There used to be a television show called “The Lone Ranger”.  In this show, there was a masked man who would sweep into town and save the day.  The interesting thing about this show is that he was not alone.  He had a partner named Tonto who was instrumental in helping to resolve conflicts.

Today, many leaders still suffer from this myth of thinking they need to resolve all the issues themselves.  They fail to realize that this approach sets them up to fail because any goal worth achieving requires a team.  None of us can take the journey alone no matter how gifted we might be.  This does not take anything away from leaders, but rather provides unlimited opportunities to shine.

When leaders support and equip team members, they are then able to lead rather than micromanage each step of the way.

Many leaders over the years have lamented that they just do not have time to equip their teams.  The reality is that they spend most of their time putting out fires and solving every problem that pops up.

Instead, by drawing on the talents of their team, they could be free to create vision, and direction and implement their priorities.  Successful leaders understand that equipping their team and aligning them with their purpose and values releases the team to combine their talents and giftedness with each other.   Leaders enable them to make good decisions and move forward more effectively.

So take a minute to ask you a couple of questions, where are you spending your time?  Are you drawing the best out of your team members?  Are you equipping and supporting them to be successful?  Nothing else will matter unless you have an effective team that is inspired to reach great goals.