Build Your Team!

Surrounding yourself with the right people can be one of the most important strategies in your life. The right team will either enhance your abilities or distract you from them. This applies to both your personal and professional life. So, what is a team? The book definition is several persons forming one of the sides in a game or contest and or persons associated in some joint action. As you can see, a team can be formed for anything. Growing up I would hear people say that the most important decision you will make in your life is buying a house. I would respectfully disagree with this statement. The most important decision is forming your team. When you get married, deciding on who your spouse will be is more important because anyone can get a house, but can you make a home? Deciding between family members and friends, who will you allow to take up space in your spirit? Are the people around you building you up or tearing you down? Deciding who will be on your team when forming a business is also very important. You can have a lot of pieces but never have the right pieces to your puzzle! When you attend a networking event you need a strategy. Ask yourself, what is my goal, is it to just get a handful of cards that you know you will not call again or connect with specific people for your team? In the movie 300, King Leonidas asked “who do you have on your team” the response was we have carpenters, handyman, electrician, etc…..then he asked his team (see below) …..Spartans!!!!!! Looks like our team is different than yours!!!!! Build your team!

When building your team everyone should be on the same page working towards personal and organizational goals. You need to have similar values and principles. It will be difficult to accomplish any mission with people that do not share similar values and principles. This is a fact!! From personal experience, if you care about the mission, you must work with other people that also care about accomplishing the mission. If you have integrity, you must work with others who also have integrity. When the team does not align properly, there will be frustration between you and the team on a consistent basis. Working together as a team requires common goals, a common vision, and a common commitment to accomplishing the mission! Evaluate your team today and identify these three questions: 1. What common purpose are we working towards? 2. What values do we operate on as a team? 3. Do we have a strategy in place to build each other up individually and as a team?

Build your team today!