The Team Blog
October was a great month to ponder the topic of Teams. Sadly, my Astro’s came up short from going back to the World Series. Nevertheless, to me October is one of the best months of the year for Teams and Sports. Whether a 3, 5 or 7 game playoff, watching the remaining Teams deal with the ups and downs of a series gives great insight into the characteristics of a successful team.
I love cheering on my Teams when they play, when they nail a presentation or an assignment. A presentation? Assignment? Yes, I love to cheer on my Houston Astros but especially my Teams at work. They are the inspiration for this week’s ALL NEW Wednesday Words!
My son Austin is a huge sports fan; wonder where he got that? He is currently a Junior at Texas A&M University studying Sports Management. As far back as I can remember we have wondered about what makes some teams great. One of our favorite examples is the 94-95 Back-to-Back NBA Champion Houston Rockets. Bear with me here. The reason we talk so much about those teams is they epitomized what GREAT Teams are made of; a collection of players playing for something more than self. They play for the Team. It’s this selflessness I believe exists in the most successful teams.
Whether on the field, the court or in the office, the best teams play to the strengths of each player in the moment of need. In baseball, successful teams find a way to build off the last at-bat while on the offense. On defense, they make some of the most difficult plays look easy. It’s the natural, not forced, collaboration and desire to step up that is in the DNA of some of the best Teams.
Stephen Covey famously wrote about the “Speed of Trust” which I believe is wired directly in that DNA. I would also argue that there is a “Speed of Fun” that twists around trust in that helix. If you look at the dugouts, sidelines, and cubicles you’ll see that the teams that make success look so easy are also having the most fun! Wait a minute, you said cubicle? Good catch – I did that for a reason.
Today’s Teams at work are less and less co-located, no longer in cubicles. Now we have a new challenge, forming Championship Teams in a virtual world. Thankfully, most of what makes up a high caliber team in person translates easily to the virtual world as well. I will say that need for “Trust” is probably higher in a virtual team than it is in person. The Team must trust that everyone is fulfilling their part unseen, up to the point of delivery. It’s the combination of trust, fun and execution that leads to some of the best and most successful teams out there, in the office and on the field.
I’ve been blessed to lead two different teams this year. At the beginning of 2023 I said goodbye to my Team of All Star Market Analysts. They were my first truly Virtual Team and sadly only had one time together in the same room with them over two years. I miss them and am so proud of the work we did together.
I’m only a few months into leading my current Team, yet in such as short time it feels like we’ve been working together for so much longer – in the good way! I am so proud of how this team has handled so many changes in such a short time. From day one I’ve stood by three values that I feel have made the difference: Communication, Collaboration and Transparency.
This has been an interesting year to say the least. I’m once again making the commitment to post a new blog at the beginning of each month. Forgive me if there is some rust on this first post back, but writing is something that I do enjoy and am looking forward to picking up again. In the meantime, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and I’ll be back on the first Wednesday in December. Cheers!