Teamwork Makes the Dream Work written by Tosh L.

I received some really great feedback from the “Ride or Die” post! Thank you continually for those who follow and those who show support through reading and commenting. You will never know how much this blesses me. I thank you tremendously! I celebrate each and every one of you who are pressing through in your day-to-day life agenda, at your workplace, through bettering yourself through education, in your relationships, with your family, in your faith walk, and those pressing through for better health and wellness! Keep going!

I have had to take some time away to handle personal matters and make efforts in getting some things done. I extend my apologies for not posting in the last couple weeks. This season, for me, is a work that is producing progress and it has come with some unexpected twists and turns, so to speak. However, I know that there is purpose even in the unexpected. I am prepared to endure the challenges! I’m back this week to share a bit on a matter that has been with me for the past few weeks. So much so, that I have gone from being frustrated to highly bothered by the matter. However, I have mellowed out a great deal. I have wanted to develop my own mantra for this matter, but what is already in existence is sufficient. My heart has been so heavy with the matter of teamwork and what it means to be a leader. Today, I want to focus on teamwork. The heaviness has grown more and more as time has moved on. So, I hope that I do it justice in sharing and not come off as this being a drag of a post. LOL!!!

So, I recently shared that I was offered an opportunity at work which has me in the office more often than I had been previously. So, being around is giving me a chance to see things in a different light than I did before. The one thing that stands out to me is how much conflict and confusion has become so common. I am able to see that we do not work together as a team, and, quite frankly, it is disheartening. Yes, like any group that is new to working together, we have challenges. However, we do not operate as a unified team. We merely exist, as a lot of groups do, hoping that teamwork will just happen without direction. But, this is never the case. Teamwork is not an accidental concept. What I often see is a multiplied number of individual plans working simultaneously. There is not just one plan, one aim or one goal. This frustrates me to no end. I have seen and daily see how well we are willing to throw our fellow team member under the bus in efforts to shine and look good to others. I even see how easy it is to leave someone without a trace of compassion or empathy in an effort to correct an error or mistake. Whenever I think about it, it frustrates me because it shows just how counterproductive this has been to the purpose of this new program. Taking a retrospective look, I have learned that conflict can be purposeful and challenges have meaning. However, people have to become burned out and reach a place of conflict before burn out can come forth. When this happens, people become more receptive to ideas of resolution.

So, today I wanted to talk about what it means to be a team player and what it means to be successful at achieving goals.

 I know that you have heard the quote that “There is no ‘I’ in team. I must add this to that statement. I say, the ‘I’ in team that some individuals may interpret is both silent and invisible. This is my way of saying that it doesn’t exist. There is no such thing as an individual success. Even the Olympian, Usain Bolt, who is the fastest man in the world, has a team of people who support him, help him to prepare for greatness and achievement and persons that he counts on. He has a coach and a team that help him to be better at his craft as he helps them to be better, as well. I’ve heard the term “self-made” quite a bit. Yet there’s no such thing as a “self-made” successful, thriving anything. Do the research, I’ll wait! There is no thing that exists on its own and does everything all on its own. Everything has a counterpart. Again, check the records of history, I’ll wait. (LOL) So, as I have observed and learned this to be true and lived through some of my very own life experiences that have been lessons for me, I believe this wholeheartedly. I know that nothing can be achieved without a team, even if the team consists of two separate, individual parts connecting and joining together as a force to accomplish anything. The President of the United States is another great example. He stands in position as an entity that represents the free world, right! However, he has a wife- FLOTUS- who partners with him and they do life together and work together making efforts for their family to thrive and be successful. Before that, he had parents and family who he was closely connected with that helped to prepare him to walk the life path that he now lives. He also has a Vice President who partners with him. He even has other staff on multiple levels that help to create an environment conducive for success and achievement and the accomplishment of goals. What’s interesting is that he is not the focal point of his position. What would you guess to be the focal or central point of the mission overall? Yes, you guessed it...it’s the actual people of the United States and the world that surrounds us. If there were no people, there would be no need for the position whatsoever. We wouldn’t need a leader if there was no one to lead.

What can we accomplish without a team? What can we do without the help of another? NOTHING!!! ((please take a long moment to think about that))  In T.E.A.M., it is said that “Together Everyone Achieves More.” Indeed, this is true! It is through team that our individual and collective purposes can be realized and accomplished. Alone, we would forever be lost. Alone, we would forever have unanswered questions. But, together we can find the answers we need to be what was meant in this life. Together, we can find our way to harmony. Together, we can find our way to peace. Together, we can find our way to victory. Together, we can learn who we are. Together, we can live in purpose, on purpose and for purpose. So in team, in community, in group or crew, I have learned never to underestimate the value of a moment. It is through moments that we can be birthed. It is through moments that we come alive. It is through moments that we find exactly the missing link. Hearts are heard in moments, visions are seen in moments, and love can be manifested in new ways. So, when I join together with a team, then I can do the unimaginable things that I have only seen in my dreams and that is when, and only when, they become reality! That’s why team matters... Teamwork makes the dream work!!!