This outlines best practices of what a strong owner at Finch looks like. All the points below are relevant for any scope of ownership— a team, project, initiative, etc. This is a reference for people new to the concept of owners or for seasoned employees who want to be stronger skills in ownership.

See Owners for Explicit Ownership for more details on the concept of owners at Finch.

What a strong owner looks like

This outlines the expectations the team should expect out of an owner with practical examples of strong vs weak behaviors. Each of these dimensions has a high ceiling of growth and important skills that create successful outcomes.

Takes ownership

An owner owns all the successes and failures for the scope they’re responsible for.

• ✅ Defines clear goals, priorities, and next steps for everyone involved.
• ✅ Remains responsible for the outcome, regardless of whether they directly execute or delegate a task.
• ✅ Sets people up for success in advance and quickly course corrects as needed.
• ✅ Holds themselves and others involved accountable to a high bar.
• ❌ Makes excuses or blames others when things go wrong. Treats things as outside their control.
• ❌ Waits for someone else to clarify direction or next steps.
• ❌ Unable to delegate responsibilities to others.
• ❌ Passive with letting many predictable issues happen.

Builds alignment