During my evaluation this past week, the board asked me what teamwork meant to me. I answered by giving some examples, which was adequate for the setting, but lacked depth. Then I went home and read more of the book Calling The Circle by Christina Baldwin, and there was a fuller, more intimate account of teamwork: teamwork is everyone giving over a piece of their autonomy to the center and the center is a combination of shared selves and a larger something that enables the group to be more than the sum of its parts. It is this center that everyone is working for and is accountable to. This is where true teamwork is rooted.
To do teamwork, we first and foremost need trust.
First, we have to trust ourselves. We need to have a clear view and acceptance of both our strengths and weaknesses. We need to be able to both praise and acknowledge our skills and talents, but also be able to accept our shortcomings with compassionate understanding. This requires a high level of self-awareness—an attribute not highly valued and, thus, mostly not taught (or learned), in our society. Instead, our culture encourages the extremes of self-effacement and blaming others which leads to a distorted self-view.
Second, we need to trust our teammates. We have to commit to bringing our whole selves to the service of the team. This means bringing the power and gifts of our strengths, and it also means being open and honest about our areas of weakness, enabling the groups shared strengths to make us all stronger, better, and more than we could ever be alone. This means we have to be brave, as we are vulnerable when we make ourselves fully seen. In this society—which believes that if there is a winner then there has to be a loser, and which uses fear as a tool of dominance and division—bringing your full self to the table takes great courage and a strength born of deep convictions.
Third, we need to trust in the process, which means believing that working together is the best way of moving us forward and obtaining our goals. Blocks to the teamwork process include harboring hidden agendas; believing that someone must lose; believing that others are looking to gain at our expense; being critical of others; holding on to pre-set outcomes; and clinging to expectations. When we let go of these blocks and we come together open to the creative possibilities that arise within a gathering of equals, then a synergistic magic can happen. I have seen amazing solutions arise out of such gatherings, solutions that are able to take deep root because they were created together and therefore are holistic.
In this society, we all come to teamwork wounded. We all come with expectations and judgments and fears. We will bring these with us into the circle of teamwork. If we can be honest with ourselves, brave enough to dare vulnerability together, and have faith in the process, amazing things can happen, even with all of our dominant culture baggage.
To do teamwork, we first and foremost need trust.
First, we have to trust ourselves. We need to have a clear view and acceptance of both our strengths and weaknesses. We need to be able to both praise and acknowledge our skills and talents, but also be able to accept our shortcomings with compassionate understanding. This requires a high level of self-awareness—an attribute not highly valued and, thus, mostly not taught (or learned), in our society. Instead, our culture encourages the extremes of self-effacement and blaming others which leads to a distorted self-view.
Second, we need to trust our teammates. We have to commit to bringing our whole selves to the service of the team. This means bringing the power and gifts of our strengths, and it also means being open and honest about our areas of weakness, enabling the groups shared strengths to make us all stronger, better, and more than we could ever be alone. This means we have to be brave, as we are vulnerable when we make ourselves fully seen. In this society—which believes that if there is a winner then there has to be a loser, and which uses fear as a tool of dominance and division—bringing your full self to the table takes great courage and a strength born of deep convictions.
Third, we need to trust in the process, which means believing that working together is the best way of moving us forward and obtaining our goals. Blocks to the teamwork process include harboring hidden agendas; believing that someone must lose; believing that others are looking to gain at our expense; being critical of others; holding on to pre-set outcomes; and clinging to expectations. When we let go of these blocks and we come together open to the creative possibilities that arise within a gathering of equals, then a synergistic magic can happen. I have seen amazing solutions arise out of such gatherings, solutions that are able to take deep root because they were created together and therefore are holistic.
In this society, we all come to teamwork wounded. We all come with expectations and judgments and fears. We will bring these with us into the circle of teamwork. If we can be honest with ourselves, brave enough to dare vulnerability together, and have faith in the process, amazing things can happen, even with all of our dominant culture baggage.
