Your team
Last week we talked about the fast lane and I looked at how you are challenged and pushed by your peer group. This week I would like to expand the idea to include Your team.
A team can be your peer group but it’s not always the case. Your peer group can be your team but it’s not always the case. They’re two very distinct, yet complementary entities.
I’m writing when we are in the middle of the EUROs with the Tokyo Olympics starting soon, so the analogy to sport is rather an obvious one.
As some say, there is no “I” in the word “team”, meaning a team has no ego, but others argue that there is a “me” in “team”, stating that a team is made of individuals.
A team is a complex living organism.
A team can only be optimal when one loses oneself in the greater work of the group, when egos disappear to the benefit of the whole, yet giving and getting the best of oneself.
Team development models recognize that groups don’t form spontaneously or immediately. Both at work and in your personal life, you will find that team development goes through five phases: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning.
Yes, “storming”, shouting and disagreeing are part of the development of teams. Then it is about going beyond “storming”, it is about agreeing where to go together.
In an earlier letter, I talked about Tom Brady and Michael Jordan as sport superstars, for football you might think of Cristiano Ronaldo. Each of them clearly mastered their sport but could have they achieved their heights without the right team around them?
I argue that they couldn’t have. They have certainly been part of being a role model mentally and physically for the people close to them, surrounding them with their style, work ethic, and genius. Yet, they cannot win without a team around them.
Pushing the idea further, last week I talked about swimming which might look like an individual sport, but Michael Phelps, while he was alone in the water, definitely had a team around him. After winning the last Roland Garros, Djokovic’s first words were “I want to thank my team” ….coach, family, sparing partner, wife. They all form part of his team (did you watch the Nadal/Djokovic match in the semi-final? Truly extraordinary! I bet that Djokovic will be the future GOAT!)
Back in 2007, I was lucky enough to attend a rugby game between France and New Zealand for the quarter final of the rugby world cup. New Zealand is known for their introductory ceremonial dance, the Haka, which is supposed to scare the opponent. At that moment the French did something no team had ever done, they walked towards them and looked each New Zealand player in the eye less than 1 metre away. Such tension. Showdown. The French team spirit won that day.
Often, it is not the best or more skilled team that won, but the one that work best together, where “information” flows naturally, the team that pursues one single goal and where abnegation means there is no weakest link. The team move as one.
On the other hand, favourites often fail because of complacency, a lack of enthusiasm or a feeling of superiority.
Today, we are celebrating the EUROs, so even if you’re not a football fan, let’s celebrate European nations coming together and challenging one another in a (mostly) peaceful way.
To the surprise of many in this EURO, France, a clear favorite with its bench of superstars, was outclassed by a very eager and hungry Switzerland, a team without a single superstar. Nothing else to add. Well done Switzerland!
QUESTION…
Who is in your peer group? How do they challenge you?