“The Destiny of Man is to unite, not to divide. If you keep on dividing you end up as a collection of monkeys throwing nuts at each other out of separate trees.”—T. H. White
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History recounts the moment when Alexander the Great and his troops were on the brink of dehydration after an arduous eleven-day march. Unexpectedly, they encountered local farmers who were transporting water-filled skins from a concealed river. Upon seeing the renowned general suffering from thirst, they offered him a helmet brimming with water.
Alexander inquired about the destination of the water. One farmer replied, “To our children.” The general responded, “Your lives are more valuable than theirs. Even if they all perish, we can nurture a new generation.”
Holding the helmet, Alexander surveyed his soldiers, who were all gazing longingly at the water and moistening their parched lips. Lacking the resolve to drink, he returned the untouched water to the farmer. “If I were to drink,” he explained, “the morale of the remaining soldiers would diminish.”
Inspired by their leader’s words, the soldiers rallied around him with renewed vigor, overcoming their exhaustion and thirst. “It is a privilege to follow such a leader,” they proclaimed in unison.
For Alexander, having such devoted soldiers under his command was equally an honor. In any organization or group, the leader represents only one aspect of the whole. The other aspect consists of the members. Both must collaborate as a cohesive unit; without unity, success remains unattainable.
Similar to the human body, if the leader represents the brain, then the other components—such as the heart, eyes, hands, feet, and stomach—must also operate effectively. When one part is not performing optimally, it impacts the functionality of the entire system.
That’s what Andrew Carnegie calls teamwork. “Teamwork,” he explains, “is the ability to work together toward a common vision. (It is) the ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.”
Take the case of the dynamics of the performance of a symphony orchestra, according to businessman and politician Manny Villar. “Under the baton of a conductor, the orchestra comes to life in a synchronized fluidity,” he explains. “Each orchestra member is important. Behind their great performance are discipline and passion for perfection. And there is an abundance of team spirit in all the members of the orchestra.”
“No one can whistle a symphony,” H.E. Luccock states. “It takes an orchestra to play it.” American inventor Thomas Alva Edison, when asked why he had a team of twenty-one assistants, answered, “If I could solve all the problems myself, I would.”
Edison’s desire is described effectively by poet Edward Everett Hale, who wrote: “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything but still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.”
“I love to hear a choir,” British singer and composer Paul McCartney said. “I love humanity… to see the faces of real people devoting themselves to a piece of music. I like teamwork. It makes me feel optimistic about the human race when I see them cooperating like that.”
But when there is a great challenge to be faced, the team needs more than just cooperation. The essential quality the team players ought to have been collaboration. “Cooperation is working together agreeably,” explains Dr. John C. Maxwell, America’s leading authority on leadership. “Collaboration is working together aggressively.” That’s the difference of the two.
Maxwell further expounds: “Collaborative teammates do more than just work with one another. Each person brings something to the table that adds value to the relationship and synergy to the team. The sum of truly collaborative teamwork is always greater than its parts.”
In every team, there is always a conflict. Even among members of a family, conflict is always present. “All your strength is in union, all your danger is in discord,” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once reminded.
Should there be conflict among team players, the words of Max DePree should be heeded: “The key elements in the art of working together are how to deal with change, how to deal with conflict, and how to reach our potential… the needs of the team are best met when we meet the needs of individuals.”
It is easy to find the best people to be part of a team. But can that person be a team player or, to quote the words of Dennis Kinlaw, someone “who unites others toward a shared destiny through sharing information and ideas, empowering others and developing trust.”
However talented a person is if he is not part of the team, the team will not go far. As basketball phenomenon Michael Jordan puts it: “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”
“In order to have a winner,” Paul Bear Bryant suggests, “the team must have a feeling of unity; every player must put the team first-ahead of personal glory.”
And this is perhaps what Villar had in mind when he wrote: “Team spirit which should lead to team play is present when there is a shared desire to work together. There is a unifying vision. There is a unity of purpose. There is a genuine concern among its members. Nobody takes exclusive credit for group accomplishment. The credit belongs to all.”
