When groups accomplish things it is a result of these three factors having been in place:
Purpose, Direction and Motivation. These are the basic tenets of Leadership.
It is taught by the boy scouts, taught by the military. It is the difference between Obama and Hilary.
In intellectual warfare, groups and even whole armies are sabotaged by merely introducing uncertainty around the group’s purpose, direction, or motivation. It is that simple, and that powerful.
Purpose, Direction and Motivation happen on the personal level as well as on the group level, and at any level of task within a project.
Whenever a group does not mesh and things do not happen as planned you can bet it is because one of these factors is missing. This is why many projects are started and yet abandoned.
At the same rate, to ensure any team or organization’s success it is as simple as making sure the team has purpose, direction and motivation and that its members have a common goal, work interdependently and act accordingly.
Even in teams or organizations with weak leads, if the team understands these things it can still succeed because the goal is greater than the individual, and the passions which motivate the team are stronger than the weakest or even most stubborn of leaders.
For example, if a team is low on direction but high on purpose and motivation, it can find a direction and succeed. If the team is low on motivation but high on purpose and direction, it can find motivation and have success. Although this does not come without its challenges, understanding the basics of leadership and teamwork is a tremendous benefit to anyone who finds them self in any type of leadership role.
