People will only work their hardest when they want to. Carrots and sticks all play their part in encouraging this to happen, but unless people choose to deliver their best, they will simply not do so.

To make this choice, people must identify closely with the culture, values and vision of their department, their organisation and each other. The deeper the identity, the more productive the relationship, harmony and bonding between a company and its people.

This inner sense of loyalty is hugely powerful in shaping the culture, success and very future of every department, and company. When achieved the benefits are extraordinary. Way beyond high retention and excellent delivery, to a sense of community and purpose that knows no barriers.

Loyalty to each other is the most powerful antidote to office politics and blame cultures – when people realise they can be both accountable and make mistakes on their road to success. Learning from these mistakes is far more likely to happen when people help each other out, when they most need it.

At the heart of loyalty, comes leadership. Leaders must set the example, and when they have done so, must live, breathe and act it through – when you do this, the loyalty of your people will be automatic.

Building such a loyalty-driven culture is not easy, but you owe it to the future of your company, your people and yourself to place it high on your agenda this year. All of the new technology in the world will come to nothing without the ideas, the drive and energy of people, and as a Naked Leader you have the power, the authority and the responsibility to help release it.

Furthermore, when you genuinely believe in leadership, in supporting your people, and enabling them to be all that they can be, you will be allowed to make mistakes. We are all human beings, we all make mistakes, we all say things we later regret. People will still trust you when this happens, if they believe in your integrity.

There are many differences between being a manager and being a leader. One of the main ones is that a leader inspires loyalty based on who they are, and on what they do, not because of their job title or size of office. People who work in such cultures feel such a bonding with their organisation that they could easily be working for themselves, in their own companies. That is true alignment.

Build a culture that values all of your people, and places them at the heart of your department, and company.

• Begin by encouraging open and blame free debate within your immediate team, draw out everyone’s contributions, their hopes, fears and ideas for the future.
• Be a visible leader, talk and listen to people – learn their names off by heart.
• Consult widely, and put in place a set of values that everyone can identify with – include fun or happiness as one of them
• Catch people doing something right – and openly praise them, and whilst you take personal responsibility for everything that goes wrong

Those who put aside the traits and trappings of management and hierarchy, and become true leaders, will own the future. Forget Belbin and the other team-working fads and theories, it is when people work hard for each other that true, total and long-term teamwork is achieved. That is when people, and organisations, become an unstoppable force.