(Today, I would like to take a break from business ethics and instead share some of my thoughts about the power of being part of a team.
This discussion represents my contribution to Robert Hruzek’s group writing project: “What I learned from .. Communities”)
Back in my days of playing junior cricket, there was one season in particular in which I personally played quite well and managed to strike some pretty good form.
Indeed, I was awarded with a trophy at the end of the season for being named the ‘club champion’ – an achievement with which I was quite proud from a personal perspective.
The next year, I did not play so well – I struggled for form all year and did not achieve a great deal in terms of my own personal performance.
But that year was more special than ever – a season which occupies a unique and special place in my memory in terms of my junior cricket years.
Why – because our team won the premiership, and by far and away, our accomplishment as a team meant a great deal more to me than any form of individual accomplishment which I may have wished to achieve.
Individual accomplishments are powerful, and the process of setting out and striving to achieve goals on an individual basis is certainly more than worthwhile in my opinion.
But I think that each of us, to a certain extent, has been created with a fundamental drive to be part of something more – something bigger than ourselves – to be part of a shared vision or dream, and to have that sense of relationship with others and belonging to part of something which we share together. As important and worthwhile as I feel that individual goals are – I think that they pale in comparison to the power of being part of a team and striving together as one to achieve a shared goal, objective or vision.
In the case of my premiership cricket team, we all shared a common vision – that of standing together as one, each of us wearing a golden premiership medallion around our necks. Each of us could sense how that vision affected our entire demeanor throughout the year: how each of us arrived at training on time, every time, ready for some serious practice; how each of us went about long fielding drills with a sense of purpose even in very hot conditions; how each of us backed each other up, and supported and rallied behind each other. Indeed, together we could sense that there was something special, some special vibe going on behind the scenes, a special type of harmony.
When I look back at my key accomplishments to-date, I am proud of any which I have achieved on an individual basis. But the ones which really have a special place in my heart, and the ones which I will remember most fondly as long as I live, are those where I have been part of a much broader accomplishment by working as part of a team or community which strove together as one.
Individual accomplishments are great, but the process of working together to achieve something as part of a team represents one of the most worthwhile and joyful experiences that any of us could ever take part in.
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