Some say there is no ‘I’ in team. Maybe not in the spelling, but the ‘I’ or ‘individual’ is the most important part of the team. Without the individuals’ commitment to the team first, then true teamwork will have a limp that will only get worse until it cripples the entire team.
I can’t tell you how many times I was told to give 100% as an athlete. Just do the best you can, and that will be enough. That is true to a degree, but if I am giving 100% and my teammate is only giving 50%, then we have a problem.
In athletics, total commitment by a team must be modeled in behavior by every player and coach involved. The same is true for business, only the employee is the player, and the coach is the boss.
When I was coaching, I asked my teams to give me 300%. Here is how it worked.
100% EFFORT BY, 100% OF THE PEOPLE, 100% OF THE TIME, EQUALS 300%
True teamwork cannot afford the following.
50% effort from 100% of the people 100% of the time.
100% effort from 100% of the people 80% of the time.
90% effort from 80% of the people 100% of the time.
Plug in any percentages and you can see the results. If it is not 100%, then it is not a total commitment. I have found this formula to be an excellent tool of accountability.
I noticed that when my players grabbed onto this way of thinking, they began to look for 300% in each other. It turned from a temporary goal to a full-time goal, and from a quick fix to a permanent mindset.
There is no time to slack off in this formula. It is ALL you’ve got, ALL the time from ALL the team. THAT is total commitment. You may be giving 100% only 99% of the time, and it’s that 1% that ends up getting you beat.
Getting all the people to give all they got all the time is a lofty task and may be impossible. The goal for a leader is to get as close to 300% as possible. The closer you get to that magic number, the better job you are doing as a leader. Can you imagine how different your business day would be if every single employee showed up and gave all they had all day long for five consecutive days?
I was officiating a basketball game a few days ago and the point guard was working really hard to pass the ball to their tall post player, but the young lady at the post position was not focused on the game and was not working hard to get open. At one point, the frustration got to the point guard, and she screamed at her teammate, “Hey I’m working here. where are you!”
Is it counterproductive when one player is giving a great effort, and another player is not? What is being accomplished when one employee shows up to work and gives 100% and the person sitting at the desk next to them only offers 50%?
The Three Musketeers were the ultimate team players. Wouldn’t it be great if all teams could maintain an attitude of “All for One and One for All?” A world where the individual gave up personal gain in order to help another and everyone shared in the glory and recognition?
Obviously, that is Hollywood, and very seldom does Hollywood reflect real society. There is more to developing an attitude of teamwork than a snappy chant or phrase. The attitude of team first must be demonstrated through example, persistence, and most importantly, individual commitment to the team.
Humans are selfish; therefore, they need to be taught to share. Teamwork is about sharing accountability, workload, vision, and results. Every team desires a leader with a vision of teamwork to lead them into battle.
There is always an “I” in team.
I’d ask my players, and myself, are we lifters or leaners? Are we lifting others up with our commitment or are we leaning on others with our lack of commitment?
WHICH ARE YOU?
There are two kinds of people on earth today;
Just two kinds of people no more, I say.
Not the Sinner and saint, for its well understood,
The good are half bad, and the bad are half good.
Not the rich and the poor for to rate a man’s wealth,
You must first know the state of his conscience in health.
Not the humble and proud, for in life’s little span,
Who puts on vain airs, is not counted a man.
Not the happy and sad, for the swift flying years
Bring each man his laughter and each man his tears.
No; the two kinds of people on earth I mean,
Are the people who lift, and the people who lean.
Wherever you go you will find the earth’s masses
Are always divided in just these two classes.
And oddly enough, you will find too, I ween,
There is only one lifter to twenty who lean.
In which class are you? Are you easing the load
Of overtaxed lifters who toil down the road?
Or are you a leaner, who lets others share
Your portion of labor and worry and care?
– Ella Wheeler Wilcox
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Todd Howey is a columnist for BrownwoodNews.com whose articles appear on Fridays. Email comments to [email protected].