The buck stops here!

I was reading an article yesterday that David Gergen (a professor of public service at Harvard and a senior political analyst at CNN) wrote after he interviewed Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense and the former President of Texas A&M University. The two quotes from Gates that struck me are:

1. "If you see something that needs to be fixed or done better, persist -- respectfully, loyally -- but don't give up. So much of leadership training is about team-building and collaboration. I say, "That's all very important, but there will come a time when you will have to stand alone and say, 'This is wrong' or, 'This is my responsibility -- I don't agree with you, and I'm going to do what I think is right.'"

and,

2. "Look in all the parks in the whole world, and you'll never find a statue built for a committee. Whether it's in business or anyplace else, it requires one person who has a vision and then has the ability to execute that vision."

Leadership is always about when and where the buck stops. Ultimately everyone will step aside or fall away when an issue needs to be resolved. Input from others is important, but "the buck stops here," cannot be avoided. How each of us handles that fact helps to determine how others see us as leaders.