During the Tour De France cycle race, winning the race is all about personal commitment and team work. Each cyclist is a member of a team, whenever one of the top cyclists or potentials winners wants to break away from the bunch or make a strategic move to gain an advantage during the race. He depends on his team mates to assist him by going out front and absorbing the force of the oncoming wind to make a type of wind vortex to draw him along. As each team member tires, he slowly drops back into the team and one of the other team members goes to the front and takes the full force of the wind to assist his team mates. This on-going process creates a vortex of wind assistance that continually cycles and supports each rider in turn.
Should any rider attempt to break away on his own, he would be exposed to the full force of the wind, without any opportunity to drop back into formation, where he could rest and recuperate. Any rider that attempts to go it alone for too long will quickly tire and drop out of the race completely. This lone strategy of trying to do it alone will wear the rider down and his competitors will prevail.
The crucial team lesson to be learnt from this simple analogy is that no one member should be expected to shoulder the load alone for any length of time. Every team member must consistently deliver their best, but must have the humility and ego strength to rotate into the background, where necessary, to give other team members a chance to take the lead and to shine. This will keep the team moving along at top speed and will see the team achieve incredible results in a very short space of time.
Every effective leader must be a great example, who assists, guides and encourages their followers. Really great leaders have one further trait and that is one of mentoring, where they continually strive to help all the members of their team, to grow into great leaders themselves. They eliminate their ego and encourage the people in their teams to grow to levels that in many cases may even exceed their own. This openness where the leader steps aside to allow someone else to lead for a while, allows the leader to concentrate on their team and individual team member effectiveness, reduces the workload of the leader, freeing up time to concentrate on the vision of the team and also gives the leader time to focus on team members that may be needing more guidance, assistance and development.
Ducks are amazing; they use team work and rotating leadership, to achieve incredible levels of super performance. They fly in a V formation that creates an updraft, which reduces the workload on the formation by up to 70 %. The only duck in formation that bears the full load and absorbs all the wind force is the lead duck. As the front duck tires, it drops back into the V formation to rest and then another duck moves effortlessly into the front to absorb the load for all the other ducks.
Ducks also have another amazing trick up their sleeves when it comes to team work and support of their flock. Should one of the ducks flying in the formation get sick or wounded, two ducks drop out of formation and follow it down to the ground to protect and support it. They support and protect the duck, until it recovers and is able to fly again or it dies. Once the duck has recovered and is ready to fly again, they then join another flock of ducks and continue their migration. Should there not be another flock to join, they work together as a team flying, until they catch up with the flock.
Is everyone in your team supportive of other team members who may need guidance and assistance? Being part of any successful team is always about offering support, during both the good and the bad or challenging times.
Action Idea: Look at your leadership style, are you hogging the leadership ball, where you are so focused on the outcomes you are trying to achieve, you have lost sight of the people in your team? Look at your team right now and see who is ready to take on a greater leadership role. Have the courage to give them the opportunity to lead, learn and grow. The real measure of a leader is not in how well they lead followers, but rather in how well they are able to create great leaders.
As you step back and allow someone else to lead for a while, take a look at your team. Is there anyone in your team that needs help or additional training and support? Invest the time into building the individuals in your teams. The greater the ability of every member of your team, the better equipped they are to deliver.
Author: Andrew Horton Motivational Speakers
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