What no one tells you about teamwork
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There’s a little secret that nobody tells you about teamwork. You’ve heard the saying “there’s no I in team” more times than you can probably remember, but have you heard the response that Michael Jordan gave the Chicago Bulls NBA team coach Phil Jackson? “There is in win!”
No, Michael Jordan wasn’t trying to make it seem like he was more important than the rest of his team. Bryan Flanagan explains the thought process behind this in his book Encouragement for the Sales Professional. He claims that what Jordan was trying to say is, “I am responsible. I am accountable. I will take the last shot with the game on the line. If I miss, I will take the heat in the pressroom from the reporters. I will perform my job to the best of my ability. I will contribute to the success of my team and my teammates.”
“I will perform my job to the best of my ability. I will contribute to the success of my team and my teammates.”
It was his contribution to the team, that self-regulating dedication that Jordan was speaking about. A team cannot be made up of one person. A team is made up of individuals. A team is made up of many different kinds of people who bring different values and goals and ambitions and personalities to the table. A successful team learns to work with one another and a successful team is made up of individuals who have taken responsibility for their own actions and brought their best face forward so that they can, as a whole, make the team better.
The importance of individual leadership in a team cannot be understated. Taking Michael Jordan as an example, as Flanagan did, we can realize it was Jordan’s understanding of “how to lift a team to a higher level of performance” that pushed the Bulls to six World Championship titles. “He set the standard of individual commitment and dedication to success.”
Jordan, like many other successful people, understood “if you put together a series of ’I’s,’ you could put together a series of wins, achievements, and successes.” When everybody is working hard, when everybody is working for the goal of the team and trying to improve themselves and those around them, that is when true success can come in enormous quantities. After all – you’re only as good as your weakest link.
Flanagan pushes us forward and asks us to “embrace that principle today. The goal is to contribute to the betterment of the team by being the best I can be today. I am responsible. I am accountable. I will contribute my best efforts today.” So go out there and do that. Be responsible, accountable, hardworking, dedicated, and all of the words that describe your work ethic and personal values. Be that person that pushes your team to success. You won’t regret it.
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