Riding the Dragon: Exploring 7 Principles of Teamwork
Many of you know me to be a focused yet mild-mannered professional… but don’t be deceived. Underneath these suits beats the heart of an athlete – a dragon boat racer, to be specific – and a fierce one at that!
When I’m not in the office or home with my family, you’ll probably find me on the water in Vancouver, grunting alongside my teammates. With mist in our faces and sweat on our backs, we drive our paddles into the waves for hours, learning to rotate together, reach and propel 1,800 kg of boat and crew across the water.
I can assure you, this takes some practice. Ok, a LOT of practice. And determination. And when the wind is blowing an icy chill, it takes even more… but week after week, 22 women keep showing up. And we’re not your average bunch.
Our team is composed entirely of breast cancer survivors. In addition, this particular group of women knows the enormous value of exercise after treatment. With a vision to raise awareness for both issues, we entered the 5th Annual Gulf Coast International Dragon Boat Regatta – and our training hit a new level of intensity.
We practiced our sprints, paddling as hard as we could for one minute at a time. We pushed ourselves through longer stints, stopping only for a moment to drink deeply from our water bottles before starting again. We trained like we meant business, and we encouraged each other every step of the way.
After each practice, we debriefed, discussing the specific things we had done well and where we had improved. This made our progress so much more tangible and exciting. Inside, we knew: we were ready.
On race day, in Houston, Texas:
Sitting nervously at the starting line… GO!
We dug into the water with quick, deep strokes, struggling to create momentum where there once was none. Deep, primal grunts emerged from somewhere deep within us, then yells, encouraging ourselves and our teammates on. Feeling each other to find our rhythm and reach, we settled into “race pace” and gave it everything we had.
Those last 100 meters were downright brutal. We kept moving by sheer force of will – that relentless internal drive to give our very best efforts and see the challenge met.
When we crossed the finish line, we were beyond exhausted – and elated! We placed second in the Breast Cancer Challenge Race! (We were especially proud of our victory in the “mixed” race: our competitors had testosterone in their systems, but our paddlers didn’t – not even estrogen. For those who don’t understand the connection, hormones play a big role in muscle building. Our victory was extra-hard won.)
Hours after the race, our celebration made it a night to remember. We met and enjoyed our competitors, talked over the race, and acknowledged the hard work that every person put in. I saw big smiles all around, and somehow, they made all the effort worth it.
Back home, I recognize that my professional life and my passion for paddling are really not so different. I seem to be tapping the same forces of nature, no matter which team I’m playing on!
If you really want to generate impressive results, here’s what it takes:
- The Unifying Power of Vision to move people in the same direction
- An Action Plan and Timeline to guide and pace efforts
- Strategies for cooperation and efficiency, and for mitigating potential problems
- Encouragement to keep the team strong and motivated
- Digging Deep into determination when the going gets tough
- Adjusting the Pace to sustain efforts over time
- Celebration to acknowledge efforts and progress, appreciating that success and contribution takes many forms.
In the boat, these ingredients for success are understood. But in the workplace, they could use a little reinforcement.
In my experience as an educational leader, I’ve noticed one of these forces lacking the most: celebration! We habitually drive ourselves and our teams with such intensity that we often fail to appreciate all that we accomplish.
This is a tremendous mistake. After all, small celebrations are powerful support for our long term efforts. They make even the most onerous tasks seem worthwhile. Celebrations are benchmarks of our progress, and critical to morale. They give our mental toughness a boost, helping us maintain momentum and conquer the next big task. And, perhaps best of all, celebrations unify the team like nothing else can.
If you’re part of a team with sagging morale, perhaps it’s time to celebrate. So, what can you celebrate? It doesn’t have to be something big – sometimes the small wins are just as fun to acknowledge.
Take a moment to sketch out a plan. What will you celebrate? How will you do it? When? What steps will it take? Schedule it in your calendar and recruit your fellow celebrants. Make it happen! It’s a simple but powerful way to increase your momentum at work… and your quality of life.
For more information on how to keep yourself and your team moving ahead quickly, please contact Judi Clark.
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