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1. Is the reason you are leading your team a worthwhile
cause, do you have a clear vision of exactly what you are
trying to accomplish and does your team know what that
vision is? Is your vision worth the time and effort you
devote towards achieving it every day?

2. I hope these questions start the creative juices flowing
and allow you to see the importance of having a
worthwhile vision and a purpose, which you can actually
hang your hat on. Unless you have a meaningful purpose
and a clear vision for where you want your business and
your team to go in the future, you will feel like you are
floundering in the dark and achieve very little each year.

3. The time and effort you invest into getting clarity about
exactly what you want to achieve both personally and in
your business, will pay you back ten, twenty and even fifty
times, in saved effort and results down the road. What are
you waiting for, until you as the leader, have complete
clarity about what you and your team will achieve in the
future and you consistently communicate this to all stake
holders. Your team will continue to be like a rudderless
boat approaching a dangerous waterfall. All your team
members will fell like they are out of control and they will
have no real purpose or reason to extend themselves
daily, always striving to deliver their best.

4. You as the leader must find the dream or vision for your
team. Then through great leadership and influence, you
must inspire them to support you, so that you can realise
this vision. The people who follow you will look to your
leadership first and then over time they will buy into your
vision. John Maxwell said it so well when he said "The
leader finds the dream and then the people. The people
find the leader and then the dream" Your role as a leader
is to get people to buy into you as the leader first and then
over time they will buy into the vision.

5. People don't follow a vision; they follow worthy
leaders, who have great vision. It is crucial that you are
able to make this important distinction as a leader. You
must be the example and epitomise all the traits you want
to see in your team and they will reflect this back to you.
People follow leaders who they respect and can offer
them guidance, support and opportunity. If you can
consistently offer all or most of these to your team, they
will follow you and support you and the vision of the team
or organisation.

6. When your team have enough reason to buy into you as
their leader and they feel confident enough to support
and follow you, they will gladly support and buy into your
vision. When I was starting my speaking career a few years
ago, I approached every speaker's bureau possible. They
understood my vision and what I was trying to achieve. Yet
none of them were interested in booking me for a
speaking gig, as they had not seen what I could do and
had not bought into me as a speaker. As time has passed
and I have earned my stripes and the bureaus have bought
into me as a speaker, they now know, like and trust me
and regularly book me for speaking gigs.

7. The same is true for building the relationship with your
team members. It takes time to get them to buy into you
as a leader and for them to see that they can trust you to
lead them. Have patience and commit to keep building the
buy in from your team daily. Over time they will buy into
you as their leader and they will consistently give their
best to support you, the team and the overall vision.

8. The message you want to deliver to your team about your
vision, will always be filtered by the impression they have
of you and by how much they have bought into you as
their leader. The person who delivers the message is what
makes the message believable or not. This is the reason
why marketers use well known personalities to promote
their products. People are far more likely to believe a
message and trust the content of the message if they like
and can relate to the person delivering the message. The
more credible you are as the leader of your team and the
more you show them that they can trust you, the easier it
will be for you to get your team to buy into your vision.
People want to work with and support people they relate
to and get along with.

9. You can never separate your vision from you as the leader.
People will not follow any vision or cause, no matter how
good it is, unless they know, like and trust the leader. A
great leader with a poor vision may still receive the
support of his team and they may be willing to follow
them as their leader. A poor leader with a fantastic vision
on the other hand will not even get people to consider
following a great vision. The best solution to lead and
inspire any team to greatness, is to be a great leader
first, which your team sees as authentic and they can
trust. Then develop and communicate a great vision to
your team and everyone will support you.

10. Consistently share your hopes and dreams with your
team. Strive to be an authentic trustworthy leader and
your team will follow you with confidence and support
your vision. Your success as a leader is measured by your
ability to positively influence people to follow you and
your vision; to a place of success and achievement. The
more you as a leader support everyone in your team, the
more they will buy into you as their leader and the better
the results you and your team will achieve

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