Most people have the will to win, few have the will to prepare to win.
Bobby Knight

That statement is not from the bible, obviously, but my experience tells me it is true. What I have found out over the years is that my desire to accomplish something great will always be left wanting if it is not exceeded by a desire to prepare to do something great.

Too many of us simply want the win without the preparation, planning or practice. As a leader, the number one thing we can do to help our team succeed is to allow them to prepare to win. If we are not creating margin for our teams, then any failure they have is on our heads. It is unfair to stand in judgment over your team if you have not given them a fair chance to win. The reason is that if you - the leader - are not creating planning/preparation margin - your team can’t either.

Leaders create a wake. A leader’s actions always start a chain of events that affect everyone they lead. This is for good and for bad. The higher the level of the leader the greater impact and reach of his wake.

If you are a leader of leaders, then you have to increase the level of your preparation because you are creating margin for EVERYONE that follows you, not just your direct reports. I see too many top level leaders that only focus on their margin for preparation and then complain or stand as a critic over their organization because someone at a lower level failed. If you’re not creating time for your team to prepare to win then that failure is on you.

I have the good fortune to work for a leader who gets this principle. Senior Pastor’s and top leaders out there take note of just one result of Perry Noble’s willingness to prepare to win. I know the exact topic and scripture reference for every Sunday between now and Memorial Day 2009. Why? Because Perry wants to win and he is willing to work harder than anyone to prepare to win… which, in turn, give his team greater margin and greater opportunity to succeed. Perry has learned that he creates a giant wake at NewSpring and instead of demanding others work harder to cover his lack of preparation he has decided to take the lead in preparation.

I have mentioned before that everyone has to be willing to do work. As the leader, that means that we have to be at the top of that list. The leader’s primary way to “do work” is to give their teams the greatest possible chance for success through providing clear vision and then time to prepare to meet the demands of that vision.

So, how bad do you want it? Are you willing to want to prepare to win OR do you just want to win?