As organisations get bigger and bigger the ability to get the best from teams takes on even more significance. Trouble is that much of our early success comes down to what we do individually. Think about school or college exams or even job hunting and the message we get is that I win you lose. Competition is seen as being more important than collaborating.
Suddenly you find yourself in a management or leadership role when you discover that no matter how good you are, there is an ultimate cap on what you can achieve. The reason is no matter who you are the ultimate limiting factor you face is time.
When we get a team of people working together in a spirit of collaboration much more is achieved.
On a team you have much more capacity to contribute to achieving the goals or outcomes.
On a team you have access to a wider variety of skills, qualities, attributes and expertise.
On a team you can get people focusing on what they do best rather than trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.
On a team you can have different streams working on different elements of a project or programme which gets you to the desired result much quicker.
On a team people bounce ideas off each other and can often turn a good insight or idea into a great or exceptional solution.
On a team you have the support and encouragement that helps individual members through the ups and downs.
On a team you have camaraderie and togetherness and perhaps even the safety in numbers which encourages bold choices and actions.
On a team you have access to and engagement of people who really make a difference.
So as a leader or manager you have a choice. Try to be the lone ranger or leverage the expertise of others to achieve better results faster.
Never forget the acronym
Together
Everyone
Achieves
More
To learn more about being a better leader check out Duncan Brodie’s free leadership e-course here
