Contrary to the old coaching cliche, there is an "I" in a team. A team is made up of members, and each member is the "I". We may see a team with just only their star players or just someone who had stood out. But everyone in the team has their own vital role in completing the package. Superstars will never be superstars without the help of their teammates. A teammate can make each other look worse by a casual attitude towards the team, sloppy execution and a whats-in-it-for-me spirit. It would be very easy for the other members to say "What's the fuss, he gets all the credits anyway". But that's not what the "I" in the team all about, we may not get all the credits we all crave for or even deserved oftentimes but it is just how it is, forgetting the "I" and replacing it with the "we" attitude. When we joined a team, the needs of the team supersede your own. And when your in a team, the need of your teammates come first. Attitude is contagious, commitment to excellence and superior execution leads to stronger commitment and even better execution. Good teammates make one another better. Even when time comes that no one meets the expectations. In times when the team is in their worse, there's still that hope that becoming a winner is a day-to-day thing, teaching, learning and growing. A team must grow together and may not grow immediately. The big danger is that if we are pointing fingers on whose fault is it that the team had failed. We must learn first that if we're going to point a finger, point it at the mirror. The attitude must be, "If we are not winning, it is my fault". With it, everything else will fall into places. Great team makes adjustments and get back on track. Their commitment doesn't waver, and don't lower the standards.
Stress, peer pressures, competitiveness may get in to the way, we get tensed, impatient and frustrated. But this negative factors must not get in the way in achieving what the team's main goal. Negative factors must become the teams motivation to strive even more. This is not anyone's fault, but it can help us to strengthen our connection, trust and how we are related to each other. We must become that "I" in a team. We must be the team player. A teammate. "I have to love the sense of contribution to something bigger than I was". We are on the same team. "I would have to know what was expected of me and deliver". It takes time to build a strong team, but not just time. It takes purposeful pursuit of getting the best of each teammates, extending grace, support, encouragement, love and respect to each other. We no longer have a choice about whether or not we will be on a team. We have a team. We all have our own team. Our life experiences teaches us how to react in everyday circumstances. The question here is.. are we committed enough to be a growing teammate? Are we the link on our team or the cornerstone upon whom the team can count? If we become a good teammate, everything else follows, confidence in our teammates frees us up to play the game with reckless abandon, but doubt infects a team with hesitation and fear.
Good team? Yes, we are. And we have the potential to get better, but we also have the opportunity to get worse. Most likely we're not even at the half yet. There's a long way to go and a lot of adjustments we'll have to make. Do you think your team sees you as a teammate with a strong sense of the "I" in a team....?
I hopefully think so.
Xoxo, Ypai
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