Today I turn 38 years old. Well into my late-30s and with a stronger sense of myself, I find myself reflecting daily about how I show up as a parent, colleague, friend, and leader in my community. Academics like Carol Dweck and leadership gurus like Robin Sharma and Tim Ferriss laud the growth mindset as critical for exceptional lifelong learning and the achievements that come from such ongoing development. I think developing an owner mindset is also critical for building a vibrant and successful career. Here’s how to cultivate an owners mindset in your work and life.
What is an owner mindset?
Lego is a family-owned company. A cultural differentiator for this beloved global brand is that Lego’s people are expected to approach their work with an “owner mindset”. Lego’s Chief People Office, Loren Shuster, describes it in the following way:
…we like to have an owners mindset. We believe that at the core, the single most important thing that we offer employees is the opportunity to develop themselves in an organization that has such a deep and meaningful purpose.
While Lego isn’t a co-operative (yet) and the Kristiansen family hasn’t orchestrated a worker-buyout for the company’s 18,000 employees (yet), co-ops should be inspired by this story because the differentiator of ownership is baked into the co-operative business model. Members own the enterprise – it’s governance, surpluses, debt, successes and culture. This sector is well-positioned to activate career and organizational development strategies that are focused on what it means to own growth and progress individually and as a community, too.
So, what does it all mean for you? Let’s explore some things that you can own.
Things you can own
Values
According to Psychology Today’s Steven Stosny, we get in touch with our core values by asking ourselves what is the most important thing about us and what we care about the most. Robin Sharma thinks that fear holds us back from living our values (as opposed to those our parents’, Twitter’s or our company’s). Owning your values means truly understanding what you really care about and what’s most important to you. Values reflect not just what gets done, but also how and why things get done.
Privilege
If you look and talk like me then you might be living a privileged life (most straight white able-bodied men do). Understanding and accepting what privilege might mean to you is a step towards owning it. Here’s The Guardian’s Gaby Hinsliff’s take on how to get in touch with privilege:
If you’re old enough to have bought a house while that was still even remotely possible, or to have got a university degree for free, or to have gone to university full stop – well, then you were in some senses a winner in life’s lottery, and should bear that in mind when judging others. Failure to check generational privilege is behind virtually all articles suggesting millennials could become owner occupiers by spending less on avocado toast.
If want to figure out some ways to own your privilege by being an awesome ally then HBR’s Dolly Chugh has some ideas for you.
Worth
Cultivating an owners mindset is easier for folks who are privileged. We all have – you have – value and self-worth to share with the world. Getting in touch with your worth can help you overcome being on the wrong side of favouritism and marginalization at work. Kelly Marie Tran’s op-ed in the New York Times explores how the actress had learned to understand her value based on others’ approval and perspective: “And it was in this realization that I felt a different shame — not a shame for who I was, but a shame for the world I grew up in,” says Tran. “And a shame for how that world treats anyone who is different.” We all have strengths, ideas and stories to share and we’re all worthy of having a platform to share them. So own your worth.
Growth/Development
During my decade of working in higher education to help students and alumni build awesome careers, I noticed that most students waited for the world to come to them and very few took tangible steps to own their development and engage the world.
Managing your career is straightforward. Form an idea or purpose for work that will allow you to apply (and learn) skills and knowledge. Set realistic goals on where you want to go. Build relationships with people who can help you learn more. Read about your craft and cultivate your expertise in the field that piques your interest. Write and produce content and ideas that represent your ability to add value for an organization (or to clients if you want to start your own thing).
Whether you’re transitioning from school to work, navigating your career within an organization, or striving to become a better parent and friend, owning how you learn, develop and grow is a differentiator.
Accomplishments
We grow in the direction of what we focus on and where we spend our time. How often do you focus on your greatest achievements? How much time to you spend reflecting on the skills and thinking that you brought to a great personal accomplishment? Every week I work with colleagues, team managers and senior leaders to uncover their strengths and unlock their potential (in big and small ways). Folks tend to cringe when asked to share accomplishments, especially when it’s in front of other people.
But getting good at owning our achievements, as opposed to our affiliations, helps individuals and organizations stand out from the crowd. HBR’s Daniel Gulati argues that a track record of concrete accomplishments overwhelms prestige any day: “Instead of just resume-gardening, distinguishing yourself through real, tangible accomplishments shows the world what you’ve actually done while de-emphasizing who accepted you into their organization.”
Failures
I was part of a leadership development program that required a robust application and a lot of interviews. During a workshop, the executive sponsor of the program shared a piece of advice about how to talk about failure: “there are two ways to talk about failure. You can say ‘we tried something and it didn’t work’ or you can say ‘it was my fault’. That’s it.” No one wins when the failures and missteps lead to finger pointing. Forbes’s Jared Narlock suggests that ownership is well-evidenced by leaders taking accountability for what they commit to doing as well as for the outcomes of the work, whatever they might be.
Reputation
“Reputation is the echo you leave in the room; it’s what people say about you when you’re not there,” says Fast Company’s Stephanie Vozzo. If you’re curious about your reputation – and the echo you’re leaving in the room – ask for feedback, listen deeply and reflect on how what you heard matches (or doesn’t) the way you see yourself. Whatever you hear – and however much or little you agree with the data – it’s important to acknowledge what’s being said and determine how you’ll act on it.
For example, after hearing from several folks across several organizations that I should be mindful of my “fun” reputation I did two things. First, I made sure to give examples of how I am serious, direct and even a bit hard when the opportunity presented itself. Second, I ignored feedback from people who I either didn’t respect or who weren’t going to be around much longer.
What’s in your control
As a final thought, owning your growth and the successes and failures that will come with being accountable should understand what’s in your control and what’s not. For example, let’s imagine that you oversee assessing the risks of a project and you have set a goal to be more direct to senior leaders. If you candidly share the risks and recommend pausing the project until the course can be corrected, but the decision-makers see it another way, you need to accept what’s beyond your control. It’s impossible to own what’s beyond our control and we can drive ourselves crazy trying to make it happen.