A founder is responsible for a lot – actually, almost everything at the very beginning of the business. With traction, investment and employees, the people who work with you take on more and more of that responsibility, and there are more things to be responsible for.

But blame is a different animal, and saying or thinking “it’s my fault” or “she is to blame” is toxic in your business culture.

Blame means that someone is at fault, it often includes shame, and implies that there is a simple solution and creates fear which hinders honest communication. None of those things will make your business or the people in it work better.

But taking responsibility means that failure is part of the process, that whomever is responsible will accept the reality of that failure, learn, and move forward. When someone takes responsibility and your business supports that as a part of the process in work, communication is more clear and the focus becomes the problem and solution, not the person.

Your business simply works better.

A small shift in the way you and your team describe things will make all the difference.