As I continue my enquiry into leadership I was interested to read the article in today’s Business Herald about the benefits of team building and in particular of the Outwards Bounds programme. I am a firm believer that successful leadership requires a team approach. Last year we received a visit from BNI CEO – Norm Dominguez. Whilst he was here he commented on a number of aspects of BNI NZ that he found to be working particularly well. One was the weekly meeting we hold at BNI Support and Norm was impressed with the fact that we operate as a true team, with everyone knowing exactly what their role is in the organisation and the fact that we all support one another in these roles. The second thing that impressed him was the BNI Directors meeting – which coincided with his visit. These meetings are arranged four times a year and we assemble the entire team of 17 BNI Directors from around the country. The team dynamic and also the fact that these meetings are facilitated was of interest to Norm – something he had not come across before in the US.
Finally – and by way of a treat to our CEO for coming to NZ as well as to commemorate the fact that we were in our 8th year – we chartered one of the two America’s Cup yachts that is available for charter at the Viaduct and invited a selection of members and guests to take part in an afternoon of match racing. When you have 20 people all working together with a common purpose – racing the rival boat, the synergy and team dynamic is something special. To my mind, creating an environment of goodwill where everyone knows what is expected of them and where everyone is working together with a common goal is one of the key ingredients of leadership.
PS We didn’t win the race but we all enjoyed the event and retired to The Loaded Hog to lick our wounds 🙂
