Teamwork makes the dream work

Over the past week I was thinking a bit about teamwork and how great teams can so often go on to accomplish so much.

 

 

As a sports coach who works primarily with young players, one of the key messages I would always have tried to ingrain in them, is the importance of the team.

 

Yes, it is important for individuals to develop and grow and get better, but in so many cases it is when the individual focuses on self and not the team, that things begin to fall apart.

 

While I have always preferred team sports because I was never an outstanding athlete in my own right, I love and have so much admiration for the discipline and determination that athletes who compete in individual sports have to master.

 

But what I think many people fail to recognise is that those in a team environment need to show the same type of discipline and determination.

 

The only difference really is that the goal a team is working towards is not a set of individual targets, it has to be a common team goal.

 

Andrew Carnegie summed it brilliantly when he said:

“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.”

 

That’s a saying that applies in real life, in work, in community, just as well as it does in sport.

 

As part of a team, I have discovered that my talents, combined with the talents of others will often make a formidable combination.

 

As a youth sports coach I often find that people mistake my emphasis on development over results, as if I don’t really care about winning.

 

They couldn’t be further from the truth. I always want to win. That is always the goal – but to try to get there I would rather my team lose and give 80% of excellence than win with 120% of just adequate.

 

In developing young players, I genuinely believe it isn’t about getting the results at any cost. It isn’t about cutting corners, for me it is always about the learning curve for them – and the ultimate pursuit of excellence.

 

That is no different away from sport and in work I am of the opinion that, as Ed Sullivan once said – if you do a good job for others, you heal yourself at the same time, because the joy you get from that is a spiritual cure.

 

It never should be just about getting the job done. It should be doing the job to the very best of your ability. About doing work that you can be proud of.

 

When you set that as your standard then you realise that the pursuit of excellence is a way of life.

 

It includes going beyond the call of duty, stretching our limits and holding ourselves responsible for being our best.

 

And when you have a whole team working with that kind of a philosophy, well then that’s when you start to see really fruitful results.

 

In the past week I’ve been lucky enough to have witnessed that in both a work setting and in community and I’ve realised that when you are part of a team with a shared vision, drive and determination, it really can be something special.

 

Or, as I would often say to the youngsters I coach.

 

Teamwork, really does make the dream work.