Go Far by Going Together
He moves to East Africa, to the mountainous, beautiful land of Rwanda to help lead a coffee export company. He knows one thing for sure 👇
He needs a team. 🤝 And that team needs to work extraordinarily well together. Some of them will live together, most will eat every meal together, all of them need to get along even when strongly competing for resources and focus across departments … like any other business.
Intrapreneurs remember the great African proverb:
“if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. 🗺”
Pinchot’s 10 Commandments
Did you know that the Godparents of Intrapreneurship, Pinchot put this #1 on their 10 Commandments list: "Build your team, intrapreneuring is not a solo activity.”
Intrapreneurs, you may be naturally socially-inclined (“I have people skills!!!”), and yet you believe that it is most important to consistently do the small + hard things to build trust and align people toward a common vision. Alignment takes work; it takes honesty and truth. So it ain’t all handshakes and networking ...
I’ve heard that “trust is earned by meeting a series of small commitments”. You are quick to make commitments and consistent in meeting them, and that is why people learn to trust you.
That coffee leader in Rwanda somehow removed any spirit of fear among their team, and achieved something extraordinary. Even when … *especially* when facing large, complex technical and cross-cultural challenges, they pulled together, supported each other and inspired those around them. We know they inspire us!
