OwnYourJob,PossessSuccess

　　Takingfullresponsibilityforyourwork——that'sanewhire'smostvaluableattribute,onethatcan'tbeboughtortrained.

　　Iwasspeakingtoagroupofsoon-to-graduateMBAstudentsrecently,andoneaskedmethis:What'sthemostvaluableattributeofanewcorporatehire?Ihadtothinkforamoment.

　　"Canweleaveoutethics？"Iasked.Thatgotabiglaugh.

　　No,Isaid,whatImeantwas:Canweassumethatthepersonishighlyethicalandthenchoosethenextmostcriticalattribute?Yes?Well,thenI'dsay:Ownership.

　　UNPLEASANTSURPRISE.Ownership?Idon'tmeanthatthenewhirehastoownanythinginparticular——adecentsuitorapairofshoes.Imeanownershipofthejob,meaningtheinstinctandthedrivetotakeonitsresponsibilities——completely.

　　TheMBAstudentshadtochewonthatforaminute.ButanyCEOorseniorleaderknowswhatImean.Anyexperiencedexechasatleastonestoryaboutturningtoalieutenantduringacrisisandgettinganunpleasantsurprise."What'syourplan?"theymayhaveasked,onlytohear:

　　"Well,Ithinkthat'sJohnson'sdepartment."

　　"Ireallydon'thaveexperienceinthatsortofthing."

　　"It'snotinmybudget."

　　"Oneofmyteammemberswassupposedtohandleit."

　　"Mydogatethepresentation."

　　Yougetthepicture.Thisiswhenmanagersfindout,inthemostinopportuneway,thattheyhavealieutenantwithanownershipproblem.

　　ANATURALQUALITY.Isownershipthesameastakingresponsibility?Yes,exceptthatownershipmeanstakingresponsibilitytothenthdegree.Peoplewho'llcommittothatextentdon'teventhinkaboutwhetherthey'retakingalittle,amoderateamount,oralotofresponsibility.

　　Whenyouownyourjob,yousimplydowhateverneedstobedone.Andyouownit,oryoudon't.Youmaybewillingtosharecreditforsuccesses——let'shopeso,ifyoumanageateam——butyoudon'tshyawayfromresponsibilityforfailure.It'sjustyours.

　　Youcan'ttrainthisintoaperson,andyoucan'tpayapersonwho'snotownership-orientedenoughmoneytochange.Ifyoutry,youmayseeincrementalimprovement.Buttakingtrue,gut-levelresponsibilityforajobisanaturalquality.It'sonethat,morethananyother,canmakethedifferencebetweenthesuccessandfailureofyourteam.Ultimately,it'smoreimportantthanindustryexperience,brains,technicalskills,younameit.

　　HEEDWAKE-UPCALLS.Whenyouhaveateamofpeoplewhoowntheirwork,theresultsareincredible.Youknow,withoutquestion,thatyou'llgettheirbestefforts——andthatthey'llneverletyoudown.

　　Asayoungmanager20yearsago,Irantheorder-processingoperationsinagreeting-cardcompany.Onemidnight,Ireceivedacall:Theprocessthatcreatedthenextday'spackingslipshadcrashed.Ihadtoget1,000packingslipsreadyforpullingandpackingthenextday,orhundredsofpeopleinourdistributioncenterwouldbeidle.ThiswasaboutthreeweeksbeforeChristmasonafrozennightinChicago.

　　Iputonmyarcticgearandheadedforwork——andfoundtheplaceinchaos.Eventheovernightsecurityguardwashelpingtoprepareorders.Icalledakeyteammember,mydata-entrysupervisor."I'msorrytowakeyouup,butweneedyouinhere,"Isaid."We'llneverbereadyforthecourierat6a.m.withoutmorehelp."

　　ShesaidO.K.,andthenhungup.Butshedidn'tshow.Thatmorningat8,shecametoworkasusualandsaid:"Ithoughtaboutyourcall.Irealizedthatiftheordersweren'treadyat6,thepackerswouldhaveenoughworktokeepbusy,andwecansendanothercourierlaterintheday.SoIwentbacktosleep."

　　TOTALRESPONSIBILITY.Thatwasatoughdayformeasabeginningmanager.Whatanownershipbreakdown!Ihadnochoicebuttorelievethewomanofhersupervisoryrole.Shewasluckynottobefired.Itofferedanexcellentlesson.

　　Yearslater,asahumanresourcesleaderatatechnologyoutfit,IreceivedacallonaSundaymorning.Therewasafloodintheoffice.Iranovertofindaboutadozenexecutivesbailingoutthefactory.

　　Thewordspreadsomehow.Bymidafternoon,morethan100ofuswereatworkarmedwithbucketsandmops.Next,weorganizedaphonetreetonotify500employeesthattheyshouldn'tcometoworkthenextday.Buthalfcameinanywaytohelpcleanup.That'sthekindofownershipyouwant——totalresponsibility.

　　EVERYDAYHEROES.Whenyouhavethatcharacteristic,you'remilesaheadofthegame.I'mnottalkingaboutslavishdevotiontoabossorbowingandscraping——justtheopposite.Youwantpeoplewhotaketheinitiativewhennoone'slookingovertheirshoulders.Anyemployerwithabrainwillkillforapersonwhodisplaysthiskindofcommitmentinajobinterview.

　　Sohow,asajobseeker,doyoudemonstratethatyou'rethiskindofperson?Tellstories.Talkaboutatimewhenthechipsweredownandyoumadethedifference.Thesearen'theroicstories,exceptintheeverydaysensethatpeoplewhodotherightthingareheroes.Yousimplyexplainhowyousawthesituationandhowyoumadeitright.

　　Asanemployer,youhaveasimplesetofmust-doswhenitcomestoownership.Rewarditwhenyouseeit.Callattentiontoit,andmakesureit'sacorevaluethatemployeesunderstand.Andwhenyouseeanownershipbreakdown,dealwithitdirectly.

　　BEENGAGED.Ihadtheunpleasantexperienceonceofhavingasubordinate,adivisionalmanager,tellme:"Wehaveanemployeewhomayfileadiscriminationclaimwiththegovernment."

　　"What?That'shorrendous!"Isaid,comingoutofmychair."Whathappened?Havewetalkedtoher?Whatareherconcerns?Canwefixtheproblem？"

　　"Ireallydon'tknowthedetails,"saidmyunfortunateteammember."Iheardthisfromanotheremployee."

　　Shereallydidn'tknow.Imean,shewasbusy,soshehadn'treallytalkedtotheemployeeoranythinglikethat.So,youknow,shewassortof,like,fired.

　　Ownershipisthekey——Ican'tsayenoughaboutit.Doyouhaveit?Doesyourteam?Ifso,youcouldenjoyatremendous2005.