Episode 22 — You Can’t Force Ownership and That’s Why You’re Still Carrying It All

You’ve probably felt it: the company is bigger, the team is larger, but somehow you’re still the one carrying the weight.

The meetings end, the updates sound fine, but deep down you know—nothing has really shifted off your shoulders.

That’s the Ownership Myth.

The belief that if you push hard enough, remind often enough, or “hold people accountable” enough, they’ll finally care the way you do.

But you can’t force ownership. And when you try, all you create is dependency—on you.

This episode is for the founder who’s tired of feeling like the pack mule for a company that was supposed to be scaling.

What you’ll take away:

• Why no one will ever carry the business exactly like you—and why that’s not failure
• How “forcing” ownership actually trains people to wait for you
• The hidden cost of expecting passion to equal ownership
• What real ownership looks and feels like when it finally shows up

Reflection Questions:

• Who on your team already owns more than you give them credit for—just in a way that looks different from you?
• What’s one way you might actually be blocking ownership from surfacing?

Links and Resources:

• The Next Question Guide → NextQuestionGuide.com
• LinkedIn → linkedin.com/in/jamesmayhew
• Website → JamesMayhew.com