Mark C. Winters explains the distinction between owners and employees within an entrepreneurial accountability chart. He defines the owner’s formal entitlements (their share of profits and authority to weigh in on only major owner-level decisions), argues owners should not expect automatic operational roles, and states that if owners take operational seats they must be fully accountable, lead by example, and can be fired for poor performance. The talk ends with three key rules for owners who work in the business.
Questions this video answers
(1) their share of the profits; (2) the authority to weigh in on major owner-level decisions.
Chapters
We talk a lot about the roles that visionaries and integrators play in entrepreneurial businesses. They focus on the big goals for their company and on building a structure that will help them achieve them. In most cases, the owner of the business sits in that visionary seat. And sometimes the integrator is also an owner. But there's another owner situation that can happen. Imagine the accountability chart and above the visionary you see a solid black line. Above that line is the owner's box. This is where the owners collaborate and provide input on major owner specific decisions. In this capacity, owners are only entitled to two things. Number one, their share of the profits, however that gets divvied up. And number two, the authority to weigh in on big decisions, only the really big decisions. You'll notice that owners are not entitled to a role in the business by focusing on the long term greater good of the organization. Owners want to put the right people in the right seats, and that doesn't always mean an owner will find a seat in that structure. I liken it to someone who owns a baseball team. Just because they own the team doesn't give them the right to take the field like a player. That likely won't serve the greater good of the organization. Instead, owners must go into the world and find the right people to fill those seats. When owners are the right person to fill a seat, they need to be fully accountable, just like anybody else we'd hire. They also need to be a great example of what they want to see from the other employees. That means no playing the owner card if they don't want to do something. If they expect special treatment, it destroys the integrity of the whole structure. Owners should also understand that they can be fired if they fill a role and don't perform just like everybody else can. So to wrap up, here are three key points. Number one, owners who work in the business must be the right person for the right seat. Number two, when owners choose to fill a role, they they'll be held accountable for the role just like everybody else. Number three, as an employee, owners need to set a great example of the behavior they want to see in the organization.
