The most effective leaders look to give credit and accept blame whenever possible.
When things go wrong they ask, “Where can I accept responsibility?”
When things go right they ask, “Who can I credit this victory to?”
Nowhere is this servant-type leadership better modeled then in the person of Jesus. On the cross, he took our blame upon Himself. He bore the weight of our faults. Then, in the resurrection, He credits to us the treasure of redemption that came with the victory. His perfect love casts out all fear of condemnation, which sets us free to truly live.
Love is greater than fear. Everytime. A team that fears condemnation and blame will always shy away from taking creative risks. Out of fear, they will only ever seek to get it right, which only ensures that they will always get it wrong. When a leader is willing to bear the weight of failure and give away the accolades of success, this frees her team from the chains of fear. From that place of freedom, her team will begin taking the necessary risks in order to produce something vitally creative.