About this quote

Real achievement demands that you carry the weight of your choices without making excuses. When you rise to a position of influence, your mistakes affect everyone under your watch. Can you make the hard choices when the spotlight is on you? True leaders do not blame external circumstances when things go wrong; they own the consequences. You must accept the heavy duty that comes with standing at the top.

When to use it

• I think of this every time I have to sign off on a risky project budget. If this fails, the blame stops with me, not my team.
• My coach told me this when he handed me the captain's armband. It means I don't get to celebrate the wins if I'm not willing to own the losses.
• I repeated this to myself when I took over my parents' failing business. I wanted the status of being the owner, but now I have to keep twenty people employed.