How to take full ownership of your job and work to ensure your success! It’s an employee’s most valuable attribute, one that can’t be bought or trained.
Any job you do is going to have your name and fingerprints all over it. That is why it is so important to take ownership of your job, any job you do, and really own it. Do it the best you can, the best it can be done. That is how you succeed at whatever you do. My dad used to tell me, “Vic, we’re not going to take short cuts, we’re going to do it right the first time.” Even when he worked for other people for free helping them, he refused to take short cuts even when they wanted to, even on their own projects!! He wouldn’t do it. It went against his grain in every way.
Total Responsibility
Is ownership the same as taking responsibility? Yes, except that ownership means taking responsibility to the nth degree. People who’ll commit to that extent don’t even think about whether they’re taking a little, a moderate amount, or a lot of responsibility. When you own your job, you do whatever it takes to get it done with excellence because it has your name all over it.
Ownership of your job is an instinct and a drive to take on all of the responsibility included in your duties and in your position and even outside of your position. Going above and beyond and always going the extra mile. Never pass the buck; “Oh, that’s Johnson’s job”, or “I really don’t have experience in that sort of thing”, or “It’s the other team’s fault.” Don’t pass the buck. Make it happen. Be the “Go-To” guy. Take responsibility and you will be a hero! Allow the buck to stop with you and in fact, be sure that it does because that guy will soon run the entire company. If you don’t care about being a “go-to” guy or wanting that kind of responsibility, then that’s ok too, just don’t plan on ever being very financially successful.
Making a Difference
The people who get promoted are those who make a difference. If there is no difference between what happens when you come to work and when you don’t, why would anyone want to pay you? One simple way to make a difference is to do any job you tackle the best it can be done. That is what taking ownership means. You may not be the best choice for a particular job, but once it is given to you, it’s up to you to get it done the best way possible. If you do that, people will notice. And when they see you take ownership of every job you do; they will start to give you the jobs that are important to them. The more you do jobs that matter to your superiors, and do them well, the faster you will move ahead. THE SIZE OF YOUR PAYCHECK IS DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO THE SIZE OF THE PROBLEMS YOU SOLVE.
Passion, Energy, Pride
There is an article I read once that said that “when you are passionate about what you do, you do better and you enjoy it more”. Enjoying a job will make you successful at it. Sometimes you can’t be passionate about a job, but you can still take ownership. You can still own the job and do it well. You make a conscious effort to own it and to do it well because it’s apart of who you are and who you have decided to become as a person.
When you are passionate about what you do, you have more energy. You care more about what you do. When you care more about what you do, you do it better and you can take pride in what you have done. When you are proud of what you have done, you are passionate about it and the cycle starts over. It is a process that feeds on itself and increases your capability. Passion is what wakes you up in the morning and will keep you working long into the night. Passion is the root of all success, all of it. It is the fuel behind every achievement!