See the big picture and you will succeed

I read  ones that if you can dream it, you can reach it.

A cold, hard winter and other conditions put an army in a miscible situation. Soldiers didn't have enough supply and were cut off from any resources. The general in charge didn't give up. He had a vision that the war can be won. In the darkest moment of this winter he shared this vision with his men with such a powerful energy that his troops got so inspired to turn the situation and under the generals vision they won the war.

The great general, who saw the bigger picture and led his troops through everything by sharing his vision, was General Washington.

Every great leader has to have a bigger picture in mind that he/she wants to reach. But nobody can do it alone.

Did you ever ask yourself why some organizations are more successful than others?

You may think it is because they can effort better qualified people even that could be truth, but I can guaranty you small organizations (non-for-profits and small businesses) can attract the same qualified people without being able to pay the corporations big bugs.

So what do they do different?

Many bigger companies have leaders who can inspire others with a dream. Everyone wants to be a part of something great to find individual fulfillment.

The big question is how to get a vision that motivate everybody in your team to give all they've got to reach this goal?

It is doesn't matter if you are following your own agenda or you are somewhere in lower and middle management. Picture what the outcome of your task should be. For example your task is it to make your organization more effective. Do you personal gain from the outcome? Not always. But the future of your job and anybody else depending on it. Why? Because resource money is always tight and every waste is taking away from achieving the organizations purpose.

How to create a vision that a team will do their best to be a part of it?

• Communicate (write it down) your goals.

• Analyze the Situation

• Break it down in different small tasks

• Ensure that you got all resources - Even the best team can only succeed if it has all the tools that it needs for the job.

• No personal agendas - Imagine you play basketball. If each of you is only playing for them self and do everything that makes them individual looking good and not passing the ball to someone else who is in a better position to make the shot the other team have it easy to stop you and win the game. 

• Paint the picture in a way that all members of your team step up to the plate.

• Let other take a lead in some tasks that they are specialist in. 

Please stay tune to read about: How to put a successful team together?

Nothing gets done if you don't work together

Every organization is based on teamwork. I don't know what your heros are, or if they are in politics, business world or just comics. I only know that we like to lookup to people to be encouraged. If you ask my little she is absolute fan of Jack and the Neverland Pirates. She learned something really important for life from this show. 

One person can do something great, but a team can do something significant.

So think about your organization. Is there anyone who takes over the show and makes every decision by him-/herself? For the greater goal of your nonprofit organization this person has to learn the value of a team and the team members have to stand up to make their case.

Like Micheal Jordan once said: “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”

So let's see why is a team so important:

• Different point of view
• Teams can do many things at the same time to reach the goal
• Strengths and weakness become balanced
• More resources and ideas can be taped in
• Leaders are more accountable

The difference between a good leader and a great leader is not the better knowledge of the specific field or how much he/she is loved. A great leader is accountable for every step that the team is taking and the most important part is how much the leader knows about his own weaknesses.

Many leader have to point out that they are in charge because of their insecurity. That's why many of them putting members of their team down or hold them back instate to unleash their potential.

A great leader notice the strength and talents of each of their team members.

The ego of some of the team leaders are in the way of the teams development because of the fear that it someone could become better and fits more the leadership position.

Since I was a young boy I was a lone ranger who tried everything on his own. An attitude like this holed me back so many times to reach my full potential.

Don't wasted your potential by losing yourself in trying to do everything on your own. Lead your team by developing yourself and every one of your team.

Stay tuned for more articles on how to lead your team to greatness.