One of the greatest privileges of my working life was to build around me a team I could trust and teach others to do the same. This of course doesn’t just apply to work situations but also life itself.

I won’t pretend I didn’t make a few mistakes along the way….we all do…..its called a learning curve!!

Trust & integrity go hand in hand, without trust, there is no integrity and with no integrity there is no trust.

All organisations and groups will fail if these two things are not embedded within them, this is especially true when working with others who very often work autonomously!

Freedom to work or lead independently is the rock on which many an organization has perished because like it or not there has to be some kind of foundation….someone has to lead from the top to put the building blocks in place!

There has to be some kind of regulation not deregulation! It may be ‘light touch’ but it has to be there!…..and the key to getting this right is vetting! Getting the right people into the right place from the start, especially if those people are going to work independently, out of sight for the most part.

There can be no place for egos in any well-functional organisation especially where external groups are being built up, otherwise ‘mini kingdoms’ arise.

All within a group may well have the same dream but if egos are allowed to walk among them unfettered then dreams will be crushed.

Complete autonomy may be ones aspiration but in reality, it doesn’t work, there has to be structure and hands-on leadership within that structure.

You can have the best leader in the world but if that kind of leadership does not trickle down throughout the organisation everything below hangs on a ‘shooglie peg’!

Building a team is no different in principle from building a house. Firm foundations and the best materials available.

When trying to build up the foundations for a new Scotland let’s make sure the foundations are solid and the right people are in the right place!

A Free Scotland!