Make it personal: How founders can unlock employee devotion to scale their companies
A couple of weeks ago, I got a chance to be part of the senior leadership offsite for a fast growing startup that employs 800 people. The goal for this company is to scale 3x in revenues for the next FY.
There was a point mentioned by a key speaker (invited from outside to provide an ‘outside in’ perspective) that stuck with me. ‘Moving from leadership to ownership’ - the idea of what it would take to get everyone, at all levels of the company, to think, feel and act like owners in order to enable this scale up.
I’ve been thinking about this simple but powerful idea ever since. Leveraging skills and processes as a way to scale can only go so far. Beyond a certain point, it comes down to attitude. And ownership is the most powerful of attitudes that can turbocharge growth.
Ownership is more than just financial incentives. Real ownership is when people are empowered to take action, solve problems and make decisions. When things go wrong, which they certainly will, people should feel a sense of responsibility to fix the problem. And they won’t be on their own. They can look to their teammates, who will be happy to lend a hand and take pride in getting it sorted, knowing the favour will be returned if and when it’s required down the line.
So how does one make this happen? I found some answers in Alex Holt’s book ‘Outpacers’.
The key is to get people to be ‘devoted’ to the work that they do so they feel that “it’s personal”. When people are devoted to a purposeful endeavor, they are more engaged in driving towards success and will go the extra mile to achieve it. When people feel this personal connection to work, in some ways they get obsessed and bring out their best. Put a large group of people together who all feel this way, and it’s very powerful.
Here are 3 ways to get people to be devoted and feel a personal connection to work:
1. Vision & Mission
A vision and mission must transcend the financial to the aspirational. They must be something that all stakeholders see as purposeful and valuable, audacious yet achievable. They stem from clearly understanding how you intend to change the lives of millions or even billions. When the alarm goes off at 5am in the morning, your team needs to feel motivated enough to get out of bed and bring their best, as opposed to hitting the snooze button. A powerful vision and mission are the driving force inspiring and demanding the very best from everyone, everyday. They act as a personal trainer pushing everyone beyond their current limits to deliver to the highest standards.
2. Challenges
Translating the vision & mission into weekly and monthly challenges / problems can go a long way in people feeling ownership. Challenges make you feel like you are progressing on a journey as opposed to doing mundane tasks. There’s a sense of excitement, adventure and difficulty. Challenges that are transparent and aligned right across the org to break down silos - motivate smart people to go after the challenge that’s been set. When people overcome these challenges they feel a sense of confidence, energy and purpose for the vision & mission. This is contagious and rubs off on everyone leading them to take on even bigger challenges on the journey to scale.
3. Engagement
Everyone needs to be driving forward together with the same level of commitment. Part of that collective march is a common belief that every step matters and every detail is important. This is a direct result of great engagement. Engagement provides vital nourishment for people: feeling valued, secure, supported and respected. People should feel like a critical contributor to the journey, which is an exciting adventure for everyone. There’s no better feeling than knowing your contribution is making a difference and seeing it in action by seeing the customer impact of your work. The energy derived from a united sense of purpose creates constant engagement, which becomes the engine driving all aspects of a scaling org.
