"The Army defines leadership as influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation, while operating to accomplish the mission and improve the organization" (AR 600-100, p1). The key is to be able to influence someone to do something. Something else the Army teaches is that you can delegate authority, but you cannot delegate responsibility. When a subordinate does something wrong, you were expected to go into the First Sergeant's (if you were lucky) office with that person. You, as a leader, were expected to take some sort of remedial measures to help ensure it did not happen again.
Does that mean, however, that you as a leader were supposed to take the blame for something someone else does? Let's phrase it another way: Is a leader supposed to take all of the credit for what their team does? The answer should obviously be "No". As you will see, though, this does not empower the leader to play the "blame game".
Taking responsibility means being accountable for your actions. Likewise, a good leader will hold those on his or her team accountable for their actions. A good leader will recognize when someone falls short and it is their fault or the subordinate's fault. A good leader provides recognition for those who shine and do not cover up for those who do not. A good leader is not doing anyone any favors by covering up for someone who is not fulfilling their role. The company suffers, the team suffers and even that individual suffers as a result. Yet, there are ways to hold people accountable and still be discreet.
A good leader always asks questions. Did you as a leader take preventative measures so that this situation would not occur? Did you as a leader assess risk and take the necessary steps to mitigate that risk? Did you as a leader ensure that proper training and communication processes were in place to avoid similar situations? Were the methods employed sufficient to avoid problems if everyone was doing their job? If the answer is "No", then you as a leader have to be willing to shoulder some or all of the blame.
In either case, you as a leader have to be willing to take remedial steps to fix the problem, or you will be responsible for the problem if it occurs again. A good leader will do what they reasonably can in order to assist a person to meet expectations. This is not about the "blame game". Rather, it is about raising the performance level of the person and the team.
Let's take the example of John. He is a new employee that reports to you. John is always late. Upper management expects workers to be at their desks slaving away at 8:00 am sharp every weekday. Finally, someone in upper management notices that John never seems to be at his desk until 9:00 am. Now, let's assess the situation:
1. Was John informed of what time he was expected to be at work?
2. Did you pull John aside after a couple of times noticing he was late?
3. Did you question John about his understanding of the company policy?
4. Did you inquire as to John's outside activities to determine if there are issues preventing him from being at work on time?
If the answer to any of the above is "No", then the problem is you. Your job is to influence John so that he can be motivated to come to work on time according to company policy.
However, please note that even if the answer is "Yes" to all of the above, that does not mean you are off the hook. Based upon what you know about the situation, what type of remediation are you going to take? Does John have difficulty with a babysitter? Does he know about the company preschool program? Does John appear to have a problem with alcohol? Does John know about the company intervention program? Has all of this been tried? Then, have you talked to Human Resources about what the next steps should be? If all of this has been tried before, then is it time to show John the door?
Leaders are not fall guys for other people's mistakes. However, that does not mean a good leader makes excuses or openly assigns blame. A good leader will be discreet enough to say, "My team made a mistake, and I am taking measures to correct the situation." In certain circumstances, you might want to say, "My team was not adequately trained in this area, so we have lined up additional training on it next week. Meanwhile, we can." It doesn't have to be more direct than that. It shows you are a proactive leader who does not flinch from taking responsibility, and you are one that does not play the "blame game". The details are between you, the responsible party, your immediate manager and, if necessary, HR.
Remember, good leaders have to balance between the needs of the individual, the team and the company. Absolute openness about accomplishments and discretion about errors are keys to maintaining this balance.