Teamwork makes the dream work!! I used to hate that phrase. It’s not that I’m not a fan of teamwork, or that I think I can do everything by myself. I just felt the phrase was being overused. I would see it on social media posts, I would hear people at work using it, and I would even hear people in my social circles using it. It was just becoming one of those things I grew to hate.
The truth of the matter is that teamwork is important and can be very key in success. I know some people say things like “I got it out the mud on my own” or “I pulled myself up by my own bootstraps” or “I’m self-made”, but stop it. Everyone has benefited from some help somewhere along their journey. That’s why relationships are important in life. You can always gain some knowledge from someone that knows more than you, and you can always benefit from leaning on someone else’s strengths to make up for your weaknesses. That’s what teamwork is essentially about. I may be proficient in one skillset, and my partner may be proficient in another. By ourselves, we may struggle to get things accomplished, but together, we crush it.
Now there’s also another view on teamwork. While I was pursuing my undergrad degree, I used to hate when the professor assigned group assignments. The fact that I had to rely on another person to complete something that would impact my grade would cause my anxiety to rise like the temp on a summer day in Texas. Working in groups really tested patience, but it also enhanced my soft skills with managing people and their personalities. I’ve dealt with my fair share of slackers on group assignments, but I’ve worked with some great teammates as well. Though I never looked forward to those group assignments in college, they did teach me valuable lessons in teamwork. Being able to delegate and trust people to take things off your plate can go a long way in relieving stress. I’ll leave you with another phrase I found on teamwork from Matthew Woodring Stover. “If you take out the team in teamwork, it’s just work. Now who wants that?”
As always,
Kings Can Move On Y’all