I have always been a sports enthusiast all my life, especially team sports. There is something magical about a group of individuals working together to achieve an outcome that is far greater than what is possible purely based on the sum of the individual talents. This is very well captured in the famous Michael Jordan qoute: “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships”. Even when I follow Individual sports, I find myself drawn to the individuals who exemplify teamwork and the impact that they have that is far greater than individual greatness. Anyone who has followed Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s Tennis journeys will understand what I am trying to say there with respect to an Individual Sport. For me, the answer to who is the Tennis GOAT and the ongoing debate about these two and Novak Djokovic has always been obvious, based on the Team Values that I cherish. It was fitting that Roger Federer choose the Laver Cup (where his greatest rivals became his teammates and could unabashedly cry at his farewell) and a doubles match , where he partnered with Rafa as a teammate, as his swan song in the tennis arena.
My first leadership experience came as the captain of our weekend warrior Cricket Team, during my Chicago days. This experience has given me some of my closest friendships and bonds of a lifetime as well. We all also took away some very valuable lessons and insights into the power of a group of individuals working together towards one objective with a single minded focus and the results that are possible, when you can put that in action.
Now, as I look back at my professional career, there are so many great memories. However, one thing that ties all of my best memories is the feeling of working together as a team. I have had the privilege to apply the lessons learnt on the sports field to teaming at work. In the process, I have led some of the highest performing team(s) and driven truly ground breaking transformations to the industry. On the flip side, I have also witnessed what lack of alignment to shared objectives can do to a team of otherwise highly talented individuals. There are several excellent books/literature about Teaming and Organizational principles for a great team. So, I am not going to spend time rehashing those. However, the famous qoute by Steve Jobs: “ Great things in business are never done by one person, They are done by a team of people“ keeps coming to my mind as I look back at any of the most rewarding moments. Besides teamwork being the foundational pillar for success in business, effective teaming helps us develop social connections, which is such an overlooked part of our professional career. As I embark on the next phase of my career, it is the connections (and I am not talking about just a list of LinkedIn connections) that I have developed that I treasure the most. For my next post, I plan to get a little spiritual and talk about my views on the importance of Connections and how that helps drive meaning and purpose.
So, stay tuned and please share your thoughts/critique, as you see fit.
Team Blog Post