Transferring ownership is the key in the delegation process. However, business owners are often working from a background of cynicism and resignation. Not only from that of their team, but sometimes even their own. To rise above this requires a new level of leadership skills from the business owner.

According to research conducted by Gallup, 18% of employees are actively disengaged.

 These employees are not only acting out their unhappiness, every day, but they also undermine what their engaged co-workers accomplish. What this means is that almost two out of ten of your employees spend their time making it difficult for the other eight to get on with their work.

And Gallup goes onto say that 60% of employees do the bare minimum. They essentially "check out"; they're sleepwalking through their work-day, putting in time - but not energy or passion - into their work.

So to get employees to take ownership is a big ask. In our book, The Invisible Entrepreneur, we describe this as the Employee Mindset vs. the Stakeholder Mindset. To ha

ve your team buy into the Stakeholder Mindset is a process. It begins with you as the leader. It's a lot like raising children. They learn what they are shown and they always follow the leader - whatever the style.

As a result of our own research into this topic of leadership, we found that business owners need to take a step back before delegating ownership of responsibilities. You have to know that not every person is the same and not all responsibilities are equal. Managing risk is an important part of delegation. So as the owner, before you delegate you must first map out your expectations and define how you want to be kept

 in the loop on how your employees achieve their objectives.

Where disappointment and upsets come about is when employees fail to fulfil your expectations. If your expectations are not communicated in the first place, no one will win. It all boils down to your leadership, and how that leadership is transferred through passing on ownership.

Louise Woodbury
Author of The Invisible Entrepreneur
www.take3months.com