If there is one thing I have developed over the last few years, it's my passion for great teams. Not because I've seen what a great team accomplish, although I have, but more because I've seen how a poor team can kill any chance at success.
I have had the opportunity to be on every possible type of performing group, of which I named for the sake of this blog, so sorry if the names aren't great. (If you are a stickler for professionalism, you can read "No-Talent Talent Show" as "Learning Group" and "Talent Show" as "Performance Group"). From a No-Talent Talent Show to a Performance Team, I've been on them all, and if there's one thing I've noticed, it's that the teams (groups with high tolerance for teamwork) always seem to win the most.
My freshman year of high school, our team was a No-Talent Talent Show (Low tolerance for teamwork, low skill and ability). I call this a No-Talent Talent Show because, similar to a Talent Show, everyone is in a group participating at the same event, but everyone is seeking to accomplish their own goal. They want to "win for me" not "win for we." However, because of the low level of skill and ability, there wasn't much talent to see. Fans were really only present because they had friends/family playing. We didn't win much, not necessarily because we didn't have skill, as other teams we played didn't have much skill either, but we never played together well. Other teams played together better.
My sophomore to senior years of high school, our team was a Learning Team (High tolerance for teamwork, low skill and ability). I call this a Learning Team because unlike a Talent Show, everyone is, yes, participating at the same event, but they are participating together with one shared goal. They want to "win for we" not "win for me." While skill and ability were lacking, we played together well. We won games often, but truth be told we didn't really impress anyone. It was obvious there were skills and abilities to be learned.
** Note that these high school teams were mostly the same teammates year after year, as well as mostly the same opponents year after year. Yet, because our tolerance for teamwork grew greatly year after year, we started winning, even when our skills and abilities lacked against the same teams we were losing to just a year or two before. **
My college team was a Talent Show (Low tolerance for teamwork, high skill and ability). This was a Talent Show because, again, we had a group of people participating at the same event working to accomplish different goals, but in this environment we had people who everyone once in a while would, "win for me." We had lots of guys that could outperform a couple people on the other teams, do some impressive moves, etc. but a shared common goal was non-existent. We won a few games, but as the year went on and our tolerance for teamwork dwindled, we won less and less. And, it was apparent to fans and other teams that we had the skill and ability, but we couldn't play together to save our lives.
My club soccer team was a Performance Team (High tolerance for teamwork, high skill and ability). This was a group of people participating at the same event with one common goal in mind, to "win for we," and we had the skills and abilities to perform against other skilled, high performance teams. (Notably, this team had the opportunity our senior year to play a team with most all top DI commits and a few DII commits. Ranked 4th in the Midwest Region, so from The Dakotas to Ohio. And, we kept them to a 2-1 final score.) This team won, a lot, and by a lot I mean we went three straight years undefeated. We not only were able to play the game with a high level of skill, but we also played with each other better than most other teams we played.
If you are noticing a trend, it's because there is one. Obviously there are certain situations and if the gap between skill and ability is MUCH too great, then this trend may not hold too true. But, in general, teams (groups with a high tolerance for teamwork) win.
I think my understanding of the importance of teamwork coupled with my drive to win has greatly influenced my passion for great teams. That said, great teams don't just happen, they are built. So how do we build them?
-- Next Blog Soon --
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