Ownership must be taken, sure. But it also must be given. And it’s not something you can just ‘train’ as if it were a skill.
So how does one truly enable people to take ownership? First, it requires unearthing – why we find it difficult to own our work (when we do).
Let us explore the journey of taking ownership (in first person).
At first, I'm afraid to take responsibility of the 'what-ifs' – the unfavourable consequences and the perceived blame. Also, because I doubt my ability to do it. I play safe, protecting myself from imagined/expected blame. (𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵, I say).
Then, when the 'what' and the 'how' are clear, I take responsibility of my task, still placing it's accountability externally. At this point, my questions are about the approach. (𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘺. 𝘓𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸).
Next, when I feel capable to figure out the approach, I take ownership of the outcome. At this point, I seek clarity on the 'why'. (𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵. 𝘛𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵).
And when I strongly align to the 'why', I take initiative to figure out not only the 'how' but also the 'what'. I push my abilities, learn and seek support. (𝘐'll 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴).
As I see, three levers that influence taking ownership:
But, how does one 'give' ownership when the stakes are real? Here's the thing, people show surprising levels of ownership when the stakes are real and direct.
From your experience of leading and being part of teams – what am I missing here?
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At TAO Consulting, we support organisations with leadership and culture challenges at critical inflection points. These includes interventions that catalyse taking ownership of the vision, the system (org) and the link responsibility (to the internal customer).
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