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Jaime Gonzalez
President El Paso Association of Builders
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We have all heard the old adage : “ If you want something done right , do it yourself !”. I did a little digging on this ; the general consensus is that the original quote comes from Napoleon Bonaparte . If we look into what Napoleon accomplished , I think the meaning of the phrase has been somewhat misinterpreted . I think it could be “ If you want something done right , find the right team to do it !” In the same way that Napoleon could have never accomplished what he did by himself , there is no way that any of us can do everything we need to do by ourselves . Every organization , department , group , company , |
etc . needs to have a leader . Someone has to be responsible and accountable for the performance of the team . However , the main responsibility of that leader is not to do everything themselves , it is to gather and lead the right team that will help them accomplish the goal . In my life and career , I have learned that even though sometimes it feels like we are on opposing teams , we really can ’ t accomplish the goal without each other . Who is more important ? The sales team , or the construction team ? The Superintendent or the Subcontractor ? The buyer or the seller ? Mom or Dad ? Defense or offense ? |
At the end of the day , the team is working together towards the same goal . We may have different roles and different tools , but the team is what gets the job done . Here is where the phrase gets tricky . Our success or failure , and that of our team , depends on each one of us , on our individual hard work and effort . Each one of us is the leader in charge of our own personal team . However , finding the right team is what will allow us to get something done right . So yes , Napoleon was right , you do have to do it yourself . But that doesn ’ t mean you have to do it alone . |