Four ways leaders can instill take-ownership behavior
February 5, 2026 / Chris Arrasmith
Short on time? Read the key takeaways:
- Taking ownership is one of the most critical behaviors that defines a winning culture across high-performing organizations.
- Leaders across the organization can take ownership by demonstrating a bias toward action.
- Effective delegation means knowing which tasks to own yourself and which to assign.
- Even when your calendar is full, take quiet moments to clear your mind and see where your strategic thinking takes you.
Watch any high-performing organization closely and you'll notice something: employees at every level take ownership. When you're responsible for delivering results, whether that's services, products or solutions, this mindset becomes everything.
Several behaviors define this winning culture, with taking ownership being one of the most critical.
A winning culture encourages employees to build new skills, experiment by embracing risk, act with agility and take ownership. Our culture reflects how we want associates to challenge themselves and push boundaries in their work. Completing tasks to the best of their ability is an expectation. However, by going above and beyond basic expectations, to ask a question or suggest process improvements, for example, everyone can directly influence success.
When leaders expand their scope beyond narrow job definitions, problems get solved faster. Issues that might otherwise be ignored or delayed get addressed sooner, reducing what-if scenarios and future regrets.
How do leaders create the kind of proactive, problem-solving culture that sets Unisys up for success? Leaders must go first. They can show their commitment to a take-ownership spirit in several crucial ways.
#1: Model ownership behaviors
While everyone in an organization can model take-ownership behaviors, leaders can drive it forward. For the delivery of services at Unisys, that means C-suite executives, business unit vice presidents, service line directors and frontline supervisors. We have high expectations for our leaders, by design and necessity, which drives them to continuously improve how they deliver results.
Take-ownership behaviors ask leaders to:
- Show accountability and find solutions to problems rather than blaming others for difficulties.
- Prioritize and tackle the most critical tasks first and devote most of their attention to measures that support clients.
- Strategize initiatives that advance the company’s business and technology objectives and increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Leaders who aspire to and improve upon these behaviors stand out as the most effective.
#2: Demonstrate a bias toward action
Taking ownership means everyone takes personal responsibility for how their work contributes to the company’s direction, client services and solutions. If you spend time with your highest performing teams, it’s soon obvious they work with shared purpose and dedication to accomplish their mission.
What does this mean in execution?
- Asking, “How can I help?” instead of “That’s not my job”
- Prioritizing quality service delivery by following best practices and resolving issues quickly
- Reaching out to colleagues when a resolution exists outside standard protocols and suggesting how to respond in the future
- Focusing on helping the company achieve wins
A bias toward action means not side-stepping roadblocks but figuring out how to remove them altogether.
#3: Delegate tasks effectively
Delegation may seem counterintuitive when talking about taking ownership because I’ve just shared the importance of personal responsibility. However, the most successful leaders are skilled at delegating tasks and not handling everything themselves.
The key is knowing which tasks to own yourself and which to delegate. For example, we expect Unisys senior leaders to own their parts of the business and make appropriate decisions using the appropriate inputs and outputs to advance company initiatives. However, some leaders engage in “up-delegating” the decision-making process, which means offloading the final call to their supervisor and undermining a take-ownership culture.
Whether creating a new client presentation, launching a new solution capability or navigating a challenging client situation, ownership-minded teams bring collaborative energy to projects and draw on each member’s unique abilities to win together.
#4: Carve out time for strategic thinking
Leaders sometimes have to make unpopular calls that don’t result in obvious wins. These difficult decisions require that leaders make time in their overly packed calendars for strategic thinking. I recommend stepping away from distractions like your laptop and spending an hour in a separate location. That could mean walking around a neighborhood or sitting comfortably in a quiet indoor space that encourages contemplation.
Clear your thoughts, let the quiet take hold and stay open to wherever your thoughts take you. While you should avoid forcing a solution to a specific problem, clearing your mind will likely lead you to a problem you’ve been wrestling with and ideas for eliminating roadblocks. You can also start with the desired outcome and work back to the steps for a solution. This kind of reflective thinking builds the foundation for confident decision-making.
Make ownership your advantage
When leaders model ownership, entire organizations rise to meet higher standards. You can use this momentum to deepen a commitment to these behaviors.
For your company to succeed, leaders need to show clear direction in business initiatives. By taking ownership through bias for action, sound decision-making, and task prioritization and delegation when appropriate, you build a more effective organization and create more opportunities to show leadership. Encourage a take-ownership culture and benefit from the innovation that results.
