Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

by Jen Earle, CEO of the National Association of Women Business Owners

At the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), one of our favorite quotes is “Teamwork makes the dream work.” And if you’ve ever worked on a team that really clicks, you know just how true this is.

Teamwork is the ability to work cooperatively with others to achieve overall objectives. It’s a fundamental part of leadership because running your own business is certainly not an individual effort. In fact, leadership and teamwork together create the best results—having a direct impact on your ability to carry out your organization’s mission and vision.

Great leadership ensures everyone on your team is headed in the same direction. It provides a clear vision and strategy for achieving it. It motivates and inspires your team members to use their individual talents as part of a greater effort. It also keeps a pulse on progress and everyone on track to meeting your goals.

At the same time, leadership is an integral part of great teamwork. You’ll likely find your employees who really shine and thrive in a team environment demonstrate strong leadership skills as well as are highly collaborative and good communicators, among other things.

Indeed, teamwork makes the dream work. That’s why every year, NAWBO holds a Leadership Academy that is not only open to our members but to non-members as well—which is incredibly important to us this year as we know so many women business owners across the nation continue to struggle in this new norm and we want to encourage and support as many as possible.

In fact, our most recent survey tells us that as the pandemic has pushed on, 60% of women business owners who responded had seen a decrease in revenue and had growing concerns over where they would access the capital needed to survive. Moreover, if states must shutter again, 38% of survey respondents are worried their businesses will fail.

Our 2021 Leadership Academy is a virtual experience for the first time and designed to further NAWBO’s founding mission that’s now more important than ever—creating leaders for a world of change. The event features two custom tracks: one for NAWBO chapter leadership and another for every woman business owner interested in honing her personal and professional leadership skills during this time to become an even better version of herself.

One event highlight is the incredible speakers. These include Laura Berland, founder of the Center for Compassionate Leadership; Sherry Stewart Deutschmann, founder of BrainTrust; Queirra Fenderson, founder and CEO of The Ambition Studio; and Karen Harrison, senior vice president, national SBA executive of Bank of America; among others.

These women will be providing valuable insights on topics like: • Empathy and Compassion at Work: Leading From the Inside Out For Sustainable Success • The Power of “No”: How Saying “No” Can Make You More Successful, Happier and More Respected • Personal Leadership Skills to Navigate the Ups and Downs of a Changing World

Also, there will be fun and connection—both things we can all use right now! Yelibelly Chocolates is offering a chocolate-tasting and trivia experience as part of this year’s Leadership Academy. This unique networking experience includes a tasting kit curated with single-origin chocolates from a variety of countries, samples of cacao beans and nibs, a tasting journal, samples of bonbons and truffles and more.

For more information on our 2021 Leadership Academy, please visit www.nawbo.org/events-channel/ nawbo-virtual-leadership-academy-winter-2021. We hope to see you there so you can see first-hand how teamwork can make your dream work.