Selfless Ownership
Part Three of “The Intangibles:
They Make You Or They Break You”
By David Drury
If you only care about yourself you’ll be the only one who
does. Selfishness is more common in your
typical office than Bic® pens.
Most people are driven, even if they don’t admit it, by their own need
to advance and get ahead of others. But
the first essential intangible is selfless ownership. Instead of merely thinking of their own
areas, the leader with this intangible will work to make other people’s work
succeed too. They are a team
player. They support other people’s
ideas. They chip in where they can. They hope for everyone’s success within their
organization—not just their own. They
don’t see their environment as a complicated turf-war where every budget dollar
or personnel allocation should be fought for.
They instead have an abundance philosophy. A rising tide will raise the level of all the
ships. Selfless ownership can make or
break you. Why?
When you don’t have
selfless ownership…
If a leader seems to have it all together but lacks selfless
ownership it will eventually spell disaster for them in their
organization. At first they will just be
isolated and observed (the response will be neutral). Others won’t mind the fact that they are
working so hard to advance their own aims alone. In fact, at first a purely selfish leader
will get a lot done and perhaps even be admired and rewarded in an organization. After all, they are spending all their energy
on their own stuff and because of this they may be more focused than others in
the organization. But in any kind of
organization this person will eventually be broken. In an organization that is itself already a
turf-oriented one they will eventually face what the strong contestants in the
reality TV show Survivor face: isolation and then a concerted effort to make
them lose. An initially successful but
ultimately selfish leader will be unaware of secret unspoken alliances against
them. Before they know it they’ll be
“voted off the island” or simply kept around as a token cash cow of sorts. They rarely lead others and even if they have
such a position—they are rarely followed from the heart.
In an organization that is cooperative and has a team
mentality (essentially a selfless culture) this leader will suffer all the more
acutely. In a selfless culture that is
concerned about the collective mission of the organization individual success
is not prized in the same way that it is in a turf-mentality organization. So the selfish leader may not even receive
accolades early-on for selfish successes.
Over time as the selfish leader refuses to sacrifice any variety of
things: budget, personnel, time, project help, etc. to things all the other
leaders value, they will be seen as out of alignment with the rest of the
team. This leader is now on the way
out. If this selfless organization is
also a development-oriented organization they will begin coaching this leader
on having ownership of other areas than their own. They may learn how to do it—perhaps they can
blame their last “turf-org” for training them to operate in the way they do. A selfish leader who only “owns their own”
lacks something that may not show up well on a résumé, but is still an
intangible we all want to have around us in other people.
When you have selfless
ownership…
Those with this essential intangible are the most liked and
respected people in an organization.
Everyone wants to work with or for this leader. In a world that values competition over
cooperation someone who truly values what you’re doing and seeks to chip in to
help is a breath of fresh air. In a
turf-org it may be so strange that at first it’s hard to understand what a
selfless leader is doing. What’s their secret agenda here? But in no time even those who are selfish
love to be around those who are selfless.
Sure—their support and time may be taken advantage of from time to time. But over time the selfless one will be given
more leadership, acquire more informal followers, and will inherit a greater
and greater voice in an organization.
This is true top to bottom as well.
The lowest worker on the totem pole has just as many opportunities to be
selfish or selfless as the CEO, and vice-versa.
Many at the top of an organization don’t think about whether they own
the other areas of an org. But in
reality each and every department can feel whether or not the top dog
appreciates their part of the yard.
When you have selfless ownership you’ll find that you get
what you weren’t working for in the first place. You’ll be blessed with more power—because
there is no greater power than the power of relationships. You’ll be blessed with more success—because
others will naturally work to see your success and there is no greater success
than teamwork applied. You’ll be blessed
with more budget, people and access—because you’ll be trusted with them all. To summarize all this you could simply say
“the first shall be last and the last shall be first.”
How to develop
selfless ownership:
If you’ve determined you could really work on your
selflessness and ownership within your organization here are some starting
tips:
q
When
you’re in a meeting, instead of bringing up your own ideas—try piggy-backing on
another person’s good idea and helping it succeed.
q
When
there is a simple physical task to be done, be the first to chip in to move the
filing cabinet or whatever it is. You
need the exercise anyway.
q
Volunteer
to chip in some budget money or time to help another person’s project happen.
q
Think
about what your leader’s main task in this season might be—then offer to help
in the way you best can.
q
Think
about what you’re doing to support those that may work for you. How do they feel your ownership of their
area?
q
Re-work
your individual projects and tasks to ensure they are contributing to the
overall mission and vision of the organization—not just your goals.
q
List
out the things you wish others in the org would do for you—then start doing
those same things for them.
How to spot &
reward selfless ownership:
A manager or point person in an organization usually wants
to build team and cooperation—but sometimes we don’t know how. Noticing and rewarding behavior that helps to
build teamwork is the best way. However,
many leaders reward behavior that is not necessarily working toward that
aim. One of the best examples is simply
rewarding one salesperson over all the others because of numbers alone. In the lunchroom later the rest of the team
will complain about the little ways that employee “got ahead” and won the
reward. While such goals are important
overall it is crucial to spot and reward those who selflessly own ”the whole enchilada.” Is there someone on your team that is
chipping in to help others? Are they
liked by the team and does everyone want to work with them more often? Are they willing to sacrifice in their own
area to make a cross-departmental effort work?
If so—you’ve got a leader exhibiting the selfless ownership
intangible. This is an essential
characteristic in your team and if you want more people like this ensure that
leader and the rest of the team knows it.
Ownership and selflessness are contagious, and once you get just a few
leaders with these intangible qualities at the top of your organization it will
multiply exponentially in the positive culture of your team—and the tide will
indeed rise.
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Or email David@DruryWriting.com
_________
This is part two of The Essential Intangibles. Come back for more on each intangible. Click here
for the introduction to this series.
© 2006 by David Drury
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