When leaders assume “responsibility,” they take ownership of a situation, managing it in as many dimensions as necessary so that problems are resolved and all the moving parts operate in sync. They may need to call on skills they didn’t know they had —or develop new ones fast.

But beyond skills, responsibility is an attitude. It implies attentiveness, and the will to make hard choices. It means that you can take the heat and stand up for what you think is right. Ultimately, it means that you don’t just think inside whatever box you’re in. You take prudent risks; you exercise imagination; you don’t stop trying until the change that needs to happen happens.

Of course, everyone makes mistakes. Leaders sometimes make the mistake of thinking they’re not supposed to make mistakes (or, at least, not to seem as though they have). So they fudge and backtrack. They deflect blame and offer excuses.

But responsible leaders acknowledge mistakes and set about fixing them. In this sense, they take the long view. They understand that, down the road, people will respect their transparency and appreciate the proactive effort that, ideally, made things right (or, at least, better). So, a leader’s assuming responsibility can determine how people ultimately regard the leader.

Think of responsibility as testing your mettle in public. Have you shown yourself to be honest? Are you strong, and strategic enough to get out in front of situations before the fallout overtakes the whole enterprise? These are crucial questions, if only because trust is crucial to a leader’s continuing success. When that trust begins to........

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