Leading Great Groups

Question: Who painted the Sistine Chapel? Of course it was Michelangelo. But it was also a crew of 13. We rarely, if ever, hear about the crew of 13, yet Michelangelo would have never been able to accomplish this amazing feat without their assistance. Look at any number of successful organizations and you’ll see the same thing.

Leading Great Groups
A depiction of Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel. Photo by J. Jeff Kober.

We think of Walt Disney, but Walt did little drawing except in the early years. The animated classics under his name were the result of scores of animators and artists. The same is true of Pixar with John Lasseter. Or Apple with Steve Jobs. Great leaders succeed because they are in a fertile relationship with talented people who collaborate together.

As they say, “None of us is as smart as all of us.” As Warren Bennis puts it:

“The genius of Great Groups is that they get remarkable people — strong individual achievers – to work together to get results. But these groups serve a second and equally important function: they provide psychic support and personal fellowship. They help generate courage. Without a sounding board for outrageous ideas, without personal encouragement and perspective when we hit a roadblock, we’d all lose our way.”

Ask yourself:

  • What would take us one notch or one step better than what we are currently doing?
  • How do we abandon individual egos to make a great team?
  • How can we help individuals to more actively participate as part of a strong team?

Great teams only succeed to the degree they attain the results they set out to achieve. What does that look like for you?

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