Who is catching the lion? 
Imagine a team on a sunny picnic, relaxed, laughing and enjoying each other’s company. At some point, they start debating who among them is the bravest. One confident member steps up, eager to prove himself. He accepts a challenge to catch two lions. Armed with a gun and ego, he heads into the wild, determined to return as the unquestioned champion.
Not long after, he spots a lion resting. With a confident aim, he fires but misses. The lion snaps awake and charges straight at him. The man sprints back toward his friends, screaming, “Here is the first one, catch him while I go get the second!”
Funny. But the workplace version is not.
Some people bring ideas the way that man brought the angry lion. The proposal sounds brave and visionary. They announce it with confidence, trigger movement and create urgency, then step back the moment the hard part appears. What remains is not a heroic plan, but a team left dealing with the consequences.
When a leader proposes a big idea without being ready to carry its weight, the team does not feel inspired. They feel the risk landing on their shoulders. Like the lion-chaser who was not prepared to face what he triggered, someone can launch a plan with excitement and then fade out when the hard part arrives, leaving others to handle the details, the conflicts and the pressure.
That kind of ownership feels not real, and it quickly damages trust because people learn that enthusiasm is not the same as responsibility. The result is frustration and confusion in the moment and, over time, a cautious team that hesitates to fully engage because they do not want to be the ones left holding the “lion” when it charges.
True leadership is not about looking brave in front of an audience. It is about responsibility when no one is clapping. It is about bringing ideas you are ready to defend, support and refine
The caution that follows is quiet but persistent. People stop volunteering early. They hesitate before committing. They focus less on the opportunity and more on not being the one left exposed. Over time, that becomes the culture. It does not kill ideas directly; it dims willingness. And when willingness drops, execution suffers, collaboration weakens and creativity becomes expensive.
The frustrating part is that most people who do this do not intend to abandon anyone. They may genuinely want innovation and change. They may believe they are being proactive. Some are simply used to being admired for proposing new directions, not for finishing them. But being innovative is not measured by how bold your announcement sounds; it is measured by what you are willing to stay for when the work gets complicated and real work always gets complicated. There will be constraints, resistance, unexpected dependencies and uncomfortable trade-offs. Credibility is built in that exact moment.
A bold idea without preparation is not bold; it is a gamble with other people’s time. Responsible contributors do the unglamorous work first, think through dependencies, and figure out what success actually looks like before they say a word. They identify what is missing and either secure it or say so openly. They do not wait for the team to discover the lion after it starts charging.
Preparation also means being honest about your own role. If you propose it, what part will you own personally? What decisions will you make, and what decisions will you delegate? Where will you stay involved, especially when the plan hits resistance? Teams do not need someone who promises grand outcomes; they need someone who commits to staying present long enough to guide the team through the first real obstacle, because the first obstacle is where most exciting ideas collapse.
This is also where the difference between leadership and performance becomes obvious. It is easy to sound brave. It is harder to be accountable. It is easy to suggest a disruptive change. It is harder to guide people through the discomfort that change creates. The best leaders do not disappear when things get difficult. They do not hand off the hard parts while keeping the credit. They stay close enough to support and far enough to empower.
Strong teams also rely on something deeper than task ownership; they rely on emotional safety. When people believe their leader will stand with them when problems appear, they take smarter risks. They contribute ideas. They experiment. They move faster. When people believe ideas will be launched and then abandoned, they protect themselves. They become conservative and hesitant. Innovation dies not because the team lacks talent, but because the environment punishes the people who try.
So what does responsible leadership look like in practice? It looks like bringing ideas with context, not hype. It looks like stating assumptions clearly, not hoping nobody asks. It means acknowledging what you do not know yet rather than projecting false confidence. Most importantly, it means being someone your team can still find when things stop going to plan.
The story of the lion chaser is funny because the punchline is ridiculous. But the workplace version is not funny when you live it. Teams do not forget the moments they felt left holding the lion. They may still deliver, but they do so with less trust, less energy, and a lot more caution the next time someone walks in with the next big idea.
True leadership is not about looking brave in front of an audience. It is about responsibility when no one is clapping. It is about bringing ideas you are ready to defend, support and refine. It is about guiding your team step by step, especially when the lion starts running.
• Firas Abussaud is a petroleum engineering systems specialist with more than 23 years of experience in the industry. He holds a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering and a master of science in construction engineering and management from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals. Beyond his technical expertise, he is interested in photography, graphic design and artificial intelligence.
