Real Teamwork

I know there are a lot of people who love to fish, but honestly I’m not one of them. I wish I enjoyed it more, but I just don’t. Yet today I found myself fishing.

Why?

Because my ten year old son LOVES to fish.

I recently confided to a friend that my son and I haven’t been connecting lately and that I wanted to create a stronger connection with him.

My friend asked me what my son loves to do.

I told him he loves to fish.

He asked, “Do you fish with him?”

“No, I don’t,” I answered.

“Well,” my friend said, “then fish with him. Spend time doing what he loves to do, not what you love to do.”

The truth hit me right between the eyes. As someone who speaks a lot about leadership and teamwork I realized I wasn’t being a good team member.

Great teamwork is not about doing what you want but what the team needs.

And my family team needed me to be more selfless and spend quality time with my son doing what he loves.

My son and I didn’t catch any fish this morning but today we became a better and stronger team. And I’m confident with real teamwork we’ll catch plenty of fish in the future.

How about you? Is there something your team needs you to do? Are you focused more on your-self than the good of the team? What actions will you take today to make your team better? Share your thoughts on our blog.

Stay Positive!

Jon