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Some of the most important leadership work in our company doesn’t happen in the C-suite. It happens in our committees. For instance, I remember one year when our healthcare committee recommended raising employee contributions. The committee—a group of employee-owners who meet regularly with brokers and study our benefit options—had done its homework. They looked at the market, weighed the long-term costs, and felt strongly that it was the responsible choice. I was skeptical of the idea and I wrestled with the recommendation. But committees at my organization, BL, aren’t just side projects; they’re one of the primary ways employee-owners influence how we operate. To dismiss their work would have undermined the very foundation of shared leadership we’ve built. Instead, I listened, asked hard questions, and ultimately decided on a smaller adjustment than they had proposed. It wasn’t easy, but we came to a solution that worked for the organization now and strengthened it for the future. The process also reinforced a vital idea: When people have a stake, they take committee work seriously. Featured Video An Inc.com Featured Presentation The critical role of committees When we became employee-owned almost two decades ago, we knew that ownership had to be more than a line on a retirement statement. It had to mean that people had a real voice in shaping the company. That realization led us to build a network of voluntary employee-led committees focused on professional development, community giving, wellness, sustainability, technology, and more. These committees aren’t afterthoughts or side projects. They’re one of the main ways we live out the principle of shared leadership. They plan initiatives, recommend policies, and shape the employee experience across our 18 offices. Their work touches much of what we do, from charity support to the integration of new technologies into daily operations. What makes them different from committees I’ve seen elsewhere is the sense of ownership behind them. In a traditional corporate setting, committees often rely on employees committing time on top of their jobs, sometimes with little say in the final outcomes. At BL Companies, committees are made up of employee-owners who know they’re shaping the company they share in. And their recommendations carry weight. Over time, this structure addressed more than individual challenges and opportunities. It has built what I think of as a committee mindset across the company. Employees learn to think like owners: to consider long-term impacts, balance trade-offs, and engage in open dialogue beyond their immediate roles. That mindset strengthens our culture. People become more engaged, more communicative, and more willing to step into leadership moments. The result is an organization where leadership is distributed, not concentrated — and where good ideas can surface anywhere. A path to expertise Our committees also expand our capacity. As a midsized firm, we don’t have the luxury of hiring a dedicated specialist for every initiative. Instead, we give that responsibility to employee-owners who care deeply about the outcome. Because they have both a stake in the company and a voice in its direction, they approach the work with a commitment level that can build expertise. One of the clearest examples I’ve seen of this dynamic came in the early days of our ESOP committee, tasked with guiding the company’s employee ownership culture. Early on, the group brought in a consultant to help define their mission and set a framework for how they would operate. At the time, I wasn’t sure it was necessary. But they felt strongly it would help them build a solid foundation, so I signed off. In hindsight, they were right. That outside guidance gave the committee more confidence and clarity in its role. Within a couple years, they no longer needed the consultant. They had the structure and momentum to chart their own course. Since then, the ESOP committee has only grown stronger. They manage their own leadership transitions, intentionally rotating cochairs every few years to give more employee-owners the opportunity to lead. It’s a system they created and it has worked beautifully. This was another powerful lesson in the value of shared ownership. What I saw as an unnecessary expense or complexity turned out to be exactly what the committee needed to gain its footing. And because it was their idea, it had their buy-in and commitment to succeed. Encourage the culture of ownership In an employee-owned culture, leadership is about creating the conditions where good ideas can surface, be tested, and take hold. That requires discipline, especially as you advance in an organization. The higher your position, the more weight your words carry and the more risk that a quick comment could discourage someone else from stepping forward. If I were to dismiss a committee’s work too quickly, the effect would ripple far beyond that one decision. It could stifle initiative, send the message that the process doesn’t matter, and ultimately undermine the culture we’ve worked so hard to build. That’s why I see my role less as drawing hard boundaries and more as keeping the rails in place. My job is to make sure committees have the space and support to explore ideas within a framework of responsibility, to avoid promoting a culture of “no.” I often think back to that committee meeting I mentioned earlier. The recommendation worked. It wasn’t perfect, but it was practical, and coming from the committee helped secure the buy-in to succeed. Sometimes leadership means leaning into tough conversations, making unpopular calls, or confronting problems you’d rather avoid. But it can also mean supporting leadership development across the company and then listening. Because when people feel empowered to take initiative, when they know their ideas are valued, they bring forward solutions that might never have surfaced otherwise. That’s what shared ownership looks like: not leadership concentrated at the top, but leadership distributed across the company, emerging where it’s needed most.
