RULE 17
Take the rap
Sorry, but if the team screws up, it is entirely your fault. If the team does well, the credit is all theirs. A good manager will always take the rap. I know it’s easy to use your team as an excuse, but it won’t wash. You are the leader, the manager, the boss. If it all goes pear-shaped you have to stand up and take the flack.
It is very easy to say, ‘We didn’t meet our targets because …’ But you have to say, ‘I didn’t meet my targets because …’ And that ‘because’ has to be followed by ‘I’, never ‘they’.
It is easy to say, ‘We didn’t meet our targets because young Brian accidentally upset Client X and they pulled out leaving us short of our sales.’ But who put young Brian in charge of such an important client? You. Who ...
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