Who owns the outcome?

For as long as I can remember, I’ve believed in taking ownership.

In sports, I was taught never to make excuses. In business, I learned that leaders own everything. If a customer wasn’t happy, own it. If a project fell behind, own it. Was it the subcontractor’s fault? Own it. If the company succeeded, great. If it failed, own that, too.

For years, I believed that meant I had to own the outcome.

Lately, my faith has challenged that way of thinking.

I’m beginning to realize there’s a difference between owning my responsibility and owning the final result.

I recently heard an example that really stuck with me.

A farmer prepares the soil. He plants the seed. He waters it. He pulls the weeds. He protects the crop.

But the farmer cannot make the seed grow.

That part belongs to God.

The farmer still has to work. In fact, he has to work incredibly hard. But no amount of effort can force life into a seed. His responsibility is faithfulness. God’s responsibility is the growth.

The more I think about that, the more I realize it’s true in business, too.
I can lead my team well. I can answer my phone. I can communicate clearly. I can deliver quality work. I can make wise decisions. I can learn from my mistakes.

Those are all my responsibility.

Whether every customer says yes, whether the economy changes or whether every opportunity works out exactly as I planned, those things are ultimately outside my control.

That doesn’t mean I stop working.

It means I stop carrying a burden that was never mine to carry.

That realization influenced one of the biggest professional decisions of my career.

I had the opportunity to help launch a one-day bath company in Greenville. It was exciting to build something new, learn a different business model and be part of a growing operation.

But the more time I spent there, the more I realized something was missing.

My heart has always been here in the Lowcountry. This is the longest I’ve lived in one place in 20 years.

This is where my family lives. This is where Bluffton Builders was built. This is where I’ve spent years serving homeowners and building relationships.

I realized I didn’t just want to help build someone else’s vision in another market. I wanted to focus on serving the community that has supported me for so many years.

So I decided to step back from my role in Greenville and focus on expanding Bluffton Builders’ shower remodeling services here in the Lowcountry.

Will it succeed? I hope so. I’ll work as hard as I know how. I’ll continue learning, improving and serving people with excellence.

But I’ve also learned something that has brought me more peace than any business strategy ever could.

I don’t own the outcome.

God does.

I own my effort. I own my integrity. I own my decisions. I own my responsibility to serve people well.

The outcome belongs to Him.

Ironically, I’ve found that letting go of the outcome hasn’t made me less driven. It’s made me more focused.

Because when you’re no longer trying to control what only God can control, you’re free to give everything you have to the work He’s placed in front of you today.

Maybe that’s what true ownership looks like after all.

Ryan Chowansky is the owner of Bluffton Builders, LLC, www.bluffton.builders.