Building A Team of Owners with Mike Michalowicz
February 22, 2022
There is a subtle yet extraordinary difference between owning something and being responsible for it. An employee will take care of something they own a thousand times better than something they are held accountable for. This works for material things like a gas pump or a tire rack and intangible things like customer service. The amazing discovery was made by Steven King, owner of King’s Smokehouse, a barbeque restaurant in Hunt, Texas, just two hours drive from San Antonio.
Today, I’m joined by Mike Michalowicz, considered one of the most innovative business minds of our time. Mike is a Podcast Host, Speaker, and Author of several business books, like “Profit first,” “Fix this next,” “Get different,” “Clockwork,” “Surge,” “The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur,” and “The Pumpkin Plan.” His book “The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur” was named a business cult classic by BusinessWeek. Mike’s work has been translated into 10 languages.
Mike shared King’s Smokehouse’s story and the evolution Steven, its owner, saw throughout the years, thanks to the perks of giving his team ownership over certain things. We had a fantastic conversation about the power of ownership and how it can completely change an employee’s production and commitment to his job and the company. We also talk about the best way to deal with perceived weaknesses of our business and how to reposition them as strengths.
Tune in to episode 17 of Maximum Octane. Take a second to think about the advantages of offering your team ownership, creating a whole new level of belonging and commitment with your company.
In this episode, you will learn:
- Joel’s fountain. How giving ownership started at King’s (7:10)
- Small things first, and then the rest. How to properly offer ownership to our teams (11:03)
- The differences between being responsible for something, and ownership (13:30)
- Another Brady Bunch reference. How to turn a disadvantage into a strength (16:33)
