My firm's managers lack ownership.

Is this something that you bemoan about your team members? Quite often, we, as firm owners or partners, are the problem.

We implement uninspiring top-down monitoring systems. Systems that enforce a "leader-follower" mindset. A mindset where our managers assume no ownership of business outcomes. Instead, the systems motivate managers to avoid errors only.

David Marquet explains that supervisors frequently bemoan the "lack of ownership" in their employees. When he observes what they are doing and what practices they have in their organization, he sees how they defeat any attempt to build ownership.

We can do much, much better. Our people want us to lead and inspire them. They want us to allow them to develop creative ideas to tackle their teams' challenges.

Consider these questions that Marquet asks in his best-selling book, Turn the Ship Around:

• Are you underutilizing the ideas, creativity, and passion of your mid-level managers and team members? Consider that they may want to be responsible for their department's work outcomes.

• How many top-down (people) monitoring systems are in your organization? An unintended consequence of such systems may be to motivate people to avoid errors instead of driving the firm forward.

• How can you eliminate them and make leaders of your followers? You can (and should) inspire them by your example to take ownership of the firm's outcomes.

Talk to us if you want to inspire your managers and turn followers into leaders, "unlok-ing" their problem-solving potential.

Source: Marquet, L. David: Turn the Ship Around