Ownership and You

For a long time, I didn’t see that. I stayed on the wrong side of what Justin Welsh calls “The Ownership Gap.” I believed the company should take responsibility for my development. I expected to be trained, guided, progressed, without truly recognising that I was the one who had to take the first step. I’d sit in jobs waiting for someone to help me grow, frustrated when it didn’t happen, annoyed when others got ahead.

But my journey has changed my mind.

I now believe, fully and finally, that we are 100% responsible for our own growth. For our own learning. For our own career. That includes the decisions we make, the direction we take and the conversations we start (or avoid). You can’t outsource that. You can’t blame a manager or a system or a company culture. Even if all of that is true and broken, you still have a choice to act.

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In today’s world, there’s no excuse not to. We’ve never had more access to free knowledge, to people who’ve walked the path before us, to practical advice and structured learning. You can listen, read, watch, join, build, test and share. You can get better at your job starting tonight. You can step up as a leader without needing a title. It doesn’t take a budget. It takes a decision.

This came up again in Project Insight Session recently with a group of project managers. We were talking about self-leadership and I mentioned Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. The idea is simple: leaders own everything in their world. There’s no one else to blame. That mindset shift, while difficult, is liberating. It gives you your power back.

Ben Horowitz wrote something similar in The Hard Thing About Hard Things. Back when he led product at Netscape, he created an internal training course: “Good Product Manager. Bad Product Manager.” One line stuck with me: good product managers take full responsibility. Bad ones blame others. It’s the same story, different setting.

It applies to us as project professionals more than most. Because when a project goes off track, we’ve got choices. We can step into ownership and look inward first. Or we can look outward and point fingers. The former builds trust. The latter erodes it. The former creates options. The latter closes doors.

This isn’t about working harder or blaming yourself for everything. It’s about stopping the waiting game. If you’re not getting what you need… go looking. Ask. Learn. Move.

Don’t hold your potential hostage waiting for someone else’s permission.

If you’re just starting out, don’t expect development to come wrapped in a bow. Choose it for yourself. And if you’re already experienced, show the younger ones how it’s done. Own your growth and help them own theirs too.

I have learned that when you take full ownership, people notice. Your mindset changes. You show up differently, and eventually, the right people will show up for you too.

Own it.