Build a Stronger Team: Think We, Not Me

“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” John F. Kennedy said that in 1961, and it still works as a business lesson. If you want to build a stronger team, start by thinking about we before me.

Why the Best Businesses Think Collective

Most owners start out believing they have to do everything themselves. That works for a while. Then it stops working. In our experience, the businesses that keep doing well have something different in common. Their success is not built around one person. It is built on relationships, strong leadership and people working towards a shared purpose.

The research backs this up. Google studied 180 of its own teams over about two years. It expected the best teams to be the ones with the best people. Instead, it found that how people worked together mattered more, and that feeling safe to speak up mattered most.

Freedom Comes From Your Team

To build a stronger team, let go of the idea that you must do everything yourself. Real freedom does not come from doing more on your own. It comes from a team that works together and feels a real sense of ownership. That is how you build a business that is driven from the bottom up, not controlled from the top down. That is the difference between a business that depends on its owner and one that thrives on its people.

How to Build a Stronger Team

• Share the why. Tell people what the business is for, not just what to do.
• Give away outcomes, not just tasks. Let people own a result and work out how to get there.
• Invest in your people. Training and study time pay back many times over.
• Make it safe to speak up. Ideas flow when mistakes lead to learning, not blame.
• Invest in yourself. Peer groups, mentors and networks stop you getting stuck in your own head.

A Business Bigger Than You

Try thinking of your business as more than a job or a source of income. It is something bigger than you, and it can outlast your own involvement. Owners who see it this way tend to invest in their people and in the long-term future of the business. As a family business ourselves, we see that every day.

A business can only grow as fast as the people leading it. Some of the best growth comes from learning, and from swapping ideas with others on the same journey. So make time for both.

Are you working on a team that can thrive without you? Get in touch with the team at MBP Advisory. We would love to help.