If someone was to ask me, as an entrepreneur, what I have built in these years, my answer would always be “I have built a team”. Very few people realise the true meaning and impact of this. But a transformational leader, of a start-up or an entrepreneur, will connect with the answer immediately. Unlike the perception that exists, an entrepreneur does not run a company single-handedly. He or she in a true sense is no different from the coach of a sports team. Just as a coach works hard to build a winning team before he or she actually starts winning, an entrepreneur also first works towards creating a team that has winning qualities and then starts focusing on winning.
Developing a high potential team has a direct impact on your business. Individuals in isolation can deliver the requirements of their specific roles, but if they do not form a strong team, the business strategy and overall organisational vision are bound to suffer. This is why your team is your biggest asset.
Your focus as a leader and entrepreneur should be to build this asset. There are many reasons why teams are your biggest assets, particularly when you are a start-up organisation.
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1. They are your ”Hard-earned Right Talent”
Even organisations or individuals who are financially sound are unable to find the right talent. They might be in a position to offer the best compensation and rewards for a particular role, but assessing the fitment of a person to the organisation’s requirements is a challenge from a practical perspective. So, if you have been able to find the right set of people to form your teams and drive the growth, that is a big asset.
2. Extension of your Vision
They are an extension of your vision. The right kind of team actually believes in your vision and how it should take shape. They give it the direction it needs because their understanding of your organisation’s vision is not superficial and is far more comprehensive.
3. They Value your Values
They carry the values of your foundation. When a diverse set of individuals come together in a cohesive unit because of a common set of values they can lead the organisation beyond its initial stages of growth into sustainable growth.
4. Organizational Culture
They help you develop a culture. An organisation’s culture, especially for a new-age start-up comes from the team it has. It evolves as the team members appreciate and supplement each other’s efforts and become unique to the organisation. So your team is an asset because it defines and sustains the culture and work climate.
5. Raise/Propel You as a Leader
They have high expectations from leadership and that in turn drives the leaders to raise their own internal bar of performance. When a large number of people look towards you for leadership and for their growth as well, as a leader you focus on shifting the benchmark upwards and lifting your own ability to lead higher.
6. Personally Trained
In initial few years of your journey as an entrepreneur, team members are personally mentored and trained by you. The team members who are well-guided and trained to be extremely self-sufficient. That ensures that the leader or leaders do not have to work micromanage or oversee their performance in a detailed manner and can allow them to function in an empowered manner. This is a huge advantage since it frees up the leader’s time for more business-critical activities and strategic initiatives.
I firmly believe, as my experience as an entrepreneur, your team is your biggest asset. Interestingly, it is never captured as part of your balance sheet. Imagine a balance sheet with figures like the head count of a company, what is the attrition rate, count of current leaders, count of future leaders, growth of different levels/individuals in the last x months and so on. If you were to ask any successful entrepreneur, they will share their experience of how they could scale up because they were fortunate to get a good team. So the efforts that go into building a team and pushing them forward is very important.
A smaller organisation such as us has been successfully able to deliver work which companies of a much higher scale have struggled with while maintaining the timelines and quality levels. Because “we had a team” that made it possible to deliver it. They are your biggest and immeasurable asset any day.
About the Author: This article has been contributed by Amit Dua, who is a Co-Founder and CEO at Signity Solutions and ValueAppz
