Selfless Ownership

The Essential Intangibles - Part 2

If you only care about yourself, you will be the only one who does. Selfishness is more common in your typical office than post-it notes. Most people are driven, even if they don’t admit it, by their own need to advance and get ahead of others. But the first essential intangible is selfless ownership. 

This is part 2 of the series “The Essential Intangibles,” the little things that can make or break a leader. These intangibles are essential, but thankfully, they can be learned by anyone.

The Essential Intangibles - Table of Contents

Instead of merely thinking of their own areas, the best leaders work to make other people’s work succeed too. They are a team player. They support other people’s ideas.  They chip in where they can. They hope for everyone’s success within their organization—not just their own. They do not see their environment as a complicated turf-war where every budget dollar or personnel allocation should be fought for. They instead have an abundance philosophy. A rising tide will raise the level of all the ships. 

Selfless ownership can make or break you. Why?

When you don’t have selfless ownership…

If a leader seems to have it all together but lacks selfless ownership it will eventually spell disaster for them in their organization. At first they will just be isolated and observed (the response will be neutral). Others won’t mind the fact that they are working so hard to advance their own aims alone. In fact, at first a purely selfish leader will get a lot done and perhaps even be admired and rewarded in an organization. After all, they are spending all their energy on their own stuff and because of this they may be more focused than others. 

However, in almost any kind of organization this person will eventually be broken. In an organization that is itself already a turf-oriented one they will eventually face what the strong contestants in the reality TV show Survivor face: isolation and then a concerted effort to make them lose. An initially successful but ultimately selfish leader will be unaware of secret unspoken alliances against them. Before they know it they’ll be “voted off the island” or simply kept around as a token cash cow of sorts. They rarely lead others and even if they have such a position—they are rarely followed from the heart.

In an organization that is cooperative and has a team mentality (essentially a selfless culture) this leader will suffer all the more acutely. In a selfless culture that is concerned about the collective mission of the organization individual success is not prized in the same way that it is in a turf-mentality organization. So the selfish leader may not even receive accolades early-on for selfish successes. Over time as the selfish leader refuses to sacrifice any variety of things: budget, personnel, time, project help, etc. to things all the other leaders value, they will be seen as out of alignment with the rest of the team. This leader is now on the way out. 

If this selfless organization is also a development-oriented organization they will begin coaching this leader on having ownership of other areas than their own. They may learn how to do it—perhaps they can blame their last “turf-org” for training them to operate in the way they do. A selfish leader who only owns their own stuff lacks something that may not show up well on a résumé, but is still an intangible we all want to have around us in other people.

When you have selfless ownership…

Those with this essential intangible are the most liked and respected people in an organization. Everyone wants to work with or for this leader. In a world that values competition over cooperation someone who truly values what you’re doing and seeks to chip in to help is a breath of fresh air. In a turf-org it may be so strange that at first it’s hard to understand what a selfless leader is doing. What’s their secret agenda here? But in no time even those who are selfish love to be around those who are selfless. Sure, their support and time may be taken advantage of. But over time the selfless one will be given more leadership, acquire more informal followers, and will inherit a greater and greater voice in an organization. 

This is true top to bottom as well. The lowest worker on the totem pole has just as many opportunities to be selfish or selfless as the CEO, and vice-versa. Many at the top of an organization do not think about whether they own the other areas of an org. But in reality each and every department can feel whether or not the top dog appreciates their part of the yard.

When you have selfless ownership you’ll find that you get what you weren’t working for in the first place. You’ll be blessed with more power, because there is no greater power than the power of relationships. You’ll be blessed with more success, because others will naturally work to see your success and there is no greater success than teamwork applied. You’ll be blessed with more budget, people and access, trusted with them all. To summarize all this one might simply say “the first shall be last and the last shall be first.”

How to develop selfless ownership:

If you’ve determined you could really work on your selflessness and ownership within your organization here are some starting tips:

• When you’re in a meeting, instead of bringing up your own ideas—try piggy-backing on another person’s good idea and helping it succeed.

• When there is a simple physical task to be done, be the first to chip in to clean up after the meeting or move the furniture or whatever it is. You need the exercise anyway.

• Volunteer to chip in some budget money or time to help another person’s project happen.

• Think about what your leader’s main task in this season might be, then offer to help in the way you best can.

• Think about what you’re doing to support those that may work for you. How do they feel your ownership of their area?

• Re-work your individual projects and tasks to ensure they are contributing to the overall mission and vision of the organization, not just your goals.

• List out the things you wish others in the org would do for you, then start doing those same things for them.

How to spot & reward selfless ownership:

A manager or point person in an organization usually wants to build team and cooperation, but sometimes we don’t know how. Noticing and rewarding behavior that helps to build teamwork is the best way. However, many leaders reward behavior that is not necessarily working toward that aim. One of the best examples is simply rewarding one salesperson over all the others because of numbers alone. In the lunchroom later the rest of the team will complain about the little ways that employee got ahead and won the reward. While such goals are important overall it is crucial to spot and reward those who selflessly own the whole enchilada. 

Is there someone on your team that is chipping in to help others? Are they liked by the team and does everyone want to work with them more often? Are they willing to sacrifice in their own area to make a cross-departmental effort work? If so—you’ve got a leader exhibiting the selfless ownership intangible. 

This is an essential characteristic in your team and if you want more people like this ensure that leader and the rest of the team knows it. Ownership and selflessness are contagious, and once you get just a few leaders with these intangible qualities at the top of your organization it will multiply exponentially in the positive culture of your team, and the tide will indeed rise.