Blog Post

Leadership is Ownership

Greg Taylor

Do you want to be a leader? Can you take ownership of the results?


The fifth of Winning Edge’s 10 leadership concepts in our Take Another Step System, an inspirational leadership workshop is Leadership is Ownership.


As a conniving child, when my Mother would discipline me, I would always deflect, often blaming others for my own behavior.  She always said in a loving tone,  “Greg, you have to own your own behavior before you can ever fix it.”  This simple lesson is embedded in every aspect of Winning Edge’s teaching. 


So when inspirational leaders take ownership of their team’s results, good or bad, their teammates and others will see their character and  be inspired to take a journey that they would not otherwise have taken by themselves. 


Winning Edge has identified 3 ways for a leader to embrace ownership: 


1) Personal accountability 

2) Begin with the end in mind 

3) Protect your people



1. Personal accountability

Can you take ownership of something if you do not hold yourself accountable?  Absolutely not! Personal accountability is an attitude of continually asking what I myself can do to rise above my circumstances and achieve the results I desire.  Accountability is also a process-one of seeing it, owning it, solving it, and doing it.  It is a perspective that focuses on current and future efforts, rather than the past.  This will create a sense of strength in us as leaders, allowing us to be unafraid to admit our mistakes.   


2. Begin with the end in mind

What inspires a person to take ownership?  Strong leaders have a clear picture of their destination.  They find peace and strength in knowing where they have been, where they are currently, where they are going, and they have an understanding of the necessary steps to take to reach the destination.  Focus, courage, consistency, and inspirational leadership skills will give us all, as strong leaders, the necessary means to stand firm and own the process.  We will be confident and determined in reaching the destination.   


3. Protect your people

Can you achieve your goals by yourself?  Our people are our most important asset, and we need to treat them as such.  We must put the right people in the right place doing the right things.   Effective leaders must show their people that they care about them—about their time, their health, their work-life balance, their integrity—in short, in all of the aspects that comprise a person in full. The leaders that influenced me the most were the ones who helped me appreciate and internalize these principles. When it is obvious to our people that we are holding ourselves accountable, moving towards the end game,  genuinely caring about them,  and helping them remove all barriers, then everyone will be empowered to take another step.

I would love to hear your success stories on how when you took ownership in something you could better manage and make it the best possible.





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