I am booked as a speaker on the Inspiration Stage at the Founder Summit 2025 in Wiesbaden and am very excited to follow the opening with Wolfgang Grupp, former CEO of the Swabian textile company Trigema and charismatic businessman. Since then, I can't get his words out of my head: "A company leader is solely responsible for his company, his decisions and his team."
This struck the 8,000 members of the audience like a bolt of lightning and was met with great applause. Even the very young, committed and motivated audience realized: responsibility is not a nice-to-have, but the daily fuel of future successful company founders.
The study on the responsibility gap
According to a study by Amrop, mentioned in the article "No desire for responsibility" in the Schwäbische Zeitung of January 13, 2025, the willingness of young managers in the DACH region to take on responsibility is declining. More and more are hesitating before making decisions and managing risks.
One reason given for this is that there is far too little public discussion about the fact that companies create positive things - not only for themselves, but also for society. This reluctance jeopardizes innovative strength and long-term growth. Especially now, companies in the DACH region need personalities who lead the way and act courageously.
Entrepreneurship is currently not sexy enough. And it has an extremely negative image.
Unfortunately.
I am very confident that the positive impulses from the highly experienced speakers and extremely successful entrepreneurs at the Founder Summit will stick positively in the minds of innovative, creative and future business leaders.
Viktor Frankl and the freedom of attitude
Viktor Frankl put it like this:
"One of the last human freedoms is to be free to choose one's attitude and one's own path - under whatever circumstances."
For you as a manager, this means
- You determine your attitude.
- You choose your reaction.
- You shape the course of your team.
Your inner attitude determines whether you see challenges as a burden or an opportunity.
Taking responsibility - what does that mean?
- Being a leader: You are the role model for your team, your company: your vision and your clearly communicated goals provide orientation.
- Holistic impact: Your responsibility does not end with your own decisions. It encompasses the success of the entire team.
- Living accountability: You actively take control and shape things. Being accountable is not enough - you define processes and intervene before they escalate.
So how did one of the most creative and innovative minds of the last century see this?
The Steve Jobs theory
Steve Jobs distinguished good leaders from great leaders with one simple principle: no excuses.
In John Rossman's book Think Like Amazon (2019), he recounts how Jobs admonished new vice presidents: "...as soon as an employee becomes a vice president, he or she must throw out all excuses for failure. A vice president is responsible for all mistakes and it doesn't matter what he or she says."
Rossman refers to this type of accountability as "control over dependencies": you take absolute responsibility for every possible dependency in your area of responsibility. This "no-excuses rule" creates control over all dependencies in your area of responsibility. You can also confidently transfer this 1:1 to your private context.
The no-excuses rule of personal responsibility
Ignatius of Loyola is said to have said: "Pray as if God takes care of everything; act as if everything depends on you." Successful people do not rely solely on external circumstances. They
- plan for the worst while striving for the best.
- set clear expectations and communicate consistently.
- review and adjust processes regularly.
- lead and work through others, but take ownership of all results as their own achievement - in both success and failure.
Your way back to responsibility
Responsibility means being proactive and not being driven by external circumstances. Your scope for action lies between stimulus and reaction.
Use it as follows:
- Clarify the framework: Define responsibilities and powers precisely.
- Speed up decisions: Reduce meetings, set clear deadlines.
- Culture of reflection: Establish feedback rounds for continuous learning.
- Mindset routine: Take five minutes a day for your inner attitude.
Especially in times when many people are hesitant, your courage is crucial to moving your team forward. Become an unrestricted bearer of responsibility again. Your attitude is your freedom - and your strongest lever.
