Tag, We’re ‘It’
September 1, 2026
Several of the schools I’m working with this year are wrestling with a deceptively simple idea: shared responsibility. What’s the leader’s role and what’s the team member’s role? Both have work to do. Too often, we act as if being a team member means we finished our part by just showing up, while the person in charge carries the responsibility for making it all work. Not so.
Yes, the facilitator sends out the agenda and plans the meeting, keeps group connected to task and keeps the energies of the group focused.
And, the responsibilities of the team member include contributing to the agenda, being mindful to also keep the meeting on track, using their skills and capacities to bring their best self to the meeting and contributing to the outcomes and goals of the agenda.
Yes, the senior leadership team, with assistance, crafts and communicates the strategic plan and foci for the year to the whole school. They set up the initial information rollout for when the start of school gets underway. They create the communications and the visuals to use in the messaging, keep the strat plan foci front and center, and continue to craft the messages in ways that are understood by all the stakeholders.
And, the responsibilities of team members certainly do not include saying “Don’t shoot the messenger” when they share the information with others. Team members ask for clarification, when needed, instead of passively ‘waiting for more instructions’ in order to make the plan a living reality on the timelines stated.
Yes, the leader needs to clarify what is tight and loose in terms of any given roll out or expectations.
And, everyone else has a part in the shared responsibility to express concerns about those expectations before they become complaints.
Yes, the leader needs to give clear feedback, connected to standards and clear expectations, and share it in humane and growth producing ways.
And, the individuals receiving feedback have a responsibility to listen for what could be useful, ask questions when something isn’t clear, and to resist spending all their energy defending their choices and arguing as to why the feedback doesn’t apply to them. (Feedback Tolerance and Emotional Regulation in action)
Yes, the person leading the change needs to explain the why and so much more (See Swimming in the Deep End: Four Foundational Skills for Leading Successful School Initiatives).
And, those learning about how to implement the changes have a responsibility to stay curious long enough to understand the changes before deciding they won’t work. (Suspending Certainty in action).
Ask yourself in any meeting, any feedback conversation, or any communication about next steps or actions about your shared responsibility as a team member:
- What is mine to do next?
- What clarification am I responsible for seeking if I don’t understand my next steps?
- What concern do I need to voice rather than quietly carry and bring out into the parking lot as a complaint?
- Where am I waiting to be told something I could reasonably figure out and bring some ownership to in terms of next best actions?
- What am I contributing to the tone, energy, and effectiveness of this group by my words and body language?
- What conversation am I having about someone that I need to be having with someone?
I speak about clarity before accountability in all of my workshops and in my books. Leaders must work on clarity in their messaging. And team members, if they don’t understand, need to take responsibility for asking for more of it.
Leaders do not get to use the idea of “shared responsibility” as an excuse for poor communication, fuzzy expectations, or inadequate support. AND, once we, as team members, know what is ours to own, must own it. Join me.
Questions, comments, or suggestions? Feel free to email me at jennifer@jenniferabrams.com.
Cool Resources
Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad… and How Great Companies Stay Great by Eric Ries. “As organizations grow, the systems that govern them—ownership, incentives, charters, accountability, and decision-making—quietly reshape behavior. When those systems are poorly designed, even principled leaders are pushed toward outcomes they never wanted. Success itself becomes a form of financial gravity, bending companies away from their original purpose.
Drawing on two decades of work with founders, CEOs, investors, and institution builders, Ries shows how these failures arise predictably—and how they can be prevented. He reframes corporate governance not as bureaucracy or compliance, but as a creative and strategic act at the heart of building enduring, mission-controlled companies.”
Q: The Hidden Power of Questions in a World That Wants Answers by Lani Watson.
“The shift from prioritizing answers to focusing on questions is not easy, and it requires careful attention and practice. Q also includes practical tips called Q Tools, inspired by the historical, philosophical, and cultural material of each chapter that offer readers exercises and advice for becoming better question-askers. There are real-world benefits to creating a question-oriented future, and it will require a personal, social, political, philosophical and technological transition. In Q, Lani Watson provides us with the knowledge and tools that we need to implement this change in our own lives and communities”
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke. “Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle. Her charming farmhouse is rustic, her husband a handsome cowboy, her six children each more delightful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers behind the scenes, her kitchen hiding industrial-grade fridges and ovens, her husband the heir to a political dynasty? What Natalie’s followers—all 8 million of them—don’t know won’t hurt them.
Until one morning she wakes up in a life that isn’t hers. Her home, her husband, her children—they’re all familiar, but something’s off. Just yesterday Natalie was curating photos of homemade jam for her Instagram, and now she’s expected to haul firewood and handwash clothes until her fingers bleed. A gripping, electrifying novel that is as darkly funny as it is frightening, Yesteryear is a gimlet-eyed look at tradition, fame, faith, and the grand performance of womanhood.”
