Leadership is about taking responsibility.

I find it interesting that everything that was wrong with America was President's Bush's fault when President Obama came into office and throughout his first term, and now none of our nation's problems are the President's fault.  Every day there seems to be a new problem that the President knew nothing about.  Now, I am not one who believes every problem is the fault of the President regardless of his party affiliation, nor do I believe that the President has the power to resolve every issue.  But, leadership is about taking responsibility, and our current President is unwilling to accept responsibility for the problems that threaten to engulf his administration and this nation.  He was more than willing to blame the previous adminstration for the problems he inherited but is unwilling to accept the responsibility for the ones he and his administration have created.  That is not leadership.

An article on President Harry Truman reports that "in an address at the National War College on December 19, 1952 Mr. Truman said, "You know, it's easy for the Monday morning quarterback to say what the coach should have done, after the game is over. But when the decision is up before you -- and on my desk I have a motto which says The Buck Stops Here' -- the decision has to be made." In his farewell address to the American people given in January 1953, President Truman referred to this concept very specifically in asserting that, "The President--whoever he is--has to decide. He can't pass the buck to anybody. No one else can do the deciding for him. That's his job."  In a statement to reporters who were asking why President Bush was defending Rumsfeld Bush responded, "I am the decider, and I decide what's best."  One can argue as to whether or not a decision was the best one, but it is the responsibility of the leader to make decisions and then to own them.  Most Presidents have understood this; our current one does not seem to.

The same responsibility falls to those of us in ministry leadership positions as well.  We have to seek advice from various people and search for the best possible solutions to the challenges we face, but at the end of the day it is our responsibility to make the decisions that we believe gives our churches and ministries the best opportunities to excel.  Will every decision be the right one?  I wish, but sadly they won't.  In fact, sometimes we will make some really poor decisions that can set our ministries back.  At such times the real leader will admit his or her mistake and begin to move the ministry in a different direction.

One of the things I appreciated about the church I served for 20 years was their willingness to support me even when I made poor decisions.  Believe me, in twenty years of ministry in one setting a pastor has the opportunity to make numerous bad decisions, and I took full advantage of those opportunities!  In some churches it would have been three strikes and you're out, but I was blessed to have a congregation that allowed their pastor to be imperfect.

However, I am convinced they may not have been so forgiving if I had not been willing to admit my mistakes.  Had I tried to blame others or pretend I wasn't aware of things that were happening that should have been under my watchcare our congregation would have challenged that and held me accountable...as well as they should.

As a leader you are called upon to make decisions some of which only you can make.  Some of those decisions will be great ones, and some will be really bad.  Regardless, you have to own all of them, and if you are not willing to do that you are not qualified to be a leader.