Hi Team,
I am still processing last week’s pivotal All-Hands Meeting. There was quite a bit shared and much to reflect upon, especially the discussion and theme of our newest core value, Proud Owners.
Proud Owners: We take ownership – of our actions, our outcomes, and our impact. We follow through, hold ourselves and each other accountable, and act with positivity and integrity. When something needs doing or improving, we step up and lead the way – no excuses, no passing the buck.
This is not a simple definition by any means, and it requires us to look inward, being honest with ourselves and hold ourselves accountable to BE better and/or to make things better. Eric provided several examples in our meeting of the things we could do or say to demonstrate how, in even the simplest of ways, to truly live this core value. This recent discussion combined with the definition of Proud Owners reminded me of a book I read a while back titled, No Ego, by Cy Wakeman. There were a lot of pearls of wisdom in that book, but one question Cy states she continually asks when faced with tackling organizational issues is:
“What would GREAT look like?”
It’s a thought-provoking question. We all can make GREAT happen by being proactive and courageous, each of us voicing our ideas and our solutions as Proud Owners. We can commit to providing feedback often, being transparent, and asking when we need or want something that isn’t there, rather than suffer in silence or blame others. On the flip side when we do have what we need, we are able to participate fully. It’s also taking ownership of our mistakes, or when we allow ourselves to make assumptions versus seeking out the “data” and being brave to have those sometimes-difficult conversations, as described in the No Fault Formula.
The feedback that was shared at our meeting was a gift to us all. We are learning and realizing organizationally what we are missing, and what needs are not being met. We are gaining a deeper understanding of what we need to remedy and build, such as simplifying finding ways to get back to the core roots of our organization, career pathing, recognition programs, and an understanding of our compensation philosophy, to name a few. And while we have teams that can build these programs and structures, we can all choose to be Proud Owners in it all, owning our actions and impact, choosing to become involved and help refine and amplify our culture for the better, alongside of continuing to build trust, and strengthen psychological safety at all levels of our organization. In the end, when we invest and own fully, when we commit to being Better Together, GREAT is realized.
Please feel free to share your thoughts below.
Wishing you all a Better We, Better Week! 😊
