Iain Marlow from the Globe & Mail recently interviewed Thorston Heins (“Lunch with RIM CEO Thorsten Heins: Time for a bite, and little else”). Much of the article was a repeat of the usual bio info that I already knew – but I did learn that he gets his bread from Sproll’s German Bakery which I will definitely check out (I am partial to authentic ‘apfel strudel’ coming from a Swiss home).
I’d like to look at the ownership demonstrated by Thorston in his interview with the Globe.
There is a lot to learn from Thorston’s example of taking ownership for RIM’s success. When asked what he thinks is the best-case scenario for the company – I was inspired by his personal answer. “It needs to expand market share, there’s no doubt,” Mr. Heins says. “Today, let’s be frank, I’m participating mostly in the QWERTY [keyboard] market. … I’m not really participating in any meaningful way in the [touch-screen] segment. So with BlackBerry 10, I will maintain and stay the leader in [devices with physical keyboards]. On full-touch, I’m in attack mode.”
I asked myself how I (and other RIM employees) can demonstrate ownership to personally contribute to RIM’s success...
Become a BlackBerry ambassador – Drink our own Champagne!
· Sign up for a Beta program and provide testing feedback
· Get a PlayBook and discover new ways to integrate it into your work and home life (I’m a fan of the yoga and Dilbert podcasts myself).
· Take advantage of BlackBerry features, such Mobile Voice Solution (MVS)
- Stay passionate about what you do. Take pride in what you have done – it will make a difference.
- Do your work in the best way possible and deliver.
- Have courage to go beyond “your job” for the benefit of the company
There is a lot to learn from Thorston’s example of taking ownership for RIM’s success. Take a moment to think about how you can take ownership of your company's success.
