Leadership Lessons: How Everyone on Your Team is Connected
By Leanne Crain

So often I encounter people who feel that in order to be a leader, they need to be powerful. They feel they need to dress a certain way, talk a certain way, and be a certain way in order to appear in control. I beg to differ. You don't have to be a manager or CEO to be a leader, everyone can be a leader.

I have a strong believe in a true "team" and a recent visit to my son's classroom gave me a real "a-ha" moment. Up on the board is a list of tasks that need to get done every day. Some of them are not fun tasks, and some of them are. All have to be done to make the classroom run effectively. How does the teacher accomplish this? Does she assign one task over and over to the same person simply because they are the best at it? Is one child in the class the leader all the time? No!

Here is the secret, taught to me by a kindergarten class. Everyone is a special person. They all take turns being the special person, and in turn, they all take turns doing the tasks that make the classroom run well. One day you might be the main focus of attention and get to talk the most, share your ideas, or be at the front of the line, and the next day you will be required to put the books back on the shelf, or wipe the chalkboard. They encourage each other, and if one person is done their task before another, they are encouraged to go and help another person finish their task. They all know that play isn't going to happen unless they work together and get everything done. Also, the special person gets a note home a few days before, telling them that they are going to be the special person on that day, and that they should be prepared.

Let's move this to a business idea. Everyone on your team can be a leader. There are tasks to get done to make the business run well, and all jobs are equally important. For instance, the sales person can go out and shine and make a huge amount of sales, but if the administrative side doesn't get done, i.e. the invoicing and the bookkeeping, those sales don't amount to much. Everyone has to work together and value each other in order to succeed.

Remember, different people will shine on different days, but everyone is important on the team, and everyone has a job to do that is as important as the next person's. All team members impact each other: thus helping another finish their tasks or encouraging them to do their best, in turn helps you. On top of this, all team members have ideas that are valid, and all deserve each other's respect. A great leader makes a concentrated effort to give everything they have back to the team, so that everyone can in turn give their best.

One more thing, unlike kindergarten, you don't know when your next chance to be "special person" is, so instead of preparing a few days before, or waiting for someone to tell you what training or skills you should be getting, you need to take initiative and make yourself the best you can be, so that you are ready to give your best to your team.

For more leadership lessons, or leadership training, please contact Gary Gzik at 613.342.2200 ext. 108 or at ggzik@bizxcel.com.

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Leanne Crain is a Marketing and Administrative Assistant for BizXcel. Her background is marketing and tourism, and she has over 12 years experience in the sales and marketing field.