Can we play together nicely in the sandbox?

“Work together as a team”

“There are power in numbers”

“There is no I in Teamwork”

We have heard all the clichés when it comes to teamwork and team building. We throw the clichés around so much, it has become apart of our culture from families to the corporate world.

I realized, as much as I think I am alone, there is not a day that goes by that I do not interact with groups of people. Big or small, short or tall, happy or mad, helpful or rude… all sorts of teams. There are teams of people who work in our grocery stores, restaurants, movie theaters, the list goes on. We are always working with people. A team is defined as having two or more people in it. Which begs the question.. “Are we ever really alone?” (Queue twilight zone music please)……

The term team building has been around longer than I have been alive. It has become a “buzzword” in our society. Team building is looked at a way to get to know one another and understand each other through various activities. Do not misquote me here, this is all very important when it comes to teams but I have always felt there was something missing.

In all my years of not only being apart of teams but teaching and training team building, communication styles, conflict resolution and anger management…. We always looked outward and externally. We even sometimes blamed others or each other for teams that fell apart or failed.

“Times are a changin” My mom once said to me. Mom is always right, they are “a changin”. How can people see our greatest gifts if we can not recognize them ourselves? How can people appreciate us if we can not appreciate ourselves first? People can only treat us as well as we treat ourselves.

We are no longer in a time where we can play the blame game. In order for teams to work effectively, we must understand ourselves first. What do I bring to the table? What are my greatest gifts? What makes me so great? Take 100% responsibility for our actions, our words and our thoughts. This makes an effective team.