Encouraging an Ownership Mindset: A 6-step Guide for Team Leaders

“I need my leadership team to take more ownership of our success. To be on the lookout for opportunities for our team, grab them, and run with them.” This is one of the most common challenges I hear from the leaders I coach. So how do you cultivate an authentic, sustainable sense of responsibility and engagement among team members?

Here are some strategies:

1. Define Clear and Meaningful Goals: Make goals personal to resonate with your team's hearts and minds. For example, if your goal is to enhance the user experience, connect this objective to each team member's aspirations. A UI designer might see it as an opportunity to showcase creativity, while a data analyst might value influencing product decisions. By linking team goals to individual growth, you're providing a path for professional development.

2. Delegate Tasks and Empower Decision-Making: Empowering others to own tasks can be challenging, but it's essential for leadership growth. Accept that others may not perform tasks as well as you initially, but understand that empowering your team leads to greater overall impact. This involves managing internal saboteurs (parts of our psyche that dampen our potential) like the hyper-achiever, judge, and controller, which can hinder your ability to fully embrace leadership.

3. Provide Feedback and Recognition: Make feedback and recognition a team effort. Create an environment where the team holds each other accountable and acknowledges excellence, regardless of rank. This requires a strong investment in connection and psychological safety to enable open communication.

4. Foster a Growth Mindset: Encourage your team to embrace challenges as opportunities for growth and learning. This starts with modeling—talk openly about lessons you have, and are, learning, and why those experiences have helped you grow. When the team runs into roadblocks or fails, ask questions to help them focus on what is useful from the experience, like, “What’s the knowledge, skill, or inspiration this experience can offer us that will help us in the future?”?

5. Set Clear Expectations:?It’s hard for people to take ownership when they don’t know what they own. Clearly communicate what ownership looks like in your team, including responsibilities and accountability. End meetings with a recap of what was most important from the conversation, next steps, owners, and deadlines. And when expectations are not met, address that quickly, inviting the individual or team to co-create the solution to improve the situation.

6. Reflect Regularly: Too often, we race from task to task, project to project, rarely pausing to reflect and learn. This can lead to repeating mistakes, overlooking innovations, and stagnation. Rituals of reflection, like annual retrospectives, are pivotal. They compel us to slow down, broaden our view, dissect the past, and assimilate those lessons. I find that teams that zoom out and reflect together with this intention 1-2/year and use those learnings to shape what they do next, flourish. Bonus: Create micro-feedback rituals, like pulse surveys, in between. Regular reflection reinforces a culture of ownership.?

By implementing these strategies, you can cultivate a more engaged, effective team that sees ownership as its mandate and leans into it. A team that takes ownership of its future is an unstoppable force.

If you're a design leader looking to enhance your team's sense of ownership, reach out to explore how my coaching services can support you and your team.