President's Message

What is Teamwork?

I get to work with people. That’s what I love about my job. What makes my job wonderful is working with a great team. But what actually makes a great team? Coaches and leaders know that teamwork is the key to success so wise and poignant definitions of teamwork abound.

• “The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” Phil Jackson
• “Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” Vince Lombardi

To me, great teamwork is where each member is treated with mutual trust and respect: individuals working together to achieve a common goal for the benefit of all. I think Vala Afshar’s thought resonates most closely with me when he says “You are not a team because you work together. You are a team because you trust, respect and care for each other.”

Teamwork offers different viewpoints from people with different strengths and backgrounds. Mutual trust and respect will foster open communication where powerful synergies can form.

Perhaps the most succinct definition of teamwork is also one of the oldest. This phrase predates its first appearance in literature in the late 1500s as part of a Shakespearean poem but was made famous in the 1800s by Alexandre Dumas in his book The Three Musketeers. I will leave you with this encouragement to adopt their motto when you consider your part in creating a great team: “All for one, and one for all”.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unus_pro_omnibus,_omnes_pro_uno

Photo by Todd Diemer on Unsplash

Additional thoughts on Teamwork:
https://mikeschoultz.medium.com/10-team-characteristics-for-effective-teamwork-e0429b362ddd
https://www.atlassian.com/blog/teamwork/the-importance-of-teamwork
https://www.herzing.edu/blog/7-important-teamwork-skills-you-need-school-and-your-career
https://hbr.org/2016/06/the-secrets-of-great-teamwork

Mike Jones,
President