My dad was an entrepreneur and a leader but if you would have asked him, he would have said, “I’m just a hard worker.” In his early 20’s he began managing a service station and a couple of years later, purchased it. He worked really hard for about 5 years, built a substantial savings and then decided to sell the station. Next he purchased an 18-wheeler and went on the road as an owner-operator. There were many things my dad liked about that season of his life. But in doing so, it took all of my parent’s savings and made finances really tight, which kept my mom stressed out. My dad was hardly ever home and when he was, there was always maintenance that needed to be done. As a young girl in elementary and middle school, I remember “helping” my dad wash the truck, make up the sleeper bed, change the oil and service the brakes. I really “helped” with pretty much anything he did because that was my only time to be with him.
When I was in the 9th grade, he finally had enough and sold the rig and bought another service station in his hometown. My high school years were spent pumping gas, washing windshields, and checking oil. It also included sweeping the concrete of the whole property (there were no blowers in those days) and scrubbing bathrooms that always seemed to be stinky and dirty. My whole family worked there. It was our life.
I never saw my parents as an employees, only owners. They were the hardest working people I’ve ever known. In today’s world many would see that as a negative. Believe me, in my teenage years I definitely thought I lived a deprived life. A few years later, when I entered into the work world, I took on the only mindset I had ever seen–that of an owner. This one principle is probably the most significant lesson for success in life.
Here are the lessons I’ve learned:
- Owners work from a place of passion.
- Owners lead by example.
- Owners never feel entitled.
- Owners take 100% responsibility and accountability.
- Owners show up early and stay late.
- Owners are willing to do the jobs no one else wants to do.
- Owners are always looking for ways to do things more efficiently.
- Owners don’t waste company resources.
- Owners are willing to forgo short-term satisfaction for long-term gain.
- Owners come to work, even when they don’t feel like it.
Now, many years later, these principles are part of my DNA and a huge part of my coaching practice. Just last week I asked one of my clients, “What percentage of your people think like an owner?” He has 14 employees and he said two members of his team thought like an owner. Later in the conversation, the question came up, “How can I hire and develop people to think like owners?”
My Recommendations:
- It all starts in the interview process. Ask questions that reveal your candidate’s work ethic. For instance…Could you share with me the top 3-5 principles that define your work philosophy? Has there ever been a time when you had the ownership of a team, project or company? Can you share some of the lessons you learned as a result of those principles?
- Talk about ownership in team meetings. Pull out the white board and do a brain-storming session.
- Discuss ownership and the characteristics of being an owner.
- Discuss the characteristics of being an employee or a renter.
- After fully exploring numbers 1 & 2, then ask what would happen if an employee or renter thought and acted like an owner?
- What would be the benefits to the employees/renters?
- What would be the benefits to the company?
- Ask these call-to-action questions: Which one are you? Which one do you want to be in the future?
- Ask your team’s opinion on owner decisions. Your team is a gold mine when it comes to feedback and they love being asked. Of course, you’re not taking a vote, you’re doing research. I learned this from Mary Kay Ash, in my years as a Mary Kay Cosmetics Sales Director and it has served me well–People support what they help to create.
- Give Stretch projects to team members who show initiative. This is a great way to mentor key members of your team to think like owners. Give them a project to own. At the beginning, put together a schedule of weekly check-ins for the life of the project. During those weekly check-ins always start with what’s going well? Followed up by what are your biggest challenges. Your job in this role is to praise what’s going right and to ask how they plan to overcome the challenges. Let them know they can always come to you for advice but let them own it.
- Publicly praise the people who think and act like owners. What you recognize and reward, you duplicate.
Does this take extra time on your part? In the short term yes. In the long term it will save time.
Will you have to change the way you lead? Maybe. People who think like owners don’t like to be micro-managed and they greatly appreciate being recognized for their ideas. Finally, people who think like owners want to be paid well.
In your organization, what percentage of your people think like an owner?
If this concept sounds interesting and you would like to know more about developing leaders in your organization, complete the contact form below.
