Why Career Ownership Is Your Best Growth Strategy

by Meredith Jones

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No one cares about your career more than you do—and no one should. This may sound blunt, but it’s true whether you’re fresh out of school or sitting in the C-suite. Career ownership is not merely a box to check at the beginning of your professional journey. It’s a philosophy that builds with you as your career grows, shapes how you manage, and determines how you lead.

I call this philosophy “My Career Is My Responsibility” (or MCMR). This cornerstone approach is how I‘ve operated for the last twenty years, from early-career to founding a successful company, to coaching individuals and advising clients more than ten years later.

Why Executives Need It Too

Career ownership is intentional. It means you’re not waiting on promotions, recognition, or someone else to tell you what your next step should be. You take stock of your strengths, clarify your goals, and then take deliberate action to move forward.

When leaders model ownership, it sets the tone across the entire organization. Accountability flows from the top down and the bottom up:

• Frontline employees gain confidence and direction when they own their next move.
• Managers become better leaders when they model ownership to their teams.
• Executives strengthen culture when they set the tone of accountability from the top.

The opposite of ownership is abdication. Organizations where leaders fail to model ownership often struggle with disengagement and lack of momentum. Bad behaviors can creep in quickly at the top, and once they do, they spread. I see the same traps show up across organizations:

• Blame culture: waiting for someone else to fix the problems.
• Entitlement: expecting recognition without putting in the work.
• Passivity: slipping into “let’s see what happens” instead of taking action.

These mindsets weaken careers and stall organizations. They also rob people of the creativity, productivity, and confidence that come when they feel in control of their own trajectory.

The Payoff of Ownership

Owning your career as a leader, and following the MCMR foundational philosophy, is always positive for your business.

• It creates clarity: you know what you’re working toward.
• It builds momentum: you make progress instead of waiting for permission.
• It delivers confidence: because you know you’re showing up with purpose.

For organizations, the payoff is even greater. Cultures change when individuals own their development, managers lead with accountability, and executives model responsibility.

In every case, ownership drives both personal and organizational growth. Businesses with a culture of ownership:

• Stay adaptable in changing markets.
• Build credibility through accountability with clients and customers.
• Protect profitability by reducing turnover and fueling productivity.

So the thread is simple: MCMR creates personal accountability → accountability inspires engagement and performance → engagement and performance combine to follow strategic objectives → defined objectives drive revenue and reduce costs.

A Practical Starting Point

The most important investment you’ll ever make is the one you make in your own career. Sera Business Advisors has spent the last decade helping leaders and organizations put this philosophy into practice. It’s also the reason I wrote a book: My Career Is My Responsibility to help people build careers and culture on purpose, not by accident.

If you’re ready to change the narrative in your career or your company, I invite you to start here: https://a.co/d/8bnZYsm.

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Sera Business Advisors is a management consulting firm specializing in HR with a business-first approach. Sera fosters growth and strategic development through training programs, an extensive library of proprietary tools, and a deep understanding of business for emerging startups, middle market companies, and publicly traded companies. To learn more, visit seraadvisors.com.