Work Like an Owner, Not a Renter
One breezy Sunday morning I spotted him picking up trash scattered around the building and parking lot from the night before.
He was off the clock, it wasn't his job to pick up litter, but here he was doing it because he knew it needed to be done.
Rivers was a bartender who acted like an owner.
Towering above most with a chest-length auburn beard, he was hard to miss.
"Hi, I'm Rivers, what's your name?" he'd say while removing his cap and extending his hand in a I'm-so-glad-you-decided-to-come-in-today sort of fashion.
His restaurant philosophy was simple: the guests are your employers and your table section is your business.
If he was taking care of your group or serving you at the bar you felt like you were hanging out with a new best friend you'd just met at random.
Rivers' relationship with the restaurant ended for unclear reasons but on a recent jog I saw a sign up for a new establishment opening:
Old Man Rivers Table & Tavern Coming Soon
Unfortunately for the world, most of us are renters.
We join a company, get as much out of it as we can while contributing where needed and then onto the next.
There are however some innate owners who take immense pride in whatever they pen their name onto, and you should hire as many of them as possible.
But there's also another way to create more owners in your organization.
Company culture dictates what employees do when the boss is not around.
If your company culture is built around rewarding those who go the extra mile or think outside of the box, then you'll have a lot of hardworking creatives on your team.
Inversely, if you praise the ones who get their jobs done quickly while sticking to the script, you'll have many speedy machinelike folks on your side.
So how do you create a company culture that encourages ownership?
- Provide them the right tools to explore opportunites for the business
- Set up systems in place that incentivice ownership over their work
- Make it a top headline when someone does something well
Renters aspire to act like owners whenever they see ownership in action.
After witnessing Rivers picking up trash in the parking lot, I started to do the same.
Not because I had to but because I wanted to. I wanted to do my job and then some, not for anyone else but myself.
If you want to create more owners on your team, Amble can help you take the first step.
Reach out for a demo today and we'll show you how you can transform your renters to owners and your owners to innovators.
This is how we help ordinary organizations grow in extraordinary ways.