Leader Series: Team or Lone Wolf?

"Greatness is never achieved alone, or too many cooks spoil the soup?"

That was the question that was asked to contestants during the recent District Level Table Topics Contest..

While the contestants have their own ideas about it, here's our take on this leadership topic.

You have probably heard the quote that, "If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together."

Certainly, if you want to achieve something fast, get things done quickly, it is easier to do it alone.  After all, you don't have to put up with other people's opinion and ways of doing things that may not jive with the way you do things.

You get to do things the way you want them.

But bear in mind, you are only one and there is only so much that you can do with the limited time that you have in a day.

That's why so many sole proprietary businesses plateau after a while.  The only way that they can expand is by bringing in investors and hiring people to help run the daily operations.  In short, put together a team and you will definitely need a team to go to the next level.

Great business leaders encourage the use of a masterminding group - a group of like minded individuals (such as entrepreneurs) who come together to offer ideas, advice and basically support to each other.

This has been proven in a very successful model - the "Microcredit" system created by Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh.

Yunus would borrow small amounts of money to poor women in Bangladesh to start their business.  He then puts these women into small groups where they are each responsible for every woman in their group being able to repay their loans.  These women then learned to create a support system for each other.

The microcredit system reported a 98% success rate in loan recovery.  In fact, the only reason for non collection is when some of these women pass away, in which case, the debt will be written off.

The success of the microcredit system is proof that with the right team in place, even illiterate housewives in Bangladesh can be successful.

But it is true that there are cases of too many cooks spoiling the soup.

There is a reason why there are different positions in a team.  If you have the right people filling up these positions, then you have a winning team.  However, if you are working with the wrong type of people, people who let their egos run the show rather than keeping an eye on the end game, or people who are just not the right fit for the role you have given them, then you're in trouble.

Remember that leadership is not about the self.  It is not about boosting your ego or bossing people around.  Leadership is about letting everybody win.

Therefore, to answer the above question, if you want to achieve greatness, you can't be a lone wolf.  You'll need a team but not just any team.  You need to work with the right people who not only have the skills, but more importantly, also recognize the importance of teamwork.

If you would like the opportunity to hone your public speaking skills as well as learn leadership skills, join us for our bi-monthly meetings on every 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month.  Our meetings start at 8pm.  For further information please contact us at gurneyhydrotoastmastersclub@gmail.com or refer to our Next Meeting page for information on our next meeting.