Good Morning,
Since teams have been the ‘in’ thing, everyone now is measured on how good a team player they are, either officially or unofficially. It’s come a long way from picking players to be on your kickball team. Criterions include: how long they get along with other team members, how they work toward the goals of the team and how little distractions and drama they cause along the way. Each team player, though is usually still an individual with their own goals, agenda. The best balance the work with their team and their own work.
Being on multiple teams, as well as doing more with less, team participation can be reduced to sitting in on weekly update meetings, or if you are lucky, conference calls while sitting at your desk doing other work and sharing a few words for updates. Personally I see this ‘teamwork’ becoming stale not nearly as productive as it once was, and then I saw an example of teamwork from one of my Boy Scouts (I am a Scoutmaster) which took teamwork to a new level.
We had annual elections coming up for the honor society of Scouting. The boys were given instructions on how to vote, and who was eligible. As is common with teenagers, not everyone heard all of the instructions. One fourteen year old, who, was himself eligible for the vote, thought he heard he could only vote for one of the people on the list.
Easy decision, right?
Wrong. He agonized over who to vote for. Which of his fellow Scouts best represented the ideals of the honor society. He pondered this and then made his one vote.
While I do not remember who he voted for, I do remember this, he did not consider himself. He knew he was eligible, but he also knew that he was not the best of the best, and focused on what was best for the troop.
I am happy to report that he did get enough votes from the other Scouts and he is going shortly to begin his participation in the honor society of Scouting, the Order of the Arrow. In all the boys who are going, it is he, who I feel is most qualified, because he understood a key point in team work that many others have long since lost.
It is not:
What do I get out of it?
What’s the least I can do and still be a good team player?
How long do I have to do this for?
It is:
What is best for the team, and what I can do to help make that happen?
Making a sacrifice for the good the team and its goals.
A great example from a 14 year old.
Enjoy!
Sanford Berenberg
Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.learnandgrowdaily.com
http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/ 
Click on the book to order: "Learn And Grow Daily!"
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