Day 73 - Passing Blame

"I am glad I wasn't in the meeting even though it seems we got blamed in the end."

One of my favorite movies is the Fugitive. Not only did the remake have some outstanding actors and lots of action they really told the story well. If you don't know the story it is of a man whose wife is killed and then he is framed for her murder. All he has to go on is that a one armed man killed his wife. So while he runs from the law he also unravels the case and in the end is set free. 

On a less dramatic scale I think that leaders get blamed for lots of things they didn't do. As a leader though you don't get to run from blame or point all the evidence to the real culprit. What will happen is that you end up looking like the bad guy. 

Now if someone is bringing a false accusation or is discrediting your integrity you don't have to take it. The response of a leader in this instance should be that of Nehemiah when the enemies brought accusations against him. He simply denied the accusations and took the matter to prayer. 

Most of the time the blame that is laid on a leader is not false accusations or intrigue. It is things like "You hurt my feelings," "You were harsh," and the like. In instances like these the response should be the same but softer. Instead of a denial like in extreme cases an answer that includes an apology works much better. 

For example; you can cover the issue and mend the relationship by saying, "I am so sorry, it was never my intent to hurt you but I can see that I did. Will you forgive me?" That is what is most important. Don't lose your ability to lead and speak into their lives over being too prideful to apologize. I have apologized for plenty of things that I didn't do but was perceived as doing. You take it on the chin and keep going. God will uphold your cause and love will cover the multitude of sins. 

What other qualities do see in Nehemiah that we can learn from as leaders? What other scriptures or examples do you use when dealing with blame?