Make a Difference

In closing, I hope that you continue to make a difference. I interviewed nearly two hundred team leaders for a study and found that they all had stories about how they made a difference. Some made a difference in small ways (e.g., smiling, being approachable, treating team members to food at meetings, etc.), and some in big ways (e.g., helping clarify goals, helping a team find solutions to production problems, helping a teammate believe in herself, helping a team find ways to significantly improve the way it works together, etc.). Their stories were quite touching. While each of them had some way of describing how he or she has made a difference, nearly all of them also added that it was more a matter of "we as a team" that made the real difference. The theme throughout this book has been to help others help themselves . That is the essence of effective leadership in the team approach. You aren't better than the collective power of your team. You are just willing to put yourself out there to make a difference. I wish you the best.