Sometimes we are tempted to go it alone – to do everything ourselves. We believe that we can do it all and have only ourselves to hold accountable. But in most endeavors we will stretch ourselves thin and burn out if we try that. There are only so many hours in a day, so much energy and brainpower we have with which to tackle most tasks. We need to let lose of the reins of power and share the load.
As someone once said in a planning meeting, teamwork makes the dream work. You have heard the phrase two heads are better than one. Well, multiple people applying their energy and brainpower to a task will make it go both faster and smoother. We need feedback and brainstorming to avoid pitfalls and blunders. We get energized when collaborating. And when there are more people sharing the load if one person falls another can pick up the slack.
The above picture is from my home club Edmonds Toastmasters where we were setting up our hybrid meeting. There is a lot to do and on this day there were 4 of us sharing the load (I was taking the picture). We all had ideas to put into the mix and created a set up that worked both for those attending in person and those connecting via Zoom.
I have had times when I created a team and then got burned out when it dwindled to just me. So I always work to recruit a sizable team whether it is a small project – like an open house – or large – division level speech contest. I have also found that people like being asked to help out and you can help someone learn new things by challenging them to be part of a team.
It does take leadership to direct a team so that the project gets done efficiently and doesn’t descend into chaos. But that will teach you leadership skills and give you confidence in inspiring others.
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