I have often noticed how CEOs and leaders talk about “owning” their organizations. I also have observed how employees respond when they hear that language, observe, or even simply feel the dynamics when an ownership mindset is present.
As an example, I once coached a CEO who wanted to create more engagement within her staff. She genuinely wanted her staff to show up and help the organization thrive. When I asked the team what was hindering her ability to engage them, I’ll never forget what they said:
“She owns the organization. Therefore, it is her problem to solve, not ours. We are just the worker bees.”
This way of thinking surprised me. I had never heard my client say she owned the organization. Also, this was a non-profit organization, a context in which ownership language isn’t usually a common topic. How could this happen? After diving more deeply into the situation, I soon found out that this staff had heard for-profit leaders talk from an ownership mindset in their previous workplaces. I learned it was actually the employees themselves who had brought this framing into their new workplace!
The problem with an ownership mindset is that only objects can be owned.
When employees see themselves as the property of the organization and its leaders, they stop bringing their talents and gifts to their work. This is because they feel like they’re being exploited for profits that aren’t equally distributed.
Today, we are trying to figure out how to authentically engage our employees and trigger more innovation within our teams. But to achieve those outcomes, we need to create a very different relationship with our employees. And that can’t happen without first understanding the three biggest challenges with an ownership mentality.
One – No one likes to be “owned.”
I have heard some CEOs talk about “owning their staff,” which means that if they need employees to work longer hours, they should, no questions asked. This means that job security depends on each employee’s willingness to respond to potentially unreasonable demands, including working strange hours, taking on unpaid responsibilities, or even working overtime. The ownership mentality creates a “power over” dynamic in the relationship between the employee and the organization. This dynamic always carries control and, even worse, fear with it.
Two – When we’re being objectified, we show up differently in our organizations.
With an ownership mindset, there is always an implied threat that you can be easily replaced if you don’t do your job and comply with directives. Leaders who view themselves as owners often hold this “replaceable cog” assumption, even (or maybe particularly?) in publicly held corporations.
This objectification, when we aren’t seen, heard, or respected as unique individuals by leadership, coupled with threats to gain compliance, causes a decrease in feelings of psychological safety. Psychological safety, along with trust, is crucial for innovation. And the emotional state of the “boss” casts a long shadow across the organization. A phrase that dysfunctional teams or organizations often articulate, and one you’ve probably heard yourself, is: “When my boss is nervous, we all need to be nervous.”
Three – There are severe, long-term consequences of an ownership mindset.
An ownership mindset can gain compliance (or malicious compliance) in the short term, but it is extremely difficult to sustain over time. There are two reasons for this. Maintaining control over employees requires a lot of time and energy. This is expensive and inefficient in the long run. And secondly, talented people don’t stay if they feel they are “owned” by the company. Talent always has options of finding another job that doesn’t see them as objects. An organization with an ownership mindset will start bleeding talented staff. The ones that stay are the ones that feel stuck. Over time, the organization will have a less competent workforce. If you want to have your organization thrive in the future, you need talent to be attracted to your organization. An ownership mindset doesn’t do that.
Can you be an owner without the owner mindset?
Of course, you can be an owner without bringing an owner mindset to the organization. This often occurs in startups, where the team that helped start and grow a business is seen as a group of unique and talented individuals. Startup relationships are often forged in loyalty, trust, and shared contribution. The leader may be the business owner, but the mindset is respectful and focuses on working together toward a shared goal.
Owners can choose the relationship they want to bring to their organization. If you remember one thing from this blog, it should be this:
Regenerative organizations don’t have an ownership mindset!
This blog is the third in a series on regenerative leadership. Don’t miss last week’s piece on the metaphor of sailing in a motorboat world.
