Just like a great athletic team, having a great team around you is critical for your success. The importance of your internal team needs to be a high priority for you as a leader and your organization. It is important to attract and gather your team, and it is important to maintain and grow it.

Here are five great reasons for the importance of your internal team:

The internal team is your eyes and ears to particular areas of the organization.

Even if you tried, you can't be everywhere. You also can't know everything that is going on in the organization. You want for your team to be active in the organization and to get the insights and the information to make the best decisions and to implement the best strategies. Give your team members the opportunities to share what they know and what they've gathered within the organization. Develop a high degree of trust and communication with them so that you can get honest, accurate and beneficial input.

The team represents you and your leadership within the organization.

As much as you want to think that you represent yourself exclusively, the people you surround yourself with are reflecting you in the organization. As your team, they represent you: your vision, mission, goals, objectives, and even some of your personality traits, expertise and abilities. It's important for you to equip your team members with the skills and knowledge you have to allow them to represent you well. Be clear with your team on what you want to communicate and what you want for the organization to accomplish.

The team maintains accountability to ensure that the organization stays true to its mission and vision.

We as leaders drift a bit on goals, objectives, vision and mission without clear expectations. Just as much as you need to be committed to keeping your internal team aligned with the mission and vision of the organization, as well as the team itself, the team needs to be committed to staying aligned with those mission and vision statements as well. As the team works with various people in the organization, as well as people outside of the organization, their views of what's going on and what needs to happen are important to maintain alignment.

The team provides diversity in views, opinions and benefits for you and the organization.

One of the main objectives of having an internal team is to create diversity. You don't want the same personalities, expertise, and levels of performance. Instead, you want a group of people who can and will bring in different views and expert opinions which will educate, inform and encourage you to rise as a leader. Hearing and seeing information that simply makes you feel good isn't what you need. You need to hear and see the truth and to have the most accurate information. That objective is best accomplished with the right team giving you the best information.

The team takes you and the team to higher levels.

To grow as a leader and to grow as an organization, you want great leaders working with you. Great leaders on your team will have an important part in finding for you and the team the best opportunities to succeed. If you are committed to helping your internal team, they will gain trust in you. They will reveal the right opportunities and will help execute the plans that will bring healthy growth.

Remember that it's not good enough to put together a great team. You also need to find opportunities to learn and grow together. Lastly, you need to keep making additions to your team. When you find those great people who can take you and your organization to the next level, stay with the process and look for more. Certainly it takes work, but the benefits will pay dividends for a long, long time.