Individual commitment to a group effort — that is what makes a team work a company work, a society work, a civilization work. Vince Lombardi
The above quote from Lombardi may at times seem like another relic from a bygone era. A Utopian vision of the power that the values imparted by subordinating individual glory to achieve team goals is still alive both in sports and society.
In one of my all-time favorite sports books, Values of the Game by Bill Bradley, he describes the essence of teamwork.
Imagine what happens when you´ve got an entire team of players who are passionate about the game. In my Knicks days, there was no feeling comparable to the one I got when the team´s game came together - those nights when five guys moved as one. The moment was one of beautiful isolation, the result of the correct blending of human forces at the proper time and to the exact degree.
When you see it on the basketball court it is a thing of beauty. The emphasis today ,especially at the higher levels, is placed on the individual. The game match ups are at times marketed as Kobe vs. LeBron rather than the Lakers vs. Cavaliers. Yet we still see time and again that reaching the pinnacle at that level is reached when the superstar blends his unique abilities with others and allows the total to be greater than the sum of the parts. The superstar allows other players to become better players around him.
Today in America, it can be difficult to find examples that exemplify teamwork in our everyday lives. Jobs are compartmentalized and specialized. Our large institutions emphasize winning, being the best, and the accomplishments of the individual.
If you don't think the teamwork model translates to larger societal change, the recently released Clint Eastwood movie Invictus is certainly a powerful example.
Plot Summary for Invictus
The film tells the inspiring true story of how Nelson Mandela joined forces with the captain of South Africa's rugby team to help unite their country. Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa's rugby team as they make their historic run to the 1995 Rugby World Cup Championship match.
By definition, most teams are made up of a small number of people, with a common goal, who are accountable to each other and have different skill sets that can complement each other.
Maximizing the talents of these individuals and keeping them focused on the team goals rather than individual achievements is the ultimate goal of any team leader, from coaches to CEO's to leaders of nations.
When it comes together, we refer to it as "chemistry" at times. We refer to the team that achieves at a level over and above the perceived value of the individual parts as a Cinderella story. But when we see it demonstrated and played out to it's conclusion, it becomes the stuff of legends, in sports and in life.
One of the themes of Bradley's book that connect the "sports as a metaphor for life" thread is the true values of sports are found in the countless hours spent in practice. It is here--unseen by the public--that the love of the game and dedication to teamwork is demonstrated by each individual athlete. And it is here that many of the positive values of sports are imparted. Somebody tell AI.
------
TEAMWORK - Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Philippians 2:3-4
Because they have a good reward for their labor.
For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.
But woe to him who is alone when he falls,
For he has no one to help him up.
Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; But how can one be warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.—Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
No comments:
Post a Comment