Quotes About Collaboration

If we had a man like Paramahansa Yogananda in the United Nations today, probably the world would be a better place than it is. To my knowledge, no one has worked more, has given more of himself, to bind the peoples of India and America together.

Look around you. Look at your teammates. If you see black faces or white faces, you get the fuck off my team. No white. No black. No more. The time for that is over. We walk the world as a team, and we're going to have fun kicking a little ass this year.

Effective leaders are able to manage the tensions of these two objectives and ensure that the team regularly addresses its processes. They understand that processes are the best vehicle through which the team both works together and thinks together, and the team cannot perform any better than its processes will allow it to.

In the world of teams and teamwork I often find the belief that to work and communicate effectively, team members must be close comrades. In fact, this is a common misperception. Although team members don't need to know one another very well personally to perform as a team, they do need to know one another's abilities and potential contributions.

They perform well, not because they like one another or even know one another, but because they know how to work together.

In contrast, team synergy is born out of the differences between team members. The more distinctive the diversity among the team, the more options they have to creatively deploy themselves against goals, decisions, problems, and opportunities.

Five rather small dogs can be very powerful. If you can get a team pulling together in one direction, you can get enormous power out of them.1 What a great illustration about cooperation in the face of contrast and difference.

Peter Senge shares a similar illustration about a jazz ensemble. "There is a phrase in jazz, "being in the groove," that suggests the state when the ensemble "plays as one." These experiences are very difficult to put into words—jazz musicians talk about them in almost mystical terms. The music flows through you rather than from you."2

Effective team leaders work creatively with each team member to ensure they understand the following issues: Why this task is important to the organization. Why this team task is important to them personally. Why they (their role) are important to the team. Who the other team members are and why they are important to the mission of the team.

Alignment cannot be achieved with one good speech from the bridge of the ship—it is established one person at a time. Even though everyone is in the same boat, heading in the same direction, it's quite likely they are going there for different reasons. Yes, working through these issues one person at a time is time consuming, but not as time consuming and frustrating as dealing with lack of alignment when the boat is in the middle of a storm, part way to its destination.

Leadership in a team environment is all about serving, facilitating, and releasing rather than taking charge and being in control.

Although we might place our trust in the team, that trust is invested one person at a time. I, as a team member, must build trust with every other member of the team on an individual basis and vice versa.

Alignment is not only the source of team power, but it is also a prerequisite for team empowerment. In today's business environment teams and empowerment go hand in hand.

High performance teams master the art of straight talk. They have learned how to confront issues and address behaviors without attacking or provoking one another.

Because many barriers are organizational in nature, team leaders as the boundary managers can play a major role in dampening their effects. In some respects team leaders can play the role of team diplomat and ambassador to other components in the organization.

The more different a team is, the smarter it is.

When prejudice between team members is present within the team, it's as though a hockey team voluntarily decided to place one or two of their members in the penalty box, and attempted to compete effectively against the opposing team with fewer players.

Crystal clear roles characterize high performance teams. Every team member is clear about his or her particular role as well as those of the other team members.

Role issues are invariably one of the top three problems teams face (ineffective processes and communication represent the other two major team problems).

We see similar thinking in managers who feel you can just throw a group of people together and hope that a team will form. If the right people luckily end up in the group, if the chemistry is just right, and if the situation is perfect, a team might develop.

To respect someone in a team setting means to show honor and esteem for his or her contribution. We must acknowledge that we need one another and we must show equal concern for every member. If one member suffers, we all suffer. If one member is honored, we are all honored. We are a team.

Within the team you must balance demands, sometimes conflicting, between individual team members and the task, between individual team members and the team, between the team and the task, and between the team and the larger organization. Again, you're a juggler. And if you drop one of these balls, you must invest in damage control.

Ultimately leadership boils down to a relationship. High-quality relationships are based on trust—trust of one anothers' competence as well as character.

Communication is the very means of cooperation.