spicershealth

Ownership has taken on a much different connation recently with the housing crisis, and many Americans now struggling to pay their mortgage and keep their homes. In the context of the work we do, and in our daily lives, ownership plays a key role in our ability to work together, share responsibilities and accomplishments. I’ve recently had experience with assessing people’s perceptions based on their ownership and have observed where others might require ownership to support my work. The way I like to view ownership is in the ability to give power and responsibility to others in a way that will benefit the collective.

In leadership and work with others I feel ownership is crucial. To have a stake in the process, our colleagues need to be stake-holders. They need to know that their participation matters, and without their contributions, trust in their opinions and expertise the puzzle won’t be complete. So how to we provide ownership? Delegation and empowerment are two key ways to approach this question. When we are leading a group process we should aim to delegate responsibilities and leadership roles to others and through that process we as a group should work to empower others to feel that their work matters. How do we do that? There are many ways to do it, whether it’s by conducting meetings in a way that allows others to share and engage in an open dialogue; working with others in a one on one setting where they are able to identify their strenghts and interests and create projects that help to fulfill them.

Ownership is something that requires a faith in the process. When doing work with others-especially among folks like myself in social services- we often talk about the process. In this case though, opening up the process to others and sharing in these experiences is what I think helps to build ownership. Security is a huge part of this. People need to feel secure and comfortable that others trust them, their voices will be heard, and ultimately they will be able to take part in something that fulfills their passion and interests. As with many of these concepts, we should first ask ourselves what this means to us and with ownership- we need to seek out how we’d like to have a stake and how we can work with others to be stake-holders.

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