Andrew Carnegie claimed in the book “Think and Grow Rich” that his mastermind group’s power was the source of all of his wealth and that “great power can be accumulated via no other principle.”
Despite this, a lot of leaders still attempt to achieve their goals by “going it alone.”
According to Honda Motor Europe’s Head of Marketing, Martin Hall:
The single largest mistake managers may make is believing that they are the only ones who can find a solution.
We leaders appear to be afraid of seeking help.and it seems that we are. We all share the belief that asking for assistance is a sign of weakness, and this is frequently cited as the main deterrent to cooperation.
This concern of coming across as weak, especially in front of your team, undoubtedly explains why leaders frequently look to their own boss or mentor for guidance when they do seek assistance. This is not to argue that such mentorship is not valuable; on the contrary, it is meant to highlight how so many leaders overlook the most important resource they have at their disposal: their team.
Always being in the lead might lead to a tendency to “drag” your team behind you, which is a problem. Your teams will lose enthusiasm, momentum, and productivity as a result of confining all problem-solving to themselves as they become less involved.
Not many people—at least not the kind of people you are likely to want on your team—can tolerate always being a passenger, let alone one who is blindfolded. Everybody needs to occasionally feel in charge.
The most effective leaders may choose the destination and input the shortest route into the GPS. They are able to drive if necessary, but they are also aware that everyone will arrive at their destination much more quickly if driving is distributed among the team.
Of course, there will always be challenges to overcome, such as the occasional traffic block; your crew may decide to take the GPS-recommended diversion; or perhaps someone is aware of a hidden shortcut. However, regardless of whether you arrive sooner or later, it is critical that your team arrives united, feeling in control, and ready to tackle the next task.
The strength of cooperation and the advantages of a forward-thinking, obstacle-overcoming team are understood by leaders who have always taken action to involve their team. This accomplished leader is more likely to recognise the advantages of switching to a network leadership model, where shared accountability to a common vision mixed with cutting-edge communication technology enables organisations to reconsider the top-down leadership strategy.
The mastermind principle was discussed at the outset of this article. Andrew Carnegie’s 50-person mastermind was quite powerful.What more can you do to make use of your team’s skills? Think about it now.
Forget for a moment that you are the boss; the mastermind concept only functions when applied to groups of equals. To harness the full potential of masterminding, you and your team must regard yourselves as equal partners in the endeavor. You will gain more team buy-in if you adopt this mindset.
No successful leader has achieved success on their own.
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