Article Summary One: Think Like an Owner What does it mean to think like an owner? This is an idea that I haven’t given much thought before reading this article. In leadership, often times you are caught up in the small things and never step back and look at the bigger picture. As believing in yourself and behaving in a manner that shows your credibility for having authority are both great things, they do not provide the outlook you should have to reach your full potential as a leader. The way in which you can become a better leader, or even employee at that, is to “act like you own the place”. In Sally West’s article, she describes what she believes in means to act like an owner. The first topic she discusses is that owners are customer focused. They do everything in their power to ensure that every customer interaction is positive. As the further you get into leadership the further you are from external customer interaction, there are still ways in which you can influence the internal customers. Meeting deadlines, taking on difficult projects, and simply satisfying the expectation of your boss, are a few ways you can satisfy your internal customers. Sally goes on to discuss the company, Nordstrom, and how their focus is to provide outstanding customer service. As I have had the privilege to be a leader at a Chick-fil-a restaurant the past four years, I have come to realize the importance of being customer focused. Chick-fil-a is a company that strives on treating their customers with honor, dignity, and respect and their employees are trained to go out of their way to enhance the customer experience. The next topic Sally discusses is that owners are persistent. There are many times where things do not start the way you expect and you are faced with extreme difficulties. In thinking like an owner, you have to keep the faith and continue to drive that idea, product, or whatever it may be, and not lose faith. Sally relates this idea of being persistent with leaders in the finance field. Finance leaders are called upon for cost saving strategies or investment advice and sometimes the right answers are not clear at first, but keeping persistence helps produce sound recommendations. When leaders are persistent in their decisions it will often trickle down to other employees and will set a standard within the company. Another piece to thinking like an owner is to favor long-term success over short-term gain. Owners that are successful look to invest in ideas that pay off over a period of time. When you focus on short-term gain, you are potentially missing the many benefits of long-term success. As the longer things take the more the role of patience comes into play. Patience is key when it comes to long-term success. Sally West states it perfectly by saying, “it may require courage when managing investor expectations and guarding against pressures to achieve quick profits at the expense of the ongoing health of the enterprise.” For success to come long-term, a planning process must be established to guide the future activities. The most important part of Sally’s article was the topic of sharing the vision. Owners must portray the organization’s mission and objectives to develop great talent. By painting a picture of the company’s vision, employees are able to help make that vision a reality. In many cases, the employees are the ones on the front lines being face to face with the customers and they are the ones who will help drive that vision and make it apparent. In reading this article, I was able to relate many of Sally’s topics to what I experience at work. At the end of the day, a leaders’ job is to act like you own the place. There are many ways in which someone can become a successful leader, but without taking a step back and thinking like you are the owner you will get caught up in the minor aspects of the workplace. If you are able to portray the traits of being an owner, your lack of expertise or age will become a nonfactor for the team in which you are leading.