Leaders are responsible.

Whether a man is burdened by power or enjoys power; whether he is trapped by responsibility or made free by it; whether he is moved by other people and outer forces or moves them – this is the essence of leadership.  ~Theodore H. White (May 6, 1915 – May 15, 1986) was an American political journalist, historian, and novelist, known for his wartime reporting and accounts of presidential elections

I've been thinking a lot lately about the idea of responsibility and a leader’s role regarding responsibility.  This first came to mind a few months ago when I heard an interview (that we’ve all likely heard a number of times) with Rupert Murdoch, founder and CEO of News Corporation, the second largest media conglomerate.  Following the debacle of the phone hacking scandal at the News of the World, Mr. Murdoch stated that he wasn't responsible for his employees’ behavior.

No, Mr. Murdoch can’t control or, for that matter, even be aware of all of his employees’ behavior when he has more than 50,000 employees.  However, is he responsible? 

Then more recently this issue of a leader’s responsibility, again, hit the national news.  This time with the ordeal that continues to unfold at Penn State.  It’s a little risky for me to raise this given my knowledge of athletics, but once again I’ve heard some of the University’s leadership argue that they aren’t responsible for others’ behavior. 

This has caused me ask, so what does responsibility really mean in the context of leadership?  Well, the dictionary tells us that responsible means accountable or answerable.  I would interpret that to mean that even if I didn’t perform the act, if one of my employees did, as the leader, I am accountable or answerable.  Then I am responsible.  In the case of Mr. Murdoch, no, he didn’t actually hack into individual’s phones personally; but it does seem that he is answerable for the employees who did.

In the case of Penn State, whether or not University leaders were aware of what had been happening over the course of years, they are answerable; therefore, they are responsible.  That would be my argument; if you are answerable, then you are responsible.

As leaders, while something may not be our fault or the result of our personal behavior, we’re leaders, we’re answerable; therefore, we are responsible.  The Penn State leadership was, and is, responsible for creating one of the most winning football teams in the nation.  They are also responsible for the poor judgment of one of the members of their coaching staff.  As Mr. White so aptly stated, “…whether he is trapped by responsibility or made free by it…this is the essence of leadership.”

For what are you answerable?  Are you also ready to be responsible?