At 11 years old, I was roping in the county fair rodeo.

But I wasn't a real cowboy...

I didn't grow up on a ranch. We didn't own cattle.

Growing up, I worked in a small-town grocery store.

But everything changed, when my mom, Lisa, met Bruce.

As a business owner and leader, you have an opportunity to give your people a great gift.

That gift is personal ownership.

I promise you that if you expect more from others, they'll expect more from themselves.  

In this video, I share a personal story with you that will change the way you think about a key role you play for the people you lead.

I was pissed!

It still wasn't done!  We talked about it two weeks ago and I even checked in last week.  

I couldn't have been more clear and it still wasn't done-done.

It was kind of done but not really.

This wasn't the first time either, this has been happening for months!  Things just weren't finished the way I wanted them to be.

"How can I better support you?"

"What do you need from me?"

The response I'd hear, "nothing, I'm good, I'll get it done."

In his mind, IT WAS DONE... 

But it wasn't really done!

So, I'd be frustrated and finish it myself. 

"This isn't ok, I'm not putting up with this much longer!  I'm getting tired of having to finish his work!"

A friend asked me, "what if I were to ask HIM how things are going...?"

He'd say, "it's all good!" 

Shit!

That's when I realized, this was on me!  I wasn't expressing to him what I really expected.

How was I contributing to this difficult situation?

I wasn't being honest!

...

The meeting adjourns and you are still no closer to addressing the issues you and your team came there to discuss. 

You've gotten nowhere except knowing that you have a problem.

You've been talking about this sticky issue for months now!  When is your team going to decide to do something about it? 

Sound familiar?  This is a common experience for so many business owners.

Just Another Day at the Office

We beat problems to death and still are no closer to creating what we want to see in the business.  Seldom do we talk about what we really want to see and how we can make that the new reality!

The bad has more weight than the good, so we focus on what we don’t want.  This keeps leadership teams around the world stuck on the hamster wheel of endless frustrating discussions, feeling powerless to effect change.

What would it look like for you and your team to become masters at creating solutions to the many...

It’s common to hear leaders talk about empowering their people--as in “I’m trying to empower my people, but I just can’t get them to take ownership.”

Imagine. I’m your manager, and I walk over to you carrying a pen and tell you to take it.  You grab it, but I won’t let go.

I look back at you, frustrated, asking, “what is wrong with you?”  “Why can’t I get you to take my pen?”

How’s that going to work out for me and you?

When Empowering Others Gets Misplaced

Empowerment means delegating power to others.  It's interesting to think that people need permission to take ownership.

Patty McCord, former Chief Talent Officer at Netflix and author Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility, tells us that people already have power and to not take it away.

“A company’s job isn’t to empower people,” she says. “It’s to remind people that they walk in the...