We all want our teams to take ownership. Not only of daily tasks, but on the impact they can make for the company and our customers. However applying the right leadership behaviours to fix this can be a challenge.

Driving an increase in engagement and ownership can happen with regular and effective communication, meaningful action, thoughtful leadership, and positive reinforcement. You want your people to embrace new ways of working and be willing to to take measured risks. This can happen when there is trust and encouragement to do so.

I say "can" because let's be honest, in some instances no amount of deft leadership can engage and inspire someone to take ownership if they're not at all willing. In these instances, to borrow an analogy from Jim Collins' book "Good to Great", we need decide if someone needs to change their position on the bus, or get off the bus entirely.

However in this article I'm going to assume that we've got a group of people who have positive intentions when they come to work and can take greater ownership when the right leadership is brought to bear. In our experience, this is in fact the case, most often and with most employees.

Why do individuals switch off and disengage? Based on years of real-world change management implementation experience, 100’s of client project engagements, research and customer surveys we’ve found that the reasons usually fall into one or more of the following 6 categories...

1. Micro Management

Junior or inexperienced employees may require a hands-on and somewhat prescriptive approach for them to achieve a successful outcome - and they’ll appreciate the support if it’s genuinely required. However, for more experienced employees, applying effective leadership behaviours means explaining the “What”, or the outcome the business wants to achieve, and then challenging them to come up with the “How-to” themselves. Employees need space to make decisions, learn and grow. Sometimes this requires a shift from managing to mentoring.

A reasonable amount of freedom allows mistakes - this not only aids development but also provides team members with the confidence to take more initiative.

Useful questions...

How specific and prescriptive are your instructions when directing others to complete a project or task? Can the team member be expected to plan and complete the task independently? Have you clarified, in advance, how you will view and sign-off on the result of the work produced?

 

2. Fear of Failure

Many employees avoid taking responsibility because they are worried about the consequences of getting it wrong. This fear may or may not be justified, however people will be "once bitten, twice shy" if the organisation’s culture does not encourage learning from failures.

Praise the effort of people willing to try a new approach. If something does go wrong examine the problem and take steps to fix it for next time. Consider investing in staff development. It is critical to foster a no-blame culture

Useful questions....

What was management’s response last time something went wrong? Are you creating a work environment that rewards or punishes learning?

 

3. Don’t Ask, Don’t Get

In many cases team members don’t take the initiative to fix problems, change or improve the business because they don’t think that it’s their role. In other cases they don’t feel they have the authority within the organisation to take ownership. Applying effective leadership behaviours in these situations can be as simple as affirming or stating “I believe you have the capability to grow beyond your existing role”... and following that up by asking...

“What change would you like to implement?”

“What problem would you like to take ownership to fix?”

 

4. Vague Guidelines or Goals

Clear aims for each person, team, and department will foster ownership and action . A team without goal posts can be busy but not achieve purposeful business outcomes. Good leaders regularly orient staff to what really matters and ensure they understand what daily behaviours are required to achieve those goals.

Useful questions…

What does a good week, a good month, or a good year look like for the organisation? Does everybody know what that looks like? How can you tell if they know?

 

5. Unrealistic Expectations

Finding the right balance between work that stretches the team’s current capability, but isn’t completely beyond their current skills and experience, is an important factor in gaining buy in and ownership. Effective leadership behaviours play a crucial role in this process, often requiring additional training and coaching to uplift skills. What some team members find easy can be quite difficult or even daunting for others so a measured approach is needed. Time is also a factor as the confidence and capability to take more ownership can realistically take months and in some cases years to develop.

 

6. Habits are Hard to Change

We all sit in our comfort zones. Some like to lead, others like to follow. Build new routines that reinforce a change in behaviour. Whether it is quitting smoking, exercising frequently or getting staff to take more ownership - it will take time for these new routines to become habits. Leadership plays an enormous role in helping team members develop these. Effective leaders display genuine interest in the result of their team’s work and the progress they are making. They also check in regularly and ask useful questions, encouraging them through words and actions to keep progressing.

 

Employees can and will take ownership if managed, supported and mentored in the right way. Finding the balance can be challenging, however when the whole team is engaged the business will flourish.

Like to get a more practical toolkit to help yourself and other leaders in your organisation? Then check out our Lean Leaders Checklist. This is a great resource for all leaders to assess their everyday leadership performance and clear actions to improve

Like to connect? The best way is on LinkedIn, look forward to starting a conversation.