It takes a TEAM to reach the DREAM!

Ask any successful business owner, coach, or even the members of a traditional nuclear family. Its all about the “Team”, and most never make it without having the required members in place and working together…period!

Coming from a broken home, (several times over), I have observed and experienced first hand what happens to “the family” when key players decide it’s time to be “moving along now”, quoting an old friend. It really doesn’t matter whom is to blame, what the circumstances might have been, or how it started. If one or more of the “leaders” defect, the rest of the team may soon follow…

It seems most of my adult life has been an attempt to resurrect my lost “team”, from early jobs in corporate America, the failed relationships with lovers and friends, to past and present business endeavors. Regardless of the idea, the product or service, no man or women  is an island. The flight of a “solo pilot” is often a road less traveled…

I recruited many business partners during the past decade, some by design and others simply mere chance. The best times of my professional life were when there seemed to be a common goal, a collective mission, a calling that inspired the group as a whole. It didn’t have to be a big team, sometimes it was only me and another kindred soul. But if there was meaning behind the madness, a purpose bigger than the individual, and a dream that could be conceived, the result could be transformational, almost magical…

Unfortunately, as is often the case for most of us, “life gets in the way”. People have other priorities, things change, the market shifts or attention drifts. As hard as I may have tried to keep a team together, you cant drag someone into a business, for then you will have to drag them across the finish line.

A personality test I took during college identified me as a “persuader”, and my career thus far has verified that fact. Yet, those characteristics back fired many times after convincing someone to join me on my journey. They often wander off into the woods if you’re not prodding them to follow, and it becomes like herding cats…

If there is one thing I’ve learned during this roller coaster ride of chasing dreams, is that there is a big difference between “motivation” and “inspiration”. I might be able to get someone motivated to join me, but like raising a child, it takes constant attention. Inspiration on the other hand, comes from “within”, and only requires occasional fueling of the internal flame.

That’s where the “Team” comes in, when the spirit is low or the times are slow. It takes a team to win a championship, build a business, or sustain a family. You can have the “Dream” but there is no question that without the cooperation of the team, it could become a nightmare.

It has been said that whom you decide to spend your time with dictates your success or failure more than anything else in life. I’ve certainly been guilty of causing my own failures in many instances, personally and professionally. Yet on the field, in the boardroom or the bedroom, it’s all about the team, that is if you truly want to reach the dream. Whatever it may be…