Being the Oil

Ever wonder what keeps some teams working like well-oiled machines?  You know what I’m going to say, don’t you?  It’s the leader.  If you’re a great leader, then you are the oil that keeps your team moving almost effortlessly towards whatever objective has been set.

As a  great leader you’ve got insight into the strengths and challenges of each and every team member.  You’ve got a sense of what they can do individually, but more importantly, you’ve got a sense of what they can accomplish together.  Moreover, you’ve got a sense of how they can best come together in order to be the most effective team in service of whatever your objective is.  Once you’ve got them coming together, you are then the oil that works to keep each cog, so to speak, moving smoothly within the frame of other cogs so that all works together.

Leadership is about recognizing how you can grease the wheels of your team most effectively, so you can harness the greatest output of energy from your team.  Every leadership skill you possess — from communication, to conflict resolution, to modeling, to challenging — contributes to your ability to keep the team wheels moving smoothly.

Bottom-line:  while the analogy might not be great, I believe it’s accurate.  As a leader, you are the oil that keeps your team machine working smoothly.