I’ve heard it said for years that no matter what happens in a company, it’s always the CEO’s fault.

After almost two decades of building and running online schools, I can tell you that’s just not true.

If one of my team members goes off the deep end because of something happening in their personal life and insults a student, that’s not my fault.

If the server goes down because the power grid failed on the West Coast, that’s not my fault.

If some exhibitionist crashes a Zoom classroom and exposes themselves (yes, that really did happen), that’s definitely not my fault.

Saying it is gives CEOs a level of control we simply don’t have. We’re not all-seeing. We’re not all-powerful. We’re human.

Heck, I can’t keep my son from opening the oatmeal bin (see photographic proof above)!

And honestly, if I really had that kind of power, I would’ve figured out how to keep my inbox from hitting 1,000 unread emails years ago.

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Fault vs. Responsibility

Here’s the distinction I’ve learned to live with. Fault and responsibility are not the same thing.

Fault means blame. It means you caused the problem through action or neglect. And there are many times when the CEO did not cause the problem.

Responsibility means ownership. It means that whether or not it was your fault, it’s still on you to fix it, to learn from it, and to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

If a student gets insulted, I can’t undo it, but I can step in to rebuild trust.
If the servers crash, I can’t control the power company, but I can put backups in place.
If someone disrupts a classroom, I can’t control their behavior, but I can add safeguards so it’s much less likely to happen again.

Responsibility is about stewardship, not guilt.

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The Trap Leaders Fall Into

A lot of leaders trip up here. Some take everything personally. They carry every problem like it’s their fault, and eventually it burns them out.

Others go in the opposite direction. They hide behind “not my fault” as if that lets them off the hook. That kills trust with the team and makes the CEO look like they’re ducking accountability.

The reality is in the middle. Don’t take on false guilt. But don’t shrug and walk away either. The job of a CEO is to stand in the space of responsibility, even when you didn’t cause the problem.

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The Real Job

Being CEO is less about having all the answers and more about owning the outcome. We’re accountable to our people, our customers, and our mission. That doesn’t mean we control everything. But it does mean we step up when things go wrong.

Fault belongs to whoever caused the problem. Responsibility belongs to the leader.

Once you stop obsessing over fault and start focusing on responsibility, you can actually move forward. You fix what needs fixing, you learn the lesson, and you keep building stronger every time.