WTF does it mean to “act like an owner”?

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• Ask yourself: If I were signing off with my name, would I make this better? Is there sloppiness that might reflect poorly on me or my company? Am I passing the burden to others to fix my errors? Does the work I’m shipping represent my ability?

• we’ll cover 8 ways to act like an owner: Be as self-directed and independent as possible. Assume you’ll lead the meeting. Act like your reputation is on the line, because it is. Improve your weaknesses so they’re not a blocker. This is a relay race. Do you have the baton? Get what you need and set expectations regularly. Don’t blindly do anything. Advocate for what’s best for the business.

• This is how I learned that you may be asked to jump into the deep end of the pool from day one. That was thirteen years ago, and the lesson was seared into my brain: Assume you’ll lead the meeting. Acting like an owner means you don’t passively assume someone else will step up—you may be the one who needs to steps up. It was a stressful lesson in the moment, but one I appreciated getting early on because it forever changed my posture.

• “The responsibility for teaching the subordinate must be assumed by his supervisor, and not paid for by the customers of his organization, internal or external.”

• A passed baton is literal—the other person has to acknowledge receipt. If they didn't acknowledge it, your pass doesn't count. The baton is still yours. This is an exercise in trust, personal responsibility, and accountability.

• Ask yourself: Does anyone think I’m holding the baton? Might I be? Who has the baton next? Did they confirm they received my pass?

• This is an excellent opportunity for you to run with the project, define it, and help bring it to life. Before you dive in, get the context you need to set yourself up for success. Here’s a good set of initial questions to get started: Why now for doing this? What is the timeline and general priority level? What does good enough look like? Who can help me? What resources can I tap into? When would you like to hear from me next? For example, do you want to see a first draft or only the final version for sign-off?

• Better: “Here’s what I think good enough could look like. Let me know if you agree or have any feedback. If this looks good, I’ll move forward.”

• Ask yourself: What are they actually asking? What’s the question behind the question? Did I actually answer their question or talk around it? How can I take control in a way that’s best for the customer and our business? If a friend asked me this, how might I answer in a direct and thoughtful way?

• I want to be clear: convincing others to see your point of view takes work. It takes effort to: understand other people’s worldviews figure out your own logic strategize how to align incentives put all of this into words make a business case be patient when facing skepticism