I asked – “Can we have 2 extra chairs in The Library Please” and she replied…

And I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

I was facilitating a day with leaders from Aecom and the venue hotel were providing no customer service whatsoever.

Just before we started, two more leaders arrived, who were not on the list. Deep breath in, I walked out of the safety of our room and towards Reception. My hopes weren’t high…on the way I saw a lady with a hotel badge – Irene. I said “hi Irene, my name is David, I am facilitating an event today, can we have 2 extra chairs in The Library please?”

Without hesitation, without telling me this was not her job, and with a lovely smile, she said “of course David, I will do that for you.”

And 3 minutes later the chairs arrived.

Ownership is one of the biggest, simplest and apparently most difficult issues in all organisations the world over – someone putting up their hand and saying “I will do that” and then actually doing it. In meetings, projects, teams, on the IT help-desk, on customer service, etc. etc. etc.

When someone says it, and follows through, somehow everything seems ok with the world, with the organisation, and those massive dreams we all have can move one step closer.

Please share your experiences of ownership in the comments below

With my love and best wishes to Irene, and to you

David

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PS I have not named the hotel – I did write to them (handwritten) to pass on my thanks to ‘Irene’ and suggest she be made Head of Customer Service with immediate effect.