Building a More Positive Culture of Ownership

Dr. Bob Dent quickly and effectively engaged the audience with entreating stories of how he and his 3 brothers all became nurses and why he has such passion for the profession. He described “invisible architecture” as having the most power in building up or taking down organizations. The culture of ownership is key to any organization being known as the best place to work. He discussed “Ownership culture” as very different from holding staff accountable. Ownership denotes self-pride whereas holding employees accountable is actually demotivating by taking away ownership from the employee. Ownership culture has many key components: commitment to mission and values, engagement, passion, initiative (described as “proceed until apprehended”) stewardship, belonging, fellowship, and pride. Dr. Dent stressed how pride, connection, and trust must exist in a culture of ownership. He explained how Toxic Emotional Negativity (TEN) must not be tolerated. He ended his delightful presentation by explaining ownership culture is accomplished with small steps, using the acronym “TBSSSNDQ” -- Think Big Start Small Start Now Don’t Quit.