Steps to SuccessBack from my week of ‘sharpening the saw’ and survived surprisingly well without phone, internet or virtually any technology beyond a tea kettle and a magic machine that projects stars onto the ceiling (don’t ask!).The course was phenomenal, intense to say the least and far exceeded my expectations. I’ll spare you the details, except one inescapable and particularly potent ‘learning’ I brought home: the importance and power of a supportive group.There were twenty-four of us on this residential training programme, and no one knew anyone else. Slightly awkward at first, overcoming first impressions and assumptions, but we soon developed familiarity and found common ground. Although spanning a spectrum of backgrounds and circumstances, being united by a shared purpose we discovered a bond and support network that helped motivate us, sustain momentum, increase awareness and understanding, and spark new ideas and developments.Social psychologists might ascribe this to Crowd Wisdom or Group Intelligence — the idea that the energy, synergy and collective knowledge within a group creates an opportunity for generating more and better ideas and solutions than could come from working individually.Some of the benefits of group work I found particularly empowering over the past week include:* Added Insight — learning becomes more efficient as we learn from each other to deepen understanding through discussion, questions, testing and clarifying ideas, transferring previous knowledge, learning by example and learning from other’s mistakes. A broader range of skills & experience, multiple perspectives and points of view within the group allow us each to expand our individual ways of seeing things.* Sharing Resources (I don’t just mean biscuits at break-time) — In a group environment it becomes possible to see others’ successes as our own and as such, people approach their group-mates with generosity and help in whatever ways they can.* Expanding Social Capital — a rather clinical way of saying creating positive, enriching relationships that can often last a lifetime. Working closely together towards similar goals in any open, participative, positive, mutually-supportive and challenging group, participants will often create strong and enduring bonds that will exceed the limits of the group.* Developing Interpersonal Skills — including speaking and listening, team work: leadership, motivating others, collaborative and co-operative skills etc. A supportive group environment also provides a forum for any who need it, to gain in confidence in regards to sharing, offering input, voicing opinions and feeling heard.* Enhanced Self-Awareness — through our actions and interactions within the group, we can identify our own strengths and weaknesses. Seeing how others see us and how we are perceived can build our confidence and highlight areas for possible development. In a trusting environment, this feedback can be shared in a positive, supportive way.* Greater Personal Ownership — creating a safe space within a group of similarly focused people to share and be witness to others, provides an opportunity to name and own issues that might otherwise go unmentioned or avoided. Bringing issues to light is the first step in tackling them and often we can find solace that we are not alone in them, and others may either have solutions or contribute to finding one.* Added Accountability — answering to and checking-in with group members fosters a greater sense of urgency to do the necessary work to achieve our goals and stand by what we have publicly declared.* Strength and Support — again, enjoying the shared success: all the participants are willing each individual on. That group energy acts to distribute obstacles and difficulties as each person is subconsciously helping the others to identify solutions as they move towards their individual goals. This doesn’t happen when we’re just working on our own. Similarly there is a diffusion of stress because everyone there is working outside their comfort zone and ‘we’re all in the same boat’, which allows participants to relax, feel safe, overcome resistance more readily, allow creativity to flow and open easier to the possibility of change and growth.This wonderful metaphor illustrates the potential power of group strength and support in helping us each succeed:Canada geese fly in a V for the pragmatic reason that a flock flying in formation can move faster and maintain flight longer (adding 71% greater flying range) than any one goose flying alone. When a goose falls out of formation, it feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front. When the lead goose gets tired, he simply rotates back into the wing and another goose flies point. The other geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. If a goose gets sick, or is wounded and falls out, two geese fall out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until either it is able to fly or it dies, and then they launch out on their own or with another formation until they catch up with their group.The sustained success of many groups in creating positive change is no doubt due to this mindset and recognising we can achieve more together than we might on our own. Support groups, for example, work on this principle. Many weight-loss and fitness systems also rely on group leverage for motivation and added accountability.It doesn’t all have to be about ‘high-fives’ and group hugs (although, having had a fair few of them over the past week, they come highly recommended). Professional groups and affiliations, if run well, can provide similar development opportunities. Rotary is just one great example. Action or Youth groups, clubs, sports teams, charity or service organisations, workshops and classes are all potential ‘groups’ where like-minded people are working towards similar positive goals. Group Coaching is another powerful medium of personal/professional development whilst connecting with others.Create your own group. The greatest requirement is establishing an environment of support, trust and co-operative learning.Practically speaking, group work can be a great way to work on large projects (larger in scope or complexity than individual tasks) and shared workloads can save time. There can also be cost benefits, e.g. with group coaching or workshops: large numbers can be catered for at once and distribution of information is facilitated. As much as anything, being in a group can make the work we’re doing more challenging, interesting, motivating, engaging, and fun.The right group environment can increase productivity, performance and the probability of achieving our goals. Having that support, accountability and a forum for testing and generating ideas and solutions can lead to us to feel more secure to be creative, bold, decisive, true to our word and proactive, knowing we have the power and energy of the group behind us.Honk! Honk!Julia Pitt is a trained Success Coach and certified NLP practitioner with Benedict Associates Ltd. Telephone (441) 295-2070 or visit www.juliapittcoaching.com for further information.