By Kevin Roberts

In the second article of this series, I mentioned how a character trait could be a deal breaker in the hiring process. This article will expand on that idea.

I once had a conversation with a friend of mine who is a fleet technician. He described how he was called into his boss’s office to be asked why the fleet drivers were afraid of him. This was, I suspect, in the mind of his boss going to result in some degree of reprimand for this situation. My friend’s response surprised him. “I both intend and cultivate that fear because if they are afraid of me, they take better care of the equipment. They realize that these are my pieces of equipment and if they break something they will be held accountable by me in a way that is unpleasant for them.” This made his boss uncomfortable, but since he was already aware that the fleet location under discussion had a lower rate both of breakdown (in use) and out-of-service incidence (found during maintenance), he was unable to provide a reason for the situation to be altered.

This is the tech taking ownership that leads others to take ownership.

When seen this way, taking ownership is a subset of two much larger principles: Responsibility and leadership. Perhaps we can refer to it as taking responsibility combined with taking charge.

In the above example, we have a clear distinction between the leadership of position and the leadership of example. You see, it is not simply a position of authority that makes you a leader. It is the possession of certain character traits that make people follow you. In this case, an employee influenced his superior to not only avoid reprimanding him but to end up somewhere between tolerating and approving what was previously and superficially regarded as questionable behavior. This was in response to the influence my friend had on those using the equipment. When you take ownership of the equipment under your charge, you not only provide for a positive outcome for the equipment, you also provide for a positive outcome for those you influence by your example.

In our world of emergency vehicle service, the positive outcome of taking ownership affects ourselves, our shop, the department, the equipment itself, and of course, the public at large. As a technician, you are in a unique and key position to determine a positive outcome that may supersede any position of authority that others have in this chain of custody.

Unfortunately, we live in a culture where the populace has commonly abdicated personal responsibility for things that formerly were viewed as individual obligations.

• We have allowed the food industry to take over our nutritional decisions. 
• We have allowed the public school system to take over our children’s education.
• We have allowed the health care industry to take over our physical well-being.
• We have allowed our local repair shop to take over our vehicle service.

How’s that working out for us? Are you prepared to make a difference?

Perhaps some readers are thinking that the above areas are too complex for the individual to understand and, therefore, to take charge. All these areas of expertise are inhabited by people just like you except for three things.

• They have spent time and money learning their field. The actual amount of expertise may surprise you.
• They often have an economic incentive to keep you ignorant of what they do in order to perpetuate their business model.
• They are not just like you in many ways. They are individuals. The responses to the items listed above will be different for everyone reading this.

If you wish to have a positive impact on anyone who depends on the work you do, you need to take ownership of the work you do, take leadership among those with whom you associate, and take responsibility for producing a positive outcome for all involved.

Many years ago, I helped a friend pour a concrete slab for a large building he needed for his business. He was on a shoestring budget, so he had many volunteer friends help him with the project. None had ever been involved in pouring concrete. Since I lived three hours away, he invited me as an afterthought. I was not involved at all in the preparation but simply showed up early on the day of the pour to see what assistance I could provide. Even though I had worked in construction for several years after graduation from high school, and had poured slabs before, I was not an expert in pouring this size slab. I believe it was around 150 feet by 80 feet with in-floor heat and reinforcement of both mesh and rebar.

All his 20 volunteers showed up early—even before the concrete pump set up (a large truck crane that reaches the entire site and delivers the concrete through a hose) and before the first concrete truck arrived. No one knew what to do. I gathered them all together for a game plan. I picked the largest volunteer and told him he would be my guy on the pump hose. Then, we divided the rest into those who would shovel and pull up reinforcing, who would rake, who would operate the power strike-off and who would use the bull float.

This was an educational moment for me. I did not have time to tell any of them how to perform their respective responsibilities. I only spoke of outcomes. I told the guy on the pump hose that his responsibility was to make the job of the next group (shovelers) as easy as possible. Then I told the shovelers that their responsibility was to make the job of the rakers as easy as possible. Then I told the rakers that their responsibility was to make the job or the strike-off crew as easy as possible. They all got the message and showed, not their expertise, for they had none, but they showed their commitment to taking ownership of their responsibilities and by doing so we poured somewhere around 140 yards of concrete in the next 12 hours. It was a pleasure to behold.

What I learned that day many years ago, is that it is far more important to possess character traits than expertise. Character traits will invariably lead to expertise. If you target expertise in your hiring, you may or may not get character traits. But if you target (and work to develop) character traits, expertise will follow.

Real Safety vs. Liability Safety, Part 1

Real Safety vs. Liability Safety, Part 2