ownership mindset
How good does it feel to work with people who truly OWN their job?
I used to work with a colleague called Sam, who would thrive when she was given a difficult task. She would quickly grasp what needed to get done, get creative, energise the team and make magic happen. You would often hear colleagues say, “if only we had ten of her...”
The thing that set her apart was her ownership mindset. She didn’t just do her job – she owned it. It’s easy to identify people who have this mindset – they’re the people everyone wants on their team. They’re so full of initiative that it spreads to others around them. You don’t pick them just for their technical skill, but because of their mindset. It’s like choosing a builder to complete renovations on your home, you’d probably be more interested in good referrals (will they own it?), rather than technical qualifications (can they do it?).
I believe that ownership mindset is key to great team performance. In an HBR article, “Hiring an Entrepreneurial Leader,” Timothy Butler argues that leaders with an entrepreneurial mindset have three qualities that set them apart:
They take complete ownership of a venture or problem
Are more motivated as uncertainty increases
They have a remarkable ability to persuade others to follow their course of action
These certainly sound like the qualities displayed by Sam. They’re the qualities that gave her team confidence that their project would be successful. Today, these are the qualities that we look for when operating in environments with high uncertainty. As we move away from command-and-control style environments, the successful businesses will encourage employees to think and act like businesspeople rather than hired hands.
Leadership development should therefore be focused on creating experiences where leaders can practice and hone their skills in taking complete ownership of a venture or problem. It’s about building an intuitive understanding about how different parts of the organisation work together to create value for all stakeholders and aligning the team to get things done.
How valuable is ‘ownership mindset’ to your business?