Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 48 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Top 5 Barriers to Teamwork
— From Equipping 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know by John C. Maxwell
Our culture loves the myth of the self-made man or woman. We applaud and admire the story of the lone entrepreneur who builds an empire.
But the truth is that nobody reaches the top by themselves. Everyone gets help along the way.
John C. Maxwell, leadership guru and author of Equipping 101, challenges us to think of one act of genuine significance in the history of humankind that was performed by a lone human being. “No matter what you name, you will find that a team of people was involved.”
Teamwork is not necessarily seen—or even considered so—when it comes from an external source and not directly within the immediate circle, such as funding, government licenses and permits, outsourcing help, or any kind of metaphorical push along the way that gets the person unstuck and moving in the right direction.
Yet it’s important to recognize that no man is an island and that any worthwhile feat requires teamwork. As the author’s famous quote and title of another one of his books says, “Teamwork makes the dream work.” And he goes on to provide a list of the benefits of teamwork:
- Teams involve more people, thus affording more resources, ideas and energy than would an individual.
- Teams maximize a leader’s potential and minimize her weaknesses. Strengths and weaknesses are more exposed in individuals
- Teams provide multiple perspectives on how to meet a need or reach a goal, thus devising several alternatives for each situation.
- Teams share the credits for victories and the blame for losses. This fosters genuine humility and authentic community.
- Teams keep leaders accountable for the goal.
- Teams can simply do more than an individual.
But we already knew this… right? So, why are we so adamant and hardheaded about doing things by ourselves?
Maxwell thinks there are four main barriers to teamwork, and he shares them with us.
Barriers to teamwork
Barrier 1: Ego. “Few people are fond of admitting they can’t do everything, yet that is a reality of life. There are no supermen or superwomen. So the question is not whether you can do everything by yourself; it’s how soon you’re going to realize you can’t.”
Barrier 2: Insecurity. “Only secure leaders give power to others… insecure leaders usually fail to build teams because of one of two reasons: Either they want to maintain control over everything for which they are responsible, or they fear being replaced by someone more capable. In either case, leaders who fail to promote teamwork undermine their own potential and erode the best efforts of the people with whom they work.”
Barrier 3: Naiveté. “[Some people] naively underestimate the difficulty of achieving big things. As a result, they try to go it alone.”
Barrier 4: Temperament. “Some people aren’t very outgoing and simply don’t think in terms of team building and equipping. As they face challenges, it never occurs to them to enlist others to achieve something… But whether or not you’re naturally inclined to be part of a team is really irrelevant. If you do everything alone and never partner with other people, you create huge barriers to your own potential.”
And besides these four ones from Maxwell, I’d like to add a fifth barrier that I’ve come across:
Barrier 5: Time (perceived lack of). Some people (read: me… #notproud) are so pressed for time in general, that we think bringing someone on board—or even outsourcing—is going to take a lot of time due to the time and effort involved in training the new person. Eventually, we come to realize that the time and effort in training will be well worth it, as it will be a small investment up front, in comparison to the return in the form of help that we need, the freedom to take that off our plates, and the peace of mind that comes from knowing it’s being done (and done well!).
ACTION
TODAY: Are you trying to work on something where you’d be better off enlisting the help of others? I’ve learned that almost everything can be optimized, automated, or outsourced (thanks, Ari Meisel!) Which one of the barriers is holding you back? What steps do you need to take to overcome it?
FUTURE: What are your big, hairy and audacious goals? If you break them down into doable chunks, where could you use some help? Keep in mind that help is not just for the things you don’t know how to do or can’t do, but also (and especially!) for the ones that you do very well and should not be doing (not the best use of your time).
Know someone who is battling with these barriers to teamwork? Please share this post! Email, Facebook or Twitter.