| Those of you who have read my book, You Are the Team—6 Simple Ways Teammates Can Go from Good to Great, know that teams can't be great until teammates become great.
Teamwork is not about others on the team until it is about you (the teammate). It is about the personal commitment of each teammate to become selfless, trustworthy, humble, positive, respectful and great.
I shared the following story on my blog several years ago. It powerfully demonstrates that we all have choices.
Each member of your team also has choices - they can either put the team first or not. But until they do, your team won't become what it can ultimately become.
Here's the story. Feel free to share it with your teams.
High in the Himalayan mountains lived a wise old man.
Periodically, he ventured down into the local village to entertain the villagers with his special knowledge and talents. One of his skills was to “psychically” tell the villagers the contents in their pockets, boxes, or minds.
A few young boys from the village decided to play a joke on the wise old man and discredit his special abilities.
One boy came up with the idea to capture a bird and hide it in his hands. He knew of course, the wise old man would know the object in his hands was a bird.
The boy devised a plan.
Knowing the wise old man would correctly state the object in his hands was a bird, the boy would ask the old man if the bird was dead or alive. If the wise man said the bird was alive, the boy would crush the bird in his hands, so that when he opened his hands the bird would be dead; if the wise man said the bird was dead, the boy would open his hands and let the bird fly free. So no matter what the old man said, the boy would prove the old man a fraud.
The following week, the wise old man came down from the mountain into the village. The boy quickly caught a bird and cupping it out of sight in his hands, walked up to the wise old man and asked, ” Old man, old man, what is it that I have in my hands?”
The wise old man said, “You have a bird.” and he was right.
The boy then asked, “Old man, old man tell me, is the bird alive or is it dead?”
The wise old man looked at the boy and said, “The bird is as you choose it.” |
