Instead of facing the workday with excitement, most leaders want to crawl back under the covers from sheer dread of what awaits them at the office: excuse making, blame shifting, and responsibility dodge ball. According to Mike Staver, the underlying culprit is something you might not suspect: fear.

“An organization that has perfected the blame game is one where hidden fear—fear of failure, of confrontation, of difficult tasks—runs rampant,” says Staver, author of Leadership Isn’t for Cowards. “And guess where these kinds of energy-draining, counterproductive cultures originate? That’s right: with the leaders.

“Blame-based leadership seeks to find a bad guy so that there is someone to absorb the problem, like a lightning rod absorbs a bolt of otherwise dangerous electricity,” he adds. “If a bad guy can be found, then everyone else can take a collective sigh of relief. If it’s operations’ fault, for example, management can’t have done anything wrong. And when it’s someone else’s problem, no one takes action to solve it.”

The destructive thing about fear, Staver points out, is that it keeps us from taking the quick, decisive actions courageous leadership requires—and the global economy demands.

Here are five tips for how you can take responsibility and help your followers to do the same:

Look at the man (or woman) in the mirror.
You can’t expect your followers to change their attitudes while you stay mired in your old blame-based thinking. Take a good, hard look at your own tendency to blame others and at the underlying fear driving it. A few common culprits include: fear of failure, fear of being underprepared, fear of confrontation, fear of risk, fear of being wrong, and fear of being unpopular.

Overall, Staver says, strive to proactively confront any policy, person, or mindset that is holding you and your organization back. Be an obstacle remover and push yourself to take bold, decisive action. And if (actually, when) you do screw up? Set a good example and “own it.” Overall, you’ll find the rewards of being a fearless leader will far outweigh the consequences.

Get real about how your organization handles mistakes.
What happens when someone on your team screws up or takes a risk that doesn’t pay off? If the answer is that a leader swoops in to mete out swift and certain punishment to the offending employee, two things will happen: 1) the blame game will flourish (after all, no one wants to be the fall guy when something goes wrong) and 2) most people will shy away from taking any risks at all in the future.

“Instead of putting negative pressure on your people, try to help them work through any kinks while keeping the focus on performance and growth,” he recommends. “And always be sure to celebrate your employees’ accomplishments without compromising their momentum. That means acknowledging progress with full and complete focus on the success of what is right here, right now.”

Set crystal clear goals with deadlines.
Have you ever left a meeting thinking your team had made lots of progress, only to find out later that none of the great ideas came to fruition? As deadlines were missed and mistakes were made, everyone conveniently blamed someone else, claiming they didn’t know theywere responsible for those tasks. Well, if you didn’t spell out a who-does-what list, maybe they really didn’t know.

“People like clarity,” says Staver. “Knowing what’s expected of you is the best remedy for fear. That’s why it’s critical to make sure everyone at your organization, including you, has specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timed goals. If someone’s goal isn’t reached, they can blame only themselves. If it is reached, they can reap the rewards.

Get people thinking in terms of solutions, not problems.
Cliché as it may sound, a can-do attitude is the remedy for blame addiction and the cornerstone of a culture of responsibility. There’s nothing wrong with telling your followers: “From now on, I want to hear fewer reasons why we can’t and more suggestions for how we can.” Those messages to the group will make your conversations with individuals easier because they will already know your expectations.

“Ask them, ‘If can’t wasn’t an option, what would you do?’” suggests Staver. “If you can’t blame Bob for not shipping the flier, what can you do? If ‘I was too busy to meet the deadline’ isn’t a valid excuse, what’s the solution?

Partner up.
You may have heard of accountability partners in terms of losing weight, exercising more, reaching financial goals, or growing personally or spiritually. But have you ever considered using them in your organization? The fact is, pairing your people up in “accountability teams” that get together twice a month to talk about their goals and their progress can really increase the amount of responsibility everyone feels.

“There is absolutely no way your followers can accomplish what they need to accomplish and learn to accept responsibility if you don’t develop the habit of asking big, clear, direct questions delivered in an I-want-you-to-win tone,” Staver concludes. “Your team deserves a leader who is courageous enough to ask and ask often. You will get better at this as you practice it. You will also see results improve over time as your followers get used to thinking about their own roles within the organization, and how their choices and attitudes impact the big picture.”

Mike Staver, author of Leadership Isn’t for Cowards, is a business coach and speaker with a rare ability to zero in on the fears that prevent leaders from doing what they need to do. He confronts them with the truths they’re pretending not to know and provides the “swift kick” they need to start making the quick decisions that get results—a necessity for survival in a global economy. For more information, please visit www.thestavergroup.com.