Team Work: It's about We

You can only do it all yourself until you reach a certain size, and after then you need others. That’s a decisive moment; it’s also a test many of us fail, so we stop growing. It takes maturity to enlist the help of people who can do certain things better than you, allow them to excel and get the credit while you rejoice in the knowledge that the job was done well. You have to be clear in your objectives and secure in you own identity to succeed and keep on succeeding.

Jim Collins, in his book ‘Good to Great’, points out that the leaders of the best organizations have a tendency to avoid spotlight. Ray Gilmartin of Merck said, ‘If I were to put someone on the front cover of Business Week it would be…our team.’ Lou Gerstner of IBM said, ‘I haven’t created the company’s turn-around. It’s been 280,000 people who have done it. We took a change in focus and a talented group of people…and changed the company.’ Dan Tully of Merrill Lynch said, ‘It’s amazing what you can do when you don’t seek all the credit. I find nothing is really one person’s idea.’

"If you’d rather be a bid fish in a little pond, that’s your choice. But if you want to be blessed and live in the ocean, learn to work with others" – Anonymous

"Talents win games. Team work wins championships" – Michael Jordan

God works with people who know how to work with people. Not ‘users’ who burn through them and discard them. Not ‘prima donnas’ who manipulate them for their own purposes. Not ‘ranch bosses’ who herd them around like cattle. No, God works with people who honor people; who recognize and develop the talent in them, honor and reward them appropriately, encourage them to rise to their full potential, and when the day comes, send them off blessed and better prepared for their next assignment.

It’s healthy to stop and reflect with gratitude on those who got you to where you are today; to remind yourself you’re not a sole trader; that you’ll need people to help you fulfill God’s purpose for your life and get you to where you need to go next.

Open yourself up to people. Reach out to them, you need them. Sharpen their skills for their own good. They become people you can work with. Bring them to your level. You have succeeded in solving a great problem you might face tomorrow.

"Team work is the fuel that turns the common place to uncommon place" – John C. Maxwell

Team work pays. Team work is superior to individual effort. C. Gene Wilkes wrote in his book ‘Jesus on Leadership’ that:

Teams involve more people, thus affording more resources, ideas and energy than any one individual possesses.

Teams maximize a leader’s potential and minimize his or her weaknesses. Strengths and weaknesses are more exposed in individuals.

Teams provide multiple perspectives on how to meet a need or reach a goal, thus devising several alternatives to each situation. Individual insight is seldom as broad and deep as a group’s when it takes on a problem.

Teams share the credit for victories and blame for losses. This fosters genuine humility and strong bonds. When individuals take the credit or the blame alone, it tends to foster pride, and sometimes a sense of failure.

Teams keep leaders accountable. Individuals connected to no one can jeopardize or change the goal without accountability.

Team building is hard work. It is tough, and the more talented the team members, the tougher it is. The true measure of a leader is not getting people to work; neither is it getting them to work hard. The true measure of a leader is getting people to work together!

Finally, team work is needed to accomplish your desires individually or collectively. Team work will put your establishment on a higher level than you have ever imagined. Maintain team work in whatever your capacity is in the company... I mean it.

Love you still!!!