The Buck "Starts" Here

Eight decades ago, President Harry Truman placed a wooden sign on his Oval Office desk to publicly proclaim, “The Buck Stops Here.” For many years before that, the phrase “pass the buck” was used to describe someone who passed something they were responsible for on to someone else. Truman was unwilling to do that as chief executive. The idiom became his credo and, even though it’s now much older, the original meaning still holds for why Truman needed it – to profess his accountability to the nation.

The phrase establishes a powerful standard relative to what’s at stake. Its premise is simple – be responsible for what’s yours. Its applications have many elements, especially in the business environment and for leaders who own or run them.

Truman’s commitment was a little different in that most of the political process for which he was responsible occurred at the hands of Congress and their agenda. He was responsible for the final product. In business, the owner has sole responsibility for everything, so the “buck” not only stops with you, it also starts with you.

So, what does the “buck” represent anyway?