Everyone at some time or another has been part of a great team. Think of a team you’ve been on. What did you admire about this team? What did they do well together? What made them great?
Think about it…. When you’re watching a great athletic team, aren’t they skilled at assisting each other?! Watch how a volley ball player sets up the ball so her teammate can spike the ball over the net and score or how the quarterback passes the ball to the receiver who then carries the ball over the goal line or how the point guard moves the ball down the basketball court and passes it off to the teammate under the basket. They work as a team, relying on each other, supporting each other so they can successfully play their best game.
Teamwork is a skill set just like learning to drive a car. It takes skill and practice.
Every team has qualities and attributes that are needed to make a great team. Great team members know that it is important to be helpful. They pitch in until the work is done and ask things like ‘Is there anything else I can Do?’ They trust in everyone’s ability to figure things out, even the stuff that may be intimidating. They are competent. Doing a good Job is who they are. They make things easier for the people around them. They are friendly, which means they are genuinely interested in other people and treat them with kindness and warmth. They assume good intentions in other people. They listen and then listen some more. They choose to be helpful and teach one another.
One brilliant question to ask yourself:
What would it be like to be a member of a team where everyone supported each other 100% and no one gets left out? What might that experience be like?
“The way a team plays as a whole, determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.”
– Babe Ruth
