You can't throw yourself at something for a sustained period of time without believing in it passionately.

And, being blunt, there aren't enough of us out there who care about what we do deeply enough to fight for it. Sure, agency owners love the benefits of the results they've gotten, but too many lack a passion for what it is that drives those results.

It's easy to want to continue to own the results, but far too few are willing to own the actions it will take to keep getting results.

Living in a rental

Too many agencies approach their business model (e.g., the actions that drive the results) as if it were a "rental." They like having the results without owning the action.

Living in a nice rental allows them to give the perception that it's their own without the responsibility of ownership. They love the neighborhood, the neighbors are terrific, they can have big parties on the weekend, but they don't have the responsibility to maintain the property or the mortgage.

As a renter you have to work hard enough to pay the rent and keep the yard mowed, but that pales in comparison to the responsibility of holding the mortgage and maintaining the integrity of the property. And if you're renting, you only get to enjoy the benefits of this house as long as the owner is willing to do his/her hard work and allow you to hang around.

Guess what? The house is starting to crumble. The party is over. Our agencies are being evicted. The neighborhood is in decay. It's time to become an owner – a neighborhood of owners. And, I mean owners in the sense of someone who takes responsibility of the actions first and enjoys the benefits second.

And you know what makes me unbelievably sad about this? As we watch agency owners see their "eviction notice" being walked up to the front door, we see way too many just giving up and allowing it to be taken away. Too few are willing to fight to live on their own and, instead, are selling all their contents. They're willing to move and simply become yet another tenant, this time in someone else's high-rise.

And, for those whose heart has never been in the actions, it's probably the right move. Unbelievably sad, but right nonetheless.

Owning the home

And for those of you whose heart is in the actions, you have to be celebrating the revival and transformation of OUR neighborhood.

Because our neighborhood is a special place. It's filled with neighbors who care deeply about one another and work together. It's filled with unbelievably interesting people. It's filled with an opportunity to get up every day and do something truly special. It's filled with rewards (financial and otherwise) that can be found in very few other neighborhoods. Sure, it's also filled with hard work, but it rewards the hard work with even greater celebrations.

While our neighborhood might seem in decay right now, it's simply going through a transformation. We've got new owners moving in who plan to live there, and they're cleaning up the properties and doing some serious remodeling. No, it won't look the same as it has in the past, but its future is brighter than it's ever been. It's not going to happen without hard work and set backs along the way. It won't happen without a collective effort and commitment to the revival. It won't happen without a commitment to own the actions.

Owning the actions means we have to take control of what it is we're selling as well as of how we get paid. We can't simply compete with someone's product; we have to compete based on our ability to improve the businesses of our clients. We can no longer depend on someone else's commission schedule; we have to get paid based on the value we deliver.

It's time to stop operating in fear of it all being taken away from you. It's time to take ownership and operate as the feared competitor your clients and team needs you to be.

We're committed. We've rolled up our sleeves. Our hearts are in it. Are you with us? If not, hurry up and get your moving truck loaded, it's in the way of our transformation.

Kevin is a partner and coach at Q4intelligence. He can be reached at [email protected].