Are you a sports fan?  Many people are, many people aren’t.  Even if you’re not a sports fan you probably know the difference between a team sport and an individual sport.

Team sports are played by a team of players against another team of players: hockey, soccer, rugby, basketball, baseball, and football are all fairly well-known team sports.  Individual sports are played by a single person: tennis, skiing, track and field, gymnastics and wrestling are all examples of individual sports.  Each athlete is competing against another athlete – it’s them against their competitor.

My sons and I are rugby fans – what a fabulous team sport.  Our oldest son called from Ottawa the other week to tell me he has started to play rugby in a men’s recreational league.  One of my first questions was,

“What team are you on?”

He told me and then talked a little bit about the team, its history, its leadership and the position he was going to play on the team.  It all sounded good.

Now, how do you think I would have responded if, when I asked him about the team he played on, he replied,

“I’m not on a team.  I play on my own.”

Obvious, right?

“Ah, I don’t think you really understand the nature of this game.  Rugby is a team game – you can’t play it alone.”

I think the same thing can be said about leadership.  Leadership by its very nature is a team game – it’s not meant to be played alone.  Sure, I know that leaders often have to stand alone in the midst of difficult situations.  Like Billy Graham said,

“When a brave man takes a stand the spines of others are stiffened.”

Leaders often have to take a courageous, unpopular stand.  It can certainly feel like you’re standing alone.  However, great leaders stand alone, together.

Leadership is costly.  Men and women who lead pay a price for their leadership in body, soul and spirit.  It’s tough being a leader.  Wise leaders understand what Clint Eastwood said in the movie Pale Rider,

“A man alone is easy prey.”

When leaders walk alone they can fall prey to many self-inflicted injuries.

It has been said,

“If you want to go fast, lead alone.  If you want to go far, lead together.”

What do you want: Do you want to go fast or do you want to go far?

Lots of leaders want to go fast.  It can yield great results in the short term, but it falls apart in the long term.  Wise leaders want to go far.  It may be slower and more difficult in the short term, but it yields far greater results in the long term.

So what does it mean to lead as part of a team?  Well, it can mean a number of things.  Certainly it means having a relational, collaborative, professional leadership team.  It can also mean leading within an accountability structure like a board of directors or an advisory board.

There is another team leadership model that is making a profound difference in the lives of leaders, their organizations and their communities around the world: It’s a Peer Advisory Model.  It’s peers meeting together from a wide variety of industries who understand they’re a far better leader when they lead from within a community of leaders.

It’s CEOs gathering with other CEOs, entrepreneurs gathering with other entrepreneurs, and executives gathering with other executives to envision, encourage and equip each other to be better leaders.  Leaders learning from each other.  Leaders leading each other.

The Executive Committee Canada with their unique model, part of the Vistage Worldwide network, provides exclusive peer advisory groups to leaders to help them lead.  Groups of 16 leaders gather to accelerate their corporate, personal and professional growth.  Each leader at the table is 15 times smarter than if he or she was leading alone.

Wise leaders synergize with others.  They know that to be their best they need to stand alone, together with other leaders.  They realize that to go far, they have to go together.  Great leaders understand that leadership is a team game.

How about you, have you discovered the power of peer advantage?