Take the blame, and give away the credit.
Jun 30th, 2009 by Gary Winters
In an earlier post, I offered Seven Simple Rules for Leaders. The third one is “Take blame easily, and give away the credit constantly.”
Why should you take the blame easily and give away the credit constantly? Let’s talk today about taking the blame.
When I was a young salesperson moving through a management training program, I came to believe I was really hot stuff. I was told how well I was doing many times; I consistently produced some great numbers, and I heard hints that I was at the top of the list of candidates to open a new facility in a new city – a plum assignment.
With two weeks to go until I graduated, I was sent to Denver to work with Pam, perhaps the best Sales Manager in the company. I was there to learn whatever I could from her before getting my first management assignment.
I arrived and Pam was inspiring. I watch intently as she handled a personnel crisis that had erupted while she drove to the airport to pick me up. Her “grace under pressure” was incredible.
The next day, Pam asked me to accompany an outside sales rep for the day. As Tim and I made his sales calls, it became immediately apparent to me that there were several things Tim was doing wrong that I could fix. I spent the day “coaching” Tim and arrived back at the office feeling spent but basking in the glow of being helpful to someone.
How wrong I was!
