5 Ways to Build Ownership Before You Ever Reach for a Write-Up

Companies and leaders keep bringing me the same question lately: how do we get our people to take ownership? For as long as I can remember, this has been a challenge, but it has come up more frequently in recent years.

It comes up in almost every executive conversation. There is a real struggle with accountability inside organizations, and most leaders are searching for the answer in the wrong place. They reach for systems, write-ups, and performance improvement plans when the breakdown started long before any of that.

I’ll tell you where it really starts.

Years ago, I sat down with a senior vice president who wanted help with a team member whose behavior had turned toxic. People had called the company hotline; there were many complaints. And this just surfaced with me as I noticed the behavior in a session I was delivering. As I asked deeper questions, I landed on one that shifted the whole conversation: was any of this documented in the person's performance reviews? The answer was no. Nothing. That was the real problem. No one had ever had an honest conversation with this person about what was not working. The paperwork was missing because the dialogue was missing first. It had been going on for years, and no one wanted to talk about the behavior because it was uncomfortable.

I have watched this pattern repeat for years, across companies I have worked for and companies I have advised. Senior leaders avoid hard conversations because they are uncomfortable with conflict and do not always know how to coach. So things slide for months, sometimes years, until suddenly there is a desire to put someone on a performance plan or a termination, and by then, the moment for real development has passed. Many leaders never turn the mirror on themselves to ask whether they gave that person a fair chance to course correct.

Here is what I believe.  A culture of accountability is built through leadership that knows how to connect with people, and it is reinforced by every individual choosing to take ownership. It starts at the top and lives or dies by the daily choices of each person on the team. Extreme ownership of work takes daily effort.

These are the five things I would do to build it.

1. Have the conversation long before you reach for documentation.

Accountability begins with open dialogue. Most people already know which behaviors are not working; they simply have not been told directly. Others have blind spots that undermine their credibility and trust in certain rooms, and they will never see those patterns without your help. So ask the deep questions. What are you struggling with? Where do you need support? Where do you want to develop? When you create that kind of dialogue early and often, you give people the feedback they need to adjust while it still matters, instead of saving it all up for a write-up that arrives too late. People need examples, so having these conversations regularly helps individuals identify when and where they need guidance and shifts.

2. Know your people's personal goals, not only their career goals.

This one trips leaders up. When I ask whether they know their people's goals, almost everyone says yes; then I ask them to expand, and they reach for career milestones. So I get specific: do you know your person's personal goals? The hobbies they care about, their values, their family, dreams,  the places they want to travel, the loan they are paying off, the relationship that matters most, and the 5K they signed up to run. Most leaders go quiet because they have never asked.

When you can tie the work that needs to get done to someone's bigger why, you earn a level of commitment that no deadline can create. People feel that you care about them as a human being and not only as output, and that is when they will run through walls for you. Think of that leader you had and how much you wanted to do for them?

3. Give recognition as consistently as you give correction.

When I discuss recognition, almost everyone I ever speak with tells me their manager needs to recognize them more. Not enough people are getting the recognition they have earned. When you give steady, positive feedback on what someone is doing well and weave constructive feedback alongside it, you hold them accountable in a way they can actually receive.

Tell them plainly: keep doing this, it is working; here is one thing I need you to adjust, and this is how it will elevate you and put you back on the path of “Insert Your Employees personal goal here”. Then connect both messages to the goal that matters to them. If you tell someone to strengthen their executive presence so the department looks confident in front of senior leaders, it lands flat. If you tell them that the same skill will move them closer to the future they are building for themselves, the promotion or project they want to work on, increase their levels of confidence, and reduce their nerves, they lean in.

4. Shift your mindset from protecting yourself to elevating your people. No feedback is selfish.

So many leaders deliver only the negative feedback, and they deliver it poorly, or not at all (avoidance), because in that moment, they are thinking about themselves; how they look, how they feel, how their leadership team will judge the conversation. The shift happens when you walk into the room thinking about how to elevate the person in front of you. The conversation stops being something you survive and becomes something you offer. People can feel the difference, and they respond to it with trust. Everyone wants to be supported by a leader who will guide them towards their own goals and elevate them.

5. Help your people find their own North Star.

Accountability eventually has to become internal, and that comes from a person knowing their own values, vision, and goals. I have met so many talented people who cannot name their top three values or articulate a personal goal beyond the next deadline. When you do not know which direction you are heading, you do not stay still; you slide backward. But when you know your North Star, every step becomes an act of accountability to the future version of yourself you are building. If continuous growth is one of your core values, taking that certification stops feeling like an obligation and starts feeling like alignment. This becomes intrinsic motivation vs extrinsic.  If family is your value, hitting the deadline becomes a way to protect the time you want with the people you love. That is the moment ownership stops being something done to you and becomes something you choose.