The Power of Pride and Ownership

A note to young leaders.
On the awesome power of pride and ownership.

The late, great John Caldon – former Deputy MD of Macquarie Group – understood this principle and used it frequently.

I would often be with John and colleagues brainstorming a solution when in summation John would declare: “I really like the ‘Adam Geha idea’ (or Jo Smith idea) because …”.
The idea would at least be as much John’s idea as it was anyone else’s but John wanted someone else to own it.
When I was younger, this type of public acknowledgement put a spring in my step and motivated me to give of my best.

When I finally matured a few years later and noticed what he was doing, I gently protested: “John, it’s actually your idea more than it is mine” – John smiled benignly as if to say: “Ok, good, you no longer need this type of encouragement.”

Until then, be quick to give your younger team mates the credit and capture the awesome power of pride and ownership.