I’m tempted to say happy new month because this is our first post this month, but I can’t, we are already in the second half of the month. Today, a great friend of the blog, Douglas Oyakhire returns with something very instructive.

I have never hidden the fact that I’m a student of John C. Maxwell and today’s post reminds me of Maxwell’s word that “one is too small a number to achieve greatness,” anything that will be great must have the input of more than one person. The Yoruba people have a saying that supports that line of thought, they say –  “one hand isn’t enough to lift a load,” if you can lift it with one hand, check what you have, it isn’t a load. I hope you’d enjoy this as much as I did.

The power of togetherness – Douglas Oyakhire.

A few days ago I was watching a documentary on spiders. Yes, spiders! I know they are creepy, but I love documentaries a lot, most especially when it has to do with the animal kingdom. Spiders are naturally known to be lone hunters and scavengers, working as a team is not their thing. Spiders are solitary and are even aggressive toward other members of their own species, this I had known before.

However, there was something that arrested my attention during the course of this particular documentary, it was the fact that despite the life of struggle and survival tactics of the spiders, some species still live and work together as a community. Wise ones I call them. You see, an average spider’s web spans up to about about 0.75 square inches (4.84 square) and gets on the average one catch a day as a loner. On the other hand, the great guys – the tropical orb-weavers of the genus Nephila, spin webs measuring up to 25 feet, 9 inches (six meters) in circumference. Tell me, who gets the most meal on the table? Do the mathematics yourself.

I give as much respect to great leaders who believe in unity as I have given to these set of spiders. I did a little survey on married couples and I discovered that things work out best when they both combine efforts. It might not be equal though but it works just fine. Bosses, team leaders, fathers, mothers, friends should equally learn from this simple and subtle illustration of the power of togetherness. We gain more when we synergize than we can ever achieve when we go solo.

In closing, meditate on these words – “Those who walk alone move fast  while those that walk together go far.” Which would you rather choose. I choose the latter, for there is strength in unity.

The author is @douglas_ola on twitter.