It has been a year of the Olympics and these days we celebate the America’s Cup in Barcelona. What is it that makes a team able to compete at that level? And what distinguishes an Olympic team from a team in a sailing competition? Let’s take a closer look.
What we see in an Olympic team:
- Athletes participate under a same flag. They have the same logo or flag on their shirts and listen to the sound of the same hymn.
- Everyone is the best in their discipline. They are talented and highly specialized. The ones who win medals in swimming, you won’t make play tennis!
- They see each other at the beginning and at the end of the Games. During the competition everyone is focused on their own theme.
- They make a titanic effort to achieve their medal.
Does this situation sound familar to you?
I work with many teams composed by great talents, professionals with high specialization and absolute mastery in their field. They win and continue to win medals. Now why do they reach out to us?
Teams composed of great professionals who want to shine as a team need to learn to collaborate!
That is the difference. They want to move from being an Olympic team to becomig a sailing or soccer or basketball or jockey team… What is the difference? In these teams collaboration is essential:
- They share the same flag but also the same objective (a common goal).
- Everyone is highly specialized in their field but they also know how to play another position if needed. If one team member doesn’t make it, the other is able to adapt or moves to the needed position in order to reach the goal.
- They are in direct contact during the whole competition, they align, connect, review and realign constantly according to what the result looks like.
- They make a titanic effort yes, just like the Olympic athletes but they achieve one unique victory, a team’s cup, a trophey shared amongst all of them.
In your team and at your work, in what kind of competition do you find yourself?
What kind of team are you?