking up the city targets who we’d singled out for attention. That’s why I’m extremely disappointed."

These are the words of Alex Mcleish, manager of Aston Villa Football Club during the 2011-2012 season, interviewed following his team's defeat to Manchester City. 

Under pressure from the media and the villa fans, Mcleish passed the blame for the defeat onto his players because in his opinion, he'd organised things properly at his end, but his players had failed him on the day. In the face of the pressure and disappointment, Mcleish was on a personal P.R. exercise.

Unsurprisingly, a lack of morale and team spirit characterised his team's performances throughout the season and at the end of their dismal campaign in 2011-2012, Aston Villa barely survived relegation and Mcleish was sacked. 

So what can business leaders learn from Alex Mcleish?

Inspirational leaders accept a share of the blame when things go wrong, something which weaker leaders could not possibly contemplate, ("Why should I take the blame for other people messing up?"). 

Inspirational leaders accept a share of the blame because they accept that the very act of leadership implicates them in the consequences of things going wrong, and they also understand that when they share the blame:

1) They take the heat off their team, which builds rapport and team spirit.  

2) They open up the opportunity for increased learning. When people experience set-backs, or they 'screw-up', there probably is something which the leader could have done differently in order to have influenced a better outcome. By seeking to learn rather than blame, inspirational leaders ask their team members questions like:

"What can I do as your leader/manager, to help you in future, so this doesn't happen again."

"Is there anything I could do, which I'm not currently doing, which would help you to do a better job in future?" 

Thanks for reading

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