The Power Of Teamwork

Europe has just beaten the US in the Ryder Cup and I’m a bit bleary eyed as I write this article. It was an amazing performance, a convincing victory and the first time Europe recorded three successive victories. The US team was the team of all stars – Tiger Woods, Phil Mickleson et al. Who would have thought that they would be trounced so convincingly by the Europeans?

Team spirit

As I listened to the post match analysis the recurring theme was one of team work and team spirit that gave the victory to the Europeans.  The team work and camaraderie is what gave them the edge over the Americans and it’s something we can all learn from.

When you have a team around you, people with the same goals and aspirations as you, moving in the same direction, accepting you for yourself, then you have something very special.

Positive energy

That teamwork will create a powerful positive energy that will just keep pushing you forward. The Europeans had that – they looked out for each other, motivated each other and celebrated the successes together. I think teamwork is a very overused and misunderstood phrase but this weekend’s exploits are a perfect description of true teamwork.

We are all on the journey to achieving indestructible self-belief. When we believe in ourselves 100% we can achieve anything we want. Having a team around you with the same value set and end goal will enhance your chances of success.

It stands to reason – many heads and hearts are better than one. Many of us think we have a team in our families, friends and colleagues but that is not wholly true. These people are often too close to us and so cannot be objective and non-judgemental. They will always feel as if they have to give you their opinion and a lot of times this can be destructive and dent our belief instead of enhancing it. They don’t do this maliciously but that’s what they do.

Building the right team

I’m not saying that you must ditch your family and friends – no, all I am saying that it’s important to build a team around you that is congruent with your goals and values. A team that guides you and works with you towards your goal instead of telling you what to do.

This is the team that will create the positive energy to boost your self-belief and take it to the indestructible levels. So are you ready for this team?

How to build an indestructible team

1. Surround yourself with positive people

Pretty obvious yes but still so many of us surround ourselves with negative people. Look at your current network and review it for positive like-minded people.

You can always create a new network of people – this website has hundreds of such people from the team of coaches to all the members of the bulletin boards - plenty of like-minded people focused on positive action!

Go on, create your own team – it could be just you and your coach or it could be 10-12 of you forming a success group. Try it and let me know how it is working for you.

2. Give as much as you take

In a great team people give as much as they take. I have always achieved my greatest successes by giving to others. Giving is about listening, motivating, supporting others – letting them take up some of your time and effort. You will find this rewarding and I guarantee you will also benefit from it.

We have become a take society and the people who give as much as they take do stand out and achieve success. So once you’ve built your team give a little and experience this great feeling.

3. Share successes

Great teams share successes. Be happy for other people and enjoy what they have achieved. Strong people do not get intimidated or disillusioned by others successes – they use this to energise themselves. It’s a natural feeling to look at someone else being successful and to be disillusioned with ones own situation. Instead use it to your advantage to motivate you and drive you forward.

The Ryder Cup team celebrated each players successes – the players that lost their matches could have looked down and depressed but instead they were jubilant and exuberant in the winning players efforts. That’s teamwork. Also sharing what you have done will energise and motivate others.

4. Communicate with your team

Once you have built a solid team around you, communicate regularly. Once per week at a minimum to share ideas, thoughts, feedback on actions etc. This keeps the momentum and ensures the positive energy is there and is building each week.

Communication may be just an email or it may be meeting, phone calls whatever – make sure you are consistent.

5. Be personally accountable

Teamwork is great but this is not a substitute for self-reliance. The team around you is there to support you but you must take action and move yourself forward to your dreams and goals.

The team will not do that. So you have to be self-reliant. You have to be accountable because it’s your life you are improving. Each Ryder Cup player played for the team but did not hide when their performances were not great – they made themselves accountable and took full responsibility. You must do the same.