You are not alone. That is one of the most important – and liberating – things you need to recognise as you embark on your leadership journey. Unless you’re starting a business as a team of one, you’ll be working with other people, and they are your secret weapon in the stepping up journey.

In our fast-paced digital world, the days of the lone wolf leader and visionary CEO, predicting the future and performing business miracles, are now gone. There’s far too much going on, too many new developments, technologies and competitors to try and lead the way alone. There are more interconnections and interdependencies than ever before: with customers, suppliers and the wider world.

This is a reality you need to embrace if you want to step up as a leader. So far we’ve talked a lot about things you can do within yourself to develop a leadership mindset and leadership skills. We’ve looked at defining a leadership mission that steers the decisions about what you want to achieve as a leader and the impact you want to make; choosing or creating a CLAN, an organisation that will challenge and inspire you; developing multiple forms of intelligence, practising the stepping-up principles, cultivating your leadership toolkit and developing strategies for confidence building and personal well-being. Phew, you’ve got a lot on your plate! In the words of Dr Seuss, it’s a good job you’re so footsy!

The good news is this: it’s not all about you. As the oft-cited African proverb reminds us: ‘If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together’.

Why? Because your team is the single most important aspect of your leadership journey and legacy. More important than the speeches you give. More important than the recognition you receive. More important, even, than the new business you bring in (because without a great team, who is going to deliver it, wow the client and help you bring in more next time?).

The first, best and most important investment you will make as a leader is in your team. Talk to any successful entrepreneur and almost all will readily credit the team that made it happen. Because, while you as a founder might have had the spark of an idea, there are severe limits on how far you take it alone. Without a great team to make things happen, challenge your thinking and spot the hidden icebergs, your big idea will soon find itself stranded on the rocks. It’s the same if you aspire to leadership within someone else’s company: you might be the one reporting on results to your board or investors, but it’s what gets you to that point that really matters, which is the work of the team behind you. Whatever your circumstances as a leader, you will come to rely and depend on your team. And that’s exactly the way it should be.

We live in a competitive, highly networked world where it’s highly unlikely you’re the only business in your field. In that context, your team brings competitive advantage. The company that wins in the long term will be the one with the best organised, motivated and clearly aligned team. An empowered team that’s given real responsibility, trusted to make decisions and relied upon to deliver, will achieve great things and save you from many errors and missteps along the way. In a constantly competitive talent market, you need to lead like a politician running for election: continually seeking to win the vote and endorsement of your people.

It’s because other people will be so important to your leadership success that winning votes demands a chapter in its own right and this is often the biggest step-change that aspiring leaders have to make. We have tips for building and nurturing great teams; advice for developing the leadership skills you’ll need to get your team firing on all cylinders; and concrete suggestions for shaping a culture that will define the identity of your team.

And it starts with the people you’ll be working with every day. The people you will be relying on to turn the big ideas into big progress, and inspire and challenge you as a leader at every turn. How do you find and pick the right people; how do you get the best out of them; and how do you turn a group of individuals into a team that is greater than the sum of its parts?