Want your team to take more ownership?

Published about 2 months ago • 3 min read

Hi Reader,

1. A quick word from Zach

You want your team to think, solve problems, and take ownership without waiting for you to tell them every next step. But before you blame them for lacking initiative, take a hard look at what you’ve actually been giving them to own.

This week, I want to show you the difference between delegating a task and delegating a result.

2. Something worth listening to

If you want to go a little deeper on this idea, there’s an older EntreLeadership Podcast episode with Bryan and Shannon Miles called “Why You Should Delegate Results, Not Tasks.”

I think you’ll appreciate the distinction they make between simply getting work off your plate and actually giving someone else responsibility for a result. It’s a helpful follow-up if you’re trying to build a team that thinks and acts with more ownership.

3. Something worth thinking about

“

You can’t ask people to think like owners while continuing to manage them like task-doers.

~ Zach Wise

If you’ve trained your team to wait for instructions, don’t be surprised when they wait for instructions. Ownership requires room to think, appropriate authority to act, and a result they’re actually responsible for producing.

4. Something worth trying

Think about something you recently delegated where you were disappointed by the level of ownership.

Then run that handoff through the Delegation Handoff Kit again. This time, pay particular attention to two things: Did I give them clear authority to act? And did I delegate a task, or did I give them a result to own?

Get the Delegation Handoff Kit.

That's it for this week.

To thriving,

Zach Wise

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What is "Dear Sam", anyway? This column started with a real person — a friend and client named Sam. I write each issue with him in mind, and with you in mind, too.

Check out past Dear Sam issues here.

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