If you study leadership, there is one factor that virtually every single outstanding leader you will ever meet possesses.
In fact, I can’t think of a single exception.
It’s not natural gifting, although that helps.
It’s not tremendous people skills. Some leaders just don’t possess those and they’re still effective.
It’s not a tremendous education. Lots of top grads end up missing their potential.
While there are, for sure, many factors that go into effective leadership, this one is characteristic of every outstanding leader I know.
So what is it? And how would you know if you have it?
The Critical Factor
The critical factor is so simple that when you see it, you’ll recognize it immediately.
And yet so many aspiring leaders don’t possess it (yet).
What is it?
Ownership.
Outstanding leaders own the outcome of everything they do.
You can’t take an outstanding leader off a project until it’s successful.
And even when it fails, they feel it personally and try to learn everything they can about it so the next time is better.
They’re never "done" until the goal is accomplished.
This doesn’t mean they work 100 hours a week, but it does mean they aren’t finished until the objective is met. If they work 40 hours (or 55), they can’t wait to get back at it to solve what has yet to be solved.
They think like owners.
They won’t be satisfied until the results are where they want them to be…even if that takes months or years.
Don’t Just Commit to the Process
Here’s a distinction that I think can help you not only identify ownership (or the lack of it) in yourself, but also help you coach your team through it.
There’s a world of difference between leaders who are committed to the process and leaders who are committed to the outcome.
Process is important … the end doesn’t always justify the means.
But for some people it stops there.
They were committed to the process, but not the outcome.
They did what someone told them to do.
They checked all the boxes.
And they never bothered to see where it all landed or shrugged their shoulders when it failed.
When you only commit to the process, it can end up producing futility
Think about it: There are too many overweight people who work out every day. (I’m not being critical. It’s personal for me. For too many years, that was me. Until I changed my diet.)
Too many preachers who spend three days on messages that help almost no one.
And far too many people who will get to four o’clock and call the day a win because they got through the pile in front of them.
And all that effort accomplished … not much at all.
What Commitment to the Process Sounds Like
So how do you know if that’s you? Or if someone on your team is struggling with commitment to the process.
Leaders who are committed to the process often say things like this:
Well I worked for hours on this project.
I followed everything everyone told me to do.
I called 10 times. I just couldn’t get through.
I got it done in time. That’s what you wanted, right?
I had exactly the number of people you asked for working on the project.
I sent five emails. He just never responded.
You have no idea how hard our team worked on that.
All of which might be true.
But that’s where people who only think about the process stop. They did what they were supposed to do. What else could they do?
The answer is simple. They could have owned the outcome.
So What Does Owning the Outcome Look Like?
Leaders who own the outcome sound and act differently from leaders who merely own the process.
They say things like:
All my hours were kind of irrelevant, because that message didn’t really connect, did it? Let’s go back to the drawing board and figure out what went wrong.
Wow! That series drew a record number of new attenders. What made it successful?
He wasn’t answering phone calls or emails, so I drove to his office. I wasn’t going to let this opportunity slip by.
I got it done in half the time and it really worked. I loved the extra time with my family as a result. Now what’s next?
Hey team, all your hard work paid off! Look what happened as a result! Can you believe it?
People can’t stop talking about that event. Let’s figure out why it worked and do it again.
See the difference?
The process matters, but the process is just a way to get to an outstanding outcome.
It’s the difference between punching a clock, ticking a box, doing what you were told to do, and leading.
Here’s the key difference: Outstanding leaders keep changing the process until it matches the outcome the mission demands.
So what are you measuring?
Process or outcomes?
