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Ownership


I was at the gym this morning (I know, I was surprised too) and as I was leaving the locker room, I noticed two large clumps of paper towels on the floor near the entrance, several feet from the nearest trash can. Although I didn’t see who had left them there, I was disappointed by both his paper-towel-hooping skills along with his general lack of concern in leaving a mess. But it is what happened next that really struck me.

As I was putting on my headphones and wondering how someone could miss a large trashcan by four feet, I saw an employee of the gym walk into the locker room. He looked down at the balled-up paper towels and deliberately stepped over them. Here’s what’s even worse, he is one of the managers of the club. Now, I realize picking up trash probably isn’t in his specific job description nor is it likely a “key result area” of his performance reviews. However, as a manager and leader within the organization, it certainly falls under his greater purpose of providing a clean, safe and welcoming environment for members to work out and improve their health.

What I witnessed was an unfortunate lack of ownership. This manager didn’t create the issue, wasn’t specifically tasked with coming up with a solution (like bending over as he walked by, picking up the two clumps and tossing them in the nearby trashcan – I am sure he would need to bring that before some committee to plan all that out), so he decided it wasn’t his problem. With managers like that, it’s no wonder this gym has ridiculously high turnover and is staffed with entire teams of employees who refuse to take ownership or responsibility for any issue that doesn’t directly fall under their assigned scope.

I believe we all have the responsibility to create a better environment for those around us as well as an opportunity to enhance the experience of life for those with whom we come in contact. But it often means stepping out of your immediate circle of duty to do the good you are able, but not specifically asked or required to do. Sometimes that means picking up the “trash” someone else leaves behind, so others coming after you don’t have to deal with it. This is taking ownership in the blessing of life.

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