Becoming an Owner | Building a Case for a Company Value

BECOMING

AN OWNER THE VALUE

Ben Jackson | Brigham Van Auken | Suzy Bathel | Janet Malsam

Marcques Johnson | Marty Martinez | Jacob Francis | Kelsey Jeratowski

COMPANY VALUE: ACT LIKE AN OWNER

Becoming an Owner: LinkedIn Company Confidential

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OUR PROJECT FOCUS

Research what Value means and is intended to communicate

Find stories in GCO that highlighted this value

What we learned

Ownership is challenging and often goes unrecognized

There are consistent characteristics of owners

We are all owners


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DEFINING THE BELIEF SYSTEM

What makes you an owner?

How can we identify ownership traits?

Can this be changed?


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THINKING LIKE AN OWNER

What most people perceive ownership to be:

1. Privilege

2. Control

3. Entitlement

4. Luck - Being in right place at right time


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THINKING LIKE AN OWNER

What ownership is:

1. Doing small things right

2. Taking responsibility for mistakes

3. Demonstrating trustworthiness

4. Discipline – Being in the right place when the time comes


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Model of Owner | Warran Buffett

Known for investing as though he ‘owned’ the

company, teaching his children financial

responsibility rather than entitlement, and living

very modestly, despite massive wealth

What does Acting Like an Owner Mean to You?

We interviewed several small business

owners to get insight into what they think

“Acting Like an Owner Means”


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What does Acting Like an Owner Mean to You?

Doing small things right, even when no one is looking.

Example: Employee worked all weekend when owner was out of town to correct errors in financial report, didn’t tell the boss, just got it done.

Don’t assume anyone else will do something – do it yourself.

Examples, marketing guy was ‘caught’ fixing broken toilets, manager climbed on the roof to check the AC unit as it took too long for repair guys.

Treat customers like family-every single customer matters. Bad customer experiences can break you.

Example: Employee took customer out to lunch after she heard the customer’s grandfather had passed away.


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STEPS TO ACTING [MORE] LIKE AN OWNER


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LEAD BY EXAMPLE

Act the way you want your managers to behave.

“Be the change you want to

see in the world.”

-Ghandi


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IT'S OUR COMPANY

Refrain from using the phrase “that’s not my job” and focusing

finding out who can help.

Remember to share the credit for your successes, even when you

think it was ‘your idea’

Own the blame, even when you were not directly at fault – One

team.


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TAKE LINKEDIN'S SUCCESS PERSONALLY

You have a stake – win or lose.

Treat this like your own livelihood.


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GCO OWNER STORIES

Janet with Phone Support: Best Customer Experience

California was offline for a day. Omaha had a team meeting. Janet

stepped in to cover phones by herself without being asked. She wanted

to make sure that our clients could get the help they needed.


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GCO OWNER STORIES

Jocelyn with provisioning: Championing

Noticed a process that needed to be addressed and ‘owned’. Created

process documents, met with key contacts and developed a roadmap for

success which became a leadership position within Enterprise Support.


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GCO OWNER STORIES

Marcques with Project Skywalker (ES QA Program): Contributor

Spent great deal of time collaborating with project managers and program

designers to help identify issues with previous programs, best practices

moving forward. His contributions were simply what was in the best

interest of the company and the team, not focusing on his own

recognition.


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GCO OWNER STORIES

Suzy with Global Account Support model: Partner

When she first started in Strategic/Global Support, it

functioned as a inquiry based support model. Through

engagement with the Global Account Managers [GAMs] and

adding value to the client with regular communications

outside of support related inquiries and providing important

product updates, she has changed the way the Enterprise

Support role is perceived as well as improved client

relationships for the GAMs.


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PRACTICAL APPLICATION

Practice using ‘we' language, not they or “the company” or “that

team”

We are responsible for giving feedback, even if our opinion isn’t

popular

We celebrate and recognize the successes of your peers


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THINKING DEEPER

Begin with the end in mind. Owners do not set out to fail, they set

out with a vision of how they can improve something or an

experience. With every interaction, visualizing how you want the

call or contact to go will often lead you to it.

Become conscious of your reputation. Your work, your

communication, your team are all a reflection of how you are

‘known’. Consider your most recent communication – did you

focus on blame, excuses and denial or accountability,

responsibility and of course, ownership.


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Business

Becoming an Owner | Building a Case for a Company Value