The best teams I’ve seen, coached or been on had lots of ‘Is’ on them..
Between running a drop zone, organizing world records, winning the world championships, writing a book and raising a family I’ve been fortunate to have had a wide range of experiences in a variety of fields. All of them, to some degree or another, required a team. None of these goals did I accomplish completely on my own.
What is a team?
Which leads to the age old question: What is a “team” really? At the very core of what defines a high performance team is this:
A group of individuals committed to the pursuit of a common goal,
who need each other to achieve it
This is a bit different than the more common definition which is: ‘A group of individuals who are committed to a common goal.’ But committing to the goal is easy. Everyone commits to the goal. Who wouldn’t want the goal? The goal is the victory, the win, the money, everyone commits to the goal. But committing to the goal without committing to the pursuit of that goal is meaningless.
The goal is something we set our sights on, something we work towards, something we strive for. And for most goals, certainly any that involve sports, there is no guarantee that we’ll ever accomplish it. For every Olympic Gold Medalist there are 1000 people whose goal it was to be an Olympic Gold Medalist.
Committing to the Pursuit is what counts
What is guaranteed is that in pursuit of that goal there will be times when it seems like it’s just not going to happen, that it is too hard, that it seems like we’re never going to reach it. During times like this the people who have only committed to the goal will start to lose hope, to give up, to quit. They will often look for excuses which give them a justified reason to fail, something else to blame so they can walk away believing it’s not their fault.
Committing to the goal without committing to the pursuit of that goal is meaningless
This happens more than we realize. I’ve done it myself and didn’t even realize it until I looked back on it. It isn’t something we necessarily do intentionally. More often it’s subconscious. It’s a defense mechanism. This let’s us feel better about failing. “I was going to win the World Championships but my competition received corporate sponsorship and put that goal completely out of reach.” That was a justified reason. It wasn’t my fault. But if I had accepted that excuse I would have still failed.
But for those of us who are committed to the pursuit of our goals, of course the goal seems out of reach, of course it’s seems too hard, of course there are times it feels like we’re never going to get there. No worthwhile goals can be any other way.
We set the goal and then set it aside. We form a step by step plan for a how to achieve it and we go to work. We don’t always expect to make progress in leaps and bounds. We do it bit by bit, little by little. We get up every day and get after it. Ambitious goals aren’t achieved any other way.
Common Need
Need is the other key element. We don’t have teammates because we’re lonely and want someone to hang out with or because we don’t have the courage to go it alone when we actually could go it alone. That’s what friends are for. We have teammates because we need them to accomplish our goals and they need us to accomplish theirs.
If they could accomplish their goals on their own, without having to count on anyone else to make it happen they usually would
Most successful people are strong, highly motivated, self-sufficient, independent, hard-working, smart individuals. If they could accomplish their goals on their own, without having to count on or rely on anyone else to make it happen they usually would. If they can’t do it on their own they need a team and teammates who are committed to the pursuit of the same goal.
This common need is what forces teams to form. True high performance teams don’t form for convenience. They form because they have to, the teammates need each other, they cannot accomplish their goals on their own. This need is also what serves as the glue that holds the team together when there are conflicts between teammates or disagreements on the plan.
For the person who is only committed to the goal these are all excuses to quit. But for teammates who are committed to the pursuit and who need each other to achieve it there is no quitting. You figure out solutions and make it happen.
The I in Team
I’m sure you’ve also heard the phrase “There is no “I” in “team”. It’s the most common phrase in team-building, it’s everywhere. You’ve probably seen it on T-shirts and posters. I know the spirit and intent of the slogan is good and I may be going out on a limb here, but I beg to differ. The best teams I’ve seen, coached or been on had lots of ‘Is’ on them.
The best teams I’ve seen, coached or been on had lots of ‘Is’ in them
I would go as far to say that most people who pursue excellence in most fields do so initially from a fairly selfish motivation. I want to win. I want to succeed. I want to make a good living. I want to be the best. I want to be the person that makes a difference. It’s mostly about our own personal goals and rewards. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. But if our desire towards personal success requires a team, this self centered approach isn’t going to cut it. And the self-centered approach isn’t even in our best self interest.
Think of it this way:
- I decide that for me to achieve my personal goal I need a team
- If that’s the case than for me to achieve my goals the team has to achieve its goals
- Then for the team to achieve its goals my teammates must achieve their personal goals.
So, for me to become the winner that I want to be, however I define that, and if I’m smart, I also need to become the teammate my teammates need me to be. My success is dependent on my teammates, and theirs is on me. I can’t win unless they win. If they lose I lose.
I have seen people who started off from a relatively selfish place learn this and become fantastic teammates that truly cared about their teammates. And they didn’t do this only because they knew they had to in order to accomplish their own goals. They also discovered how rewarding it is to become that teammate that your teammates can count on. How fulfilling it is when your teammates look at you and know they can trust you, count on you, that you’ve always got their backs. We all know the value of having someone who is that person for us and there are few things more rewarding than being that person for our teammates.
This article is an extract from a presentation Dan did for the Canadian Agriculture Industry on overcoming obstacles and forming teams
More great words of wisdom and an inspirational story in Dan’s book, Above All Else
