The Importance of Teamwork

Today my entire staff and I are having a lunch meeting. In our staff meetings, each member of our team talks about the projects we have been working on, the results we have achieved, the struggles we have faced, and the things we have learned.

It’s a great time for all of us to get a sense of what everyone has been working on. It’s easy for everyone to see the “big” picture. We plan, develop strategies, and then implement.

Since I’m meeting with my team today, I thought I would write something on teamwork.

Your ability to work cooperatively with others is the most important skill you can develop if you want to achieve your full potential in your career.

A 20-year study at Stanford University examined the career paths of thousands of executives to determine what qualities or attributes they either had or developed that enabled them to move ahead the most rapidly.  They concluded that there were two primary qualities that, more than any other, were indispensable for men and women who were going to be promoted to positions of great responsibility.

What I’ve learned is that teamwork is a simple and straightforward concept, but not necessarily easy.  Being a good team player requires forethought, planning and commitment on your part.  But, there are things that you can do on an ongoing basis that can really help you and bring you to the attention of people who can remove obstacles from your path and create opportunities for you in ways that you cannot now imagine.

Your primary job is to make the decision to be an excellent team player in everything you do at work and at home.  Your aim should be to seek out every opportunity to demonstrate your ability to contribute to the success of a group of people in accomplishing large objectives.  And you can use these ideas to start right where you are.

One of my favorite quotations from the Bible refers to this idea of starting small and growing as your capacities expand.  It is the parable of the talents, where Jesus says, “Oh good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over small things, I will make you master over large things.”  This simply says that as your ability to get together with a group of other people and get everyone working in harmony toward a predetermined objective becomes known, you will get more and more chances to demonstrate your skills.

A team is a group of two or more people who combine their talents and abilities to accomplish a specific goal or series of goals.  A team, by definition, is largely made up of equals, men and women who are different only in their areas of skill, who are peers when they sit down together as a work group.

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