Teams that Work

Day 4 - mini NaNoWriMo

I saw them quite a bit ahead of me. The big and the little and the owner. She in her blue ball cap, wearing shoes which looked like mine, walking quickly with her dogs.

The dogs knew that this was strictly for exercise, there was not much sniffing and stopping going on. They walked by her side, and only crossed her path when she changed their leads to her other hand. They appeared to know the route and the job to be done.

Teams that Work

Consistent. Reliable. Predictable.

Teamwork.

As I walked behind them, I had a lot of time to name these dogs. I settled on Barney and Bits. They walked in pace, the little one going with faster legs. Still partners.

I was only able to catch up with them because of a red light which paused us all as the rain came down. The owner told me that Bits was not always well-behaved, he apparently didn’t like most other dogs. Barney, on the other hand, was a comfort dog. He loped along and sat patiently with elderly residents at a community Senior’s Home. He was there for them.

Bits jumped up on my Eddie Bauer running pants which I was relieved to note did not snag or tear. He might not have liked other dogs, but he did like people. He continued to jump and bark happily.

As the light changed we went in different directions. 

I, with my face bent low against the now quickly falling raindrops, thinking about leadership and the teams we build.

How it is nice to have a leader whom we can count on. How sometimes we have to slow down and other times we need to run to keep pace. How a predictable route can be justified and enjoyable. How we have to ignore distractions. How sometimes we have to walk through the rain.

I continued my route, smiling that my running pants were intact, another promise kept. The owner and her dogs headed for home. Perhaps they would then get a treat. 

Walking dogs and what they showed me about Leadership. (Tweet This)

Unpacking Yourself with Self-Confidence

There is a family whom we know who are off on a grand 12 month adventure. We’re looking to find our way, Lily says, without knowing anyone except each other.

Have confidence that if you have done a little thing well, 

you can do a bigger thing well too.

David Storey

Courtesy of TookaPic - Pixabay

Mum and Dad are each brilliant in their own way. David has dedicated 20 years of working for someone else and will be examining how he will play out the rest of his working time. Lily, worked one year as a teacher and then stayed home to raise their three children. 

The almost six year old Livie will be heading to a “big” school at the end of this trip, thirteen year old Daisy is not thrilled about leaving her friends for places with no shopping malls, and fifteen year old Jared only wears black graphic t-shirts and jeans and is lost without his computer. 

They are for the most part a normal family that you too have living on your street.

Lily has her camera packed. She has taken up a recent interest in photography and although she considers herself quite creative, the mumbo jumbo technical stuff is what mystifies her. She’s excited to have so many opportunities to practise her book-learned skills. 

David is a note-taker, he has already bought twelve identical black notebooks which he has painstakingly divided into the calendar days of every month they will be away.

Who's on Your Team?

Sometimes a player's greatest challenge is coming to grips
 with his role on the team.

Scottie Pippen
(Click to Tweet)

I know that we are all unique, we only need to sit down with a few friends or colleagues to see how different we are from each other. One is a planner, one shows up late, one likes the same-old, the other can’t sit still with enthusiasm for the new adventure/project.

We need each other in order to excel at our own skills, how boring would the picnic be if no one brought the hotdogs?

We count on those around us to be predictable, to wipe our tears or to celebrate our success. We want different sorts around, one to hold our hand through our tough times and one to kick our butts when needed. Our team might not be well-known but we surround each other with our gifts, we know in our hearts who to call depending on what we need in that moment.

We may get tired of being the point person sometimes, we may feel taken advantage of, resentful or bored. That’s when your team tells you in so many ways that they are counting on you in things they cannot do.

And that makes it worthwhile.

We all bring something to the table. Who's on your team? (Click to Tweet)