Creating a high performance organisation: Part 5 – Develop an ownership mentality
Written by Jon Lister, Director of Enterprise Chartered Certified Accountants
We have taken big steps so far aligning our goals & values, defining our culture even setting out the Big Picture so everyone knows what we are wanting to achieve and how we want it to feel.
There is an inherent problem with this though…it is ours and not theirs so why will those around us (and it is a wide circle of staff, suppliers, customers, investors, partners & well-wishers) buy into what we are doing?
The simple answer is ownership.
When those around you are empowered through ownership then they taken on the vision and will think, act & communicate as you would. Operating in this way can provide you thousands of brains, eyes, ears and mouths all acting in concert to achieve that single big picture.
‘If only it was that simple’ some will shout.
Well, shout away…because it is.
Development of an ownership mentality starts from some pretty basic (and universally liked) concepts such as trust, respect and an appreciation for another’s perspective. These should be the building blocks of any type of policy, forum or initiative.
Similarly, don’t think of this as ‘stakeholder engagement’ which is a dire and tired concept which does little to develop anything other than a cursory understanding and a large amount of corporate waffle.
An ownership mentality should leave your team (or importantly how you choose to define that group around you) feeling like they know where they are going, they want to get there too and they are going to do everything in their power to make sure that happens.
Powerful stuff when inspiration, leadership and direction unite.
