Focus Engineering & Surveying’s company culture embraces and encourages continuing education – we read at least one book yearly, and we often listen to presentations together. Recently, we listened to a presentation about the difference between the victim and ownership language used in the workplace. Intrigued by this concept, General Manager and Owner Ron Paul was at the airport and noticed the book Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Lief Babin. He purchased it and took advantage of some downtime during travel to peruse it, realizing its principles and concepts were ideal for our team to read and adopt.

Ron introduced the book, and the entire company is now reading it together.

One of the main points that has made a lasting difference for Ron is the importance of taking ownership as a leader. “There is no one else to blame if we lose,” he states.

Ron noted another huge takeaway is the necessity of developing trust within his team. He explains, “It starts by earning the trust of those who report to you.”

This practice of taking ownership as a leader inspires action from everyone on the team to address any problems that arise.  Ron observes, “We are already seeing a change in the approach of our people.”