Today I heard the best line I'd heard in a long time. "You've got to get along to move along". The context was referring to moving thing ahead and working together in the face of adversity. It also made me think of the many situations in business where there have been so many blockers and barriers and people effectively 'sabotaging' situations to simply save them going over budget or to save face in the front of management.
In every situation I can think of that I have lead, there has always had to be give and take. Yes, sometimes things may go slightly over budget, yes, sometimes we don't all agree with decisions, but team work and moving forward for the greater good should always be top of mind if we are good team players and leaders.
Many times I've also seen roadblock situations put up due to a reluctance to approach management for sign-off, when in reality in most cases they are supportive of new and innovative ways of thinking to get different or better results. People can be scared and need support in a united way from peers in this situation and getting along to move things along is vital in this case.
As a leader, one of the most important things I have learnt is ensuring you are allowing a clear way for innovation and new ideas and sometimes, you have to take risks and run with those you might think are slightly left field to show support of your team and encouraging them to keep coming up with innovative and new ideas.
When people get along, are all focused on a common goal, things will move along. You will be able to work through tough times and make hard decisions and support each other during the hard bits and celebrate and share triumphs together in the big bits.
If you have a situation where the team is simply unable to get along, as a leader, it is you job to assist the team in clearing the blockages and dealing with the situation to ensure people are able to work together as a team to achieve common goals.
So lets start getting along and moving along! Its incredible what results people can achieve when they work together on common goals.
