Quote of the Day: Arnold H. Glasow on Leadership

We’re told leadership is about being seen, owning wins, projecting certainty, collecting applause. But that’s not leadership; that’s performance. Real authority is quieter and, at first glance, almost upside down: it absorbs heat and redirects light. That’s the hard-edged wisdom behind Arnold H. Glasow’s line: “A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit.”

The deeper truth is that teams don’t fail in a vacuum. When a project unravels, the leader didn’t write every line of code or make every call, but they shaped the conditions: priorities, pace, incentives, communication. Taking “a little more” blame is not self-flagellation; it’s accountability with a purpose. It protects people from the kind of public shaming that kills candor, and it signals that mistakes are information, not exile. That’s how leadership becomes a system, not a slogan.

Then comes the rarer move: stepping back when things go right. Credit is a currency, and leaders who hoard it create an economy of resentment. Leaders who distribute it build loyalty, confidence, and momentum. By naming contributors, they turn success into a repeatable habit, something the team can own, not just admire from a distance. Humility, here, isn’t modesty theater; it’s strategy for durable success.

Arnold H. Glasow earned his reputation as a businessman and satirist by noticing what people do in meetings versus what they claim to value afterward. His wit lands because it’s operational: it tells you how power should behave.

December brings year-end scorekeeping, the season of metrics, awards, and postmortems. Apply Glasow’s rule today: when something breaks, ask first what you could have made clearer; when something shines, make sure the people who built it are the ones who are seen.