Creating an Ownership Thinking Steering Committee

When working with clients, we generally help them form an Ownership Thinking Steering Committee (OTSC) to ensure that the initiative survives and thrives. There are many definitions of steering committees out there, but I’ll offer one that is an amalgam of a few that I’ve seen:

A steering committee is a group of stakeholders who are responsible for providing guidance on overall strategic direction. They help to spread the strategic input and buy in to a larger portion of the organization. The steering committee is usually made up of organizational peers and is the combination of direct customers and indirect stakeholders.

I typically suggest that the OTSC have no more than five to eight members (less in a very small organization and perhaps a few more in a large one—particularly if there are multiple locations or business units). Two or three of the members (no more) should be from the management team and the remaining members from nonmanagement (though perhaps supervisory) roles that represent different functions and/or geographic areas of the organization. Members should want to be on the committee. They should be high energy, respected members of the organization who will be supportive of the Ownership Thinking philosophy and effort. When getting started with Ownership Thinking, the management team should identify the first OTSC (the committee can determine how future members will be identified). These people should then be asked if they would like to participate rather th....