Top Menu

Teamwork – Leveraging Your Individual Skills to Win As A Group

Hello, hello! I am so excited to tell you I am a new author at SportsNetworker.com.

Every 2 weeks I will share what I have learned over 10 years’ experience at leading positions on the sports industry, and also through my experience as an amateur athlete, addicted to several sports.

Let’s talk about teamwork today. How many times have you heard this: “Work as a team was key to our success.”? Or maybe “You guys should work as a team to make this project successful.”

Sound familiar? Well, it is true that successful groups work as a team, both on the field and off. But we don’t take our time to really understand how this happens, or how we can make this happen in our work group. So today I want to share what I have learned about teamwork and how I have applied it in my career in the sports industry.

Where Is The Best Place To Learn About Teamwork?

How is teamwork learned on a mountain bike trip?Mountain bike trips in Brazil. That’s right. I have learned so much about teamwork on those trips.

Nowadays I live in Panama but I am originally from Brazil. I really enjoyed sports in my beautiful country while I was living there. I was part of a mountain bike group and every 2 weeks we would go for a trip on the mountains. Not only were these trips awesome, we enjoyed all the preparation as well. We were constantly working as a team on a small project: the next trip. We had to choose the routes, prepare the maps, agree on the meeting points, check the weather forecast, tools, first-aid kit, cameras and so on.

We usually were six to ten mountain bikers together on the weekends. After a while, each one assumed a task inside the group. That was a natural process; people were just making things happen accordingly to their best skills.

And every single trip was a success.

We could spend the entire day together riding and having fun, no matter how difficult the route. I realized we were always happy and proud of ourselves at the end of the journey. We even have pictures to prove it; all dirty and tired, but the smiles… we always had huge smiles on our faces.

So How Is Teamwork Learned on A Bike Ride?

The group was applying an important principle of “teamwork” without even thinking about it. Each member is unique and has unique skills, which must be identified and leveraged, to positively impact the project.

Our diverse group had the map specialist and leader, the mechanic, the cameraman, the doctor, the task organizer and of course the strong guy that could go back and forth several times on the mountain to check if we were all ok.

Thanks to that, no one was left behind and no one got seriously hurt (yes, we had minor accidents in downhill but speed is part of the fun, right!?) We always found our way on the trails, we were fast to change flat tires or broken chains and we had incredible pictures and movies from the trip to watch together during the barbecue.

Oh, I forgot to mention another essential member of the group: the barbecue master, to ensure we would eat properly after the intense riding!

How Teamwork In The Wild Translates To Teamwork In Business

business-teamwork

And what does all this information have to do with teamwork in business?

I strongly believe we should focus on our best skills, the ones that are natural to us, already part of who we are. We must identify these strengths and leverage them on our work group. We also must find ways to apply them. It is not possible to be happy and successful in our careers if we don’t use our best skills and our strengths.

Think about what you do better and how you feel when you are doing something you are really good at. It feels good, right? We have the sense of fulfillment and joy. Pay attention on how this positively impacts your work group and the projects you are developing together.

We are good at things we love to do. In my mountain bike group, the map specialist always did his best to ensure his maps would guide the whole team perfectly. Of course, this is something he enjoys doing and he is really good at. We all knew we could trust his maps as well. If there was a problem, we just had to stop and wait. The rescue would come and we didn’t have to wait long.

Your work group must recognize you for your strengths. Each member must feel that you are trustful and you are doing your best on behalf of the team.

Successful teamwork only happens when all the members have space to be themselves in the group, expressing their uniqueness and combining individual skills to achieve the same common goal.

Three Important Things Teamwork Needs

trust-fall-2

Don’t forget to add leadership, trust and flexibility to the equation. Every successful group has a successful leader that will guide everyone accordingly to the map that was previously prepared. All members must trust that the others will take responsibility on their tasks, and of course everyone must deliver all assigned tasks perfectly and on time.

But sometimes the route will have to suffer adjustments in order to help the group achieve the final goal. That is why flexibility is also so important for successful teamwork.

Of course there will always be room for improvement and we cannot forget that we have weaknesses waiting to be polished.

But if we focus on our weaknesses we won’t be taking full advantage of our strengths. We tend to think about how we can make our weaknesses disappear but we never take the time to think on how we can make our strengths even stronger.

My Story

I personally use this knowledge from my mountain bike trips to evaluate projects that I will be involved in and also job proposals. I ask myself: am I using (or will I be using) my best skills? Will this project make me smile? Am I offering my strengths to my work group? Should I search different projects that will fit better to my unique skills?

By the way, I was the task’s organizer on my mountain bike group and people counted on me as a project leader, excellent organizer and to be good at following up tasks that needed to be accomplished. I would love to hear from other leaders as well to talk about how we can get even better

Let me know if this article was helpful to your professional development. If so, please share to your work group and friends. And I want to hear more from you. Are you using your strengths at work? Do people recognize your strengths? Do you recognize your colleagues’ strengths? Don’t be shy – leave your comments below so we can chat more about teamwork!

, , , , , , ,

55 Responses to Teamwork – Leveraging Your Individual Skills to Win As A Group

  1. houston drug Treatment May 18, 2014 at 11:02 pm #

    My programmer is trying to persuade me to move to .net from PHP.

    I have always disliked the idea because of the costs. But he’s
    tryiong none the less. I’ve been using WordPress on numerous websites for
    about a year and am nervous about switching to another platform.

    I have heard very good things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can transfer all my wordpress content into it?
    Any help would be greatly appreciated!

  2. nike zoom lebron iv May 23, 2014 at 2:09 pm #

    Thanks in support of sharing such a pleasant thought, piece of writing is nice, thats why i
    have read it fully

  3. doa ilmu pengasih May 29, 2014 at 1:53 pm #

    When it was finally released, the album received
    numerous positive reviews and became number one in multiple countries.
    Do we really need nine year old girls walking around singing,
    “I want your disease” and “I want you in my rear window”. Hence, house cleaners that only
    use green products would be the much wise cleaning service to hire.

  4. overcoming opiate addiction May 29, 2014 at 3:45 pm #

    This design is wicked! You obviously know how to keep a reader amused.

    Between your wit and your videos, I was almost
    moved to start my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Excellent job.
    I really loved what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it.
    Too cool!

  5. www.whitepages.com May 31, 2014 at 3:54 pm #

    There is nothing on thee internet more enjoyable than
    a great post like this. I know I appreciate it it
    it normally takes to do. Iappreciate stopping by sportsnetworker.com freqauently to see more about
    my interests regarding Bruce Baldinger.

  6. basement renovations atlanta May 31, 2014 at 10:43 pm #

    This site was… how do you say it? Relevant!! Finally I have found something which helped me.
    Many thanks!

  7. make life June 2, 2014 at 4:17 am #

    I have read so many posts about the blogger lovers but this article is
    genuinely a good piece of writing, keep it up.

  8. светящийся порошок June 3, 2014 at 12:56 am #

    Marvelous, what a website it is! This blog gives useful data to us, keep it up.

  9. www.facebook.com June 3, 2014 at 9:21 pm #

    I always have a change of clothes with me when I am on a shoot because
    I tend to end up covered in mud. However Top 10 Hack into Best 11
    sports boss Bridal party crack prime 14 hack power generator is usually a most liked topic
    of debate amongst monarchs, presidents and dictators, Prime 10 Crack Best 10 sports manager Bridal party chop best 11 hack generator is usually displaying increasingly more in the attitudes on the fresh
    as well as upwardly mobile. The smallest size contains a whopping 920 calories and 46 grams of fat.

  10. water damage restoration equipment rental June 3, 2014 at 11:26 pm #

    These extras can be expensive depending on how much mold you need to have the mold
    removed. With mold growing silently in one of the easiest mold nyc ways to prevent mold
    growth in and around the place. These spores may be inhaled
    mold nyc by people living around. The worse issue is that
    most mold remediation services. Step: 4 Moisture ControlTo control moisture
    is to control moisture problem in building, it causes lot of problem like uncontrolled humidity.

  11. cutting bodybuilding June 7, 2014 at 1:27 pm #

    For more in 1 workout session and consider appropriate additional before
    use. Your body doesn’t fall into 1 of these products to help you do?

    Make sure to narrow down your efforts. Don’t use them, they worked hard to gym training
    programs treat conditions such as nuts and bolts of
    my mother’s opinion.

  12. Opération Casse-noisette Télécharger June 8, 2014 at 12:16 am #

    Thank you for the good writeup. It in fact was a leisure account it.
    Look complicated to far brought agreeable from you! However, how can we keep in touch?

  13. Family Guy The Quest for Stuff Cheats June 9, 2014 at 4:51 am #

    This episode opens with Peter receiving his birthday gift
    in the form of tickets to a boxing match. One of the
    most awkward things about Facebook is when you inevitably get that friends
    request from someone you don’t really intend
    on being friends with. If desired, the narration can be skipped to go directly to the trivia questions.

  14. points Fifa 14 gratuit June 11, 2014 at 12:07 am #

    I was suggested this blog by my cousin. I’m not sure whether this post
    is written by him as nobody else know such detailed about my problem.

    You’re wonderful! Thanks!

  15. white and black magic spells June 12, 2014 at 7:21 pm #

    I constantly spent my half an hour to read this blog’s articles or reviews all the time along with a cup of
    coffee.

  16. League Of Legends Cheat June 15, 2014 at 7:44 am #

    Heya i’m for the first time here. I came across this
    board and I in finding It really helpful & it helped me out a lot.

    I hope to provide something again and aid others like you aided me.

  17. recover yahoo password June 15, 2014 at 11:27 pm #

    Having read this I believed it was really informative. I appreciate
    you finding the time and effort to put this content together.
    I once again find myself personally spending way too much time both reading and leaving comments.
    But so what, it was still worthwhile!

  18. Sach June 16, 2014 at 12:03 am #

    each time i used to read smaller articles which also clear their motive, and that is also happening with this paragraph which I am reading at this
    place.

  19. Ustan June 17, 2014 at 5:46 pm #

    Merely wanna input that you have a very decent site,
    I like the pattern it really stands out.

  20. sites de rencontre June 18, 2014 at 6:17 am #

    Great goods from you, man. I’ve take into account
    your stuff previous to and you are just extremely great.

    I actually like what you have received here, certainly like what you are stating and the way through which you
    assert it. You’re making it entertaining and you continue to care for to keep it sensible.
    I cant wait to learn much more from you. This is actually a
    tremendous site.

  21. When I initially commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment
    is added I get four emails with the same comment.
    Is there any wayy you can remove people from that service?
    Appreciate it!

  22. parrot cages June 24, 2014 at 8:11 am #

    These newer styles have been handed to her by bird enclosure Democrats.
    But Vick’s late-season improvement isn’t the only one saying,” Ty is a bit misleading. This is Bear and we’re going to start to raise our hand signal. After all, birds are extremely sensitive to poisons and toxins. So I’m going to show her my face. So, you make your choice will properly be harer because of the depletion of forests the natural resources vital to their existence.

  23. Lizette June 27, 2014 at 1:03 pm #

    Great website you have here but I was wondering if you knew of any
    message boards that cover the same topics talked about here?
    I’d really love to be a part of online community where I can get
    opinions from other knowledgeable people that share the same interest.
    If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Appreciate it!

  24. best downloads for 3ds June 28, 2014 at 11:19 pm #

    I read this piece of writing fully concerning the resemblance of newest and earlier technologies,
    it’s awesome article.

  25. fifa points July 1, 2014 at 12:05 am #

    If no big rival is behind a championship, the achievement consequently loses its
    dimension. EA said a FIFA dev team is working to fix the issue, but until then they advise ‘navigating the bootflow of FIFA 14’ with only one controller connect as a workaround.
    In those cases, skin and coat problems tend to be well entrenched.

  26. Luze July 2, 2014 at 7:26 pm #

    Paragraph writing is also a fun, if you be familiar with then you can write or else
    it is difficult to write.

  27. Houston mold removers July 16, 2014 at 2:11 pm #

    Add 4 ounces of tri-sodium phosphate which is commonly known. Even putting wet dishes in your kitchen cupboards will increase the moisture
    content that molds, mildews, and bacteria like to grow.
    Chlorine is a powerful whitener and disinfectant, but can cause negative health effects in people, plants, and animals.

  28. Doris July 27, 2014 at 1:49 pm #

    you’re in point of fact a good webmaster.

    The web site loading speed is amazing. It sort of feels that you’re doing any distinctive trick.

    Also, The contents are masterpiece. you’ve performed a excellent job in this topic!

  29. standby July 28, 2014 at 10:57 pm #

    The days of peeling your vegetables with a knife have been over since we
    have been blessed with the peeler. But I do not use the
    sponge in its mouth because it looks too pretty, so the fish is now the guard of the sink.
    Most models can be wall-mounted in the kitchen, pantry, or laundry room.

  30. Best wok July 30, 2014 at 11:17 am #

    No cookware iss a perfect cookware and will last forever, but with the understanding and knowing the proper
    way of how to maintain stainless steel, it definitely will help
    to keep the cookware last for a long while. Also, the cook top
    itself never becomes hot to the touch. Anodized aluminum hhas an outer layer to give iit a tougher and
    nonreactive surface.

  31. https://opencartstorecom.zendesk.com/ August 3, 2014 at 6:12 pm #

    After looking into a number of the blog posts on your
    web page, I truly appreciate your technique of writing a blog.
    I bookmarked it to my bookmark webpage list and will be checking back in the near future.
    Please visit my web site too and let me know your opinion.

  32. Nida August 13, 2014 at 9:22 pm #

    You just never know when you will meewt a new potential client,
    so when you are given the opportunity to answer the question “what do you do. A lot of patience, time and some legal help is required to make these dreams happen. Reading some real good books help you take some practical and wise decisions regarding your property or any thing related to real estate.

  33. Sherrie August 15, 2014 at 8:18 pm #

    As an entertainment ‘toy’, however, the magic of the 3D and Nintendo’s usual fabulous build quality and playful software mark it out
    as something special. You have to first make sure you can connect multiplayer server.
    ” Select “Play – Station 3 Controller” and go to Properties.

  34. good pregnancy tests August 18, 2014 at 3:26 am #

    AnswerThose who are unclear about which symptoms need test
    to eat for two. What we can do this at some point or another, and
    a 7 and a doctor as soon as a replacement for expert medical advice.
    I am in theory about to order.

  35. forge of empires hack 2015 August 18, 2014 at 11:34 am #

    great submit, very informative. I ponder why the other specialists of this sector don’t understand this.

    You must continue your writing. I am sure, you have a great readers’ base already!

  36. Wireless fm Transmitter August 26, 2014 at 9:23 pm #

    What i do not realize is actually how you’re now not really a lot more neatly-liked than yyou
    may be now. You are very intelligent. You understand therefore considerably in terms of this
    topic, produced me individually imwgine it from a lot of varied angles.
    Itts like men and women aren’t interested until it’s one thing
    too do with Lady gaga! Your personal stuffs great. At all times maintain it up!

  37. IPAS2 review August 30, 2014 at 1:17 am #

    To make money online selling information means looking at trends and projecting where the trend iis headed a yea
    orr two down the road. Best smartphone price: Moto
    E Androlid ffor $129 unlocked and off-contract. Name your home business – Good business names are market-based and original.

  38. best pod coffee maker reviews 2012 September 2, 2014 at 6:21 pm #

    I like the valuable info you provide for your articles. I will
    bookmarkk your blog and check again rigyht here frequently.
    I’m moderately certain I’ll be informed many new stuff right right here!Best of luck for
    the following!

  39. Dr Osborne Gluten Free Diet September 8, 2014 at 3:14 pm #

    28 oz Delmonte Chunky Diced Zesty Chili Style tomatoes or equivalent.
    Which is a moist, fertile land in and around Western Asia, the Nile Valley and the Nile Delta of Northeast Africa.
    The author of this GFP article loves fruit and realises that
    this affair was fostered in childhood where his father grew many varieties of
    fruit trees in his home yard.

  40. best kitchen knives for price September 15, 2014 at 10:15 am #

    Author accepts no liability for any loss or damage that
    may occur from the use of any information or products featured in articles.
    Henckel knives by they are quickly growing in popularity as chefs alll over the world discover the beauty
    and strength found within its blades. Drastically lower the
    amount of times the shear just isn’t way too quite a few to count.

  41. angel's landing September 23, 2014 at 6:55 am #

    Wow, fantastic weblog layout! How lengthy have you ever been blogging for?
    you made running a blog glance easy. The total look of your web site is excellent, let alone the content!

  42. Morocco Marrakech riad clementine October 2, 2014 at 10:39 pm #

    Four GM-made vehicles the Cadillac Escalade,
    Chevy Tahoe Hybrid, Chevrolet Colorado, and Chevrolet Aveo/Aveo5 are ranked as among
    the worst on the market is more real. I told Riad that I thought they would never find enough for an indictment, but he does want them to have the strobe on for any length
    of time. According to an AutoVantage survey, Dallas/Fort Worth hotel riad la maison rouge marrakech ranks number 2 in the next decade and turn the spinal
    cords framework beyond its standard limits thus affecting
    the brain’s performance as well.

  43. August October 15, 2014 at 11:12 am #

    whoah this weblog is excellent i love reading your articles.
    Stay up the great work! You recognize, lots of individuals are looking around for this information, you could aid
    them greatly.

  44. Facebook Sex.Com November 30, 2014 at 1:18 am #

    This is actually interesting, You’re a very proficient blogger.
    We have signed up with your own feed plus look forward to finding a lot more
    of their terrific article. In addition, I discussed your internet site within my social
    networks

  45. Lucretia July 7, 2015 at 5:08 pm #

    Hi there too all, it’s actually a nice for me to go to see
    this site, it contains valuable Information.

  46. キリストキリストは確かに私はそれがあったつもりいくつかの退屈な古い、公開することが考え#1デュード
    パイル 枕カバー 低反発枕カバー 低反発枕 カバー 枕 まくら 低反発まくら ピロケース ピローケース 寝具 マクラ 枕カバ-楽天最安値に挑戦!スマイル価格700円!RI?RA?KU『パイル調枕カバー』〈幅50×奥行30×高さ6~10cm用〉:スマイルプライス http://www.sbhbot.com/maoshipk/989.html

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Bestseller in a Weekend Alum Laura Brandes Scores A Columnist Gig Through Networking | Watch List News - November 11, 2013

    […] with industry icons such as adidas, Nike, and Reebok, was invited to share her experiences on Sports Networker after participating in Bestseller in a Weekend, an intense three-day workshop that takes would-be […]

  2. AthlepreneurTV | Teamwork – Leveraging Your Individual Skills to Win As A Group - November 11, 2013

    […] Read here my article about Teamwork, from SportsNetworker.com. […]

  3. Bestseller in a Weekend Alum Laura Brandes Scores A Columnist Gig Through Networking » My ink ideas - November 11, 2013

    […] with industry icons such as adidas, Nike, and Reebok, was invited to share her experiences on Sports Networker after participating in Bestseller in a Weekend, an intense three-day workshop that takes would-be […]

  4. Bestseller in a Weekend Alum Laura Brandes Scores A Columnist Gig Through Networking | - February 20, 2015

    […] with industry icons such as adidas, Nike, and Reebok, was invited to share her experiences on Sports Networker after participating in Bestseller in a Weekend, an intense three-day workshop that takes would-be […]

Leave a Reply