The greatest accomplishments in life are not achieved by individuals alone, but by proactive people pulling together for a common good. Look behind every winner and you will find a great coach. Look out in front of every superstar and you will see a positive role model. Look alongside every great achiever and you will find caring people offering encouragement, support and able assistance.
Rising to this level of interdependent thinking can be challenging and difficult. Looking beyond oneself, asking for help or accepting help can feel risky. But people are not given life to simply take from one another.
We are here to give. Our mission in life is to offer our gifts to benefit one another, to create mutual gain in the world. This is called teamwork—a win/win mindset stemming from a genuine commitment to the rules that allow it to happen.
That's a brief excerpt from one of the best books I've ever read on teamwork—Pulling Together by John Murphy. In it, John takes a complex topic and presents it in ten rules that anyone can understand:
1. Put the Team First
2. Communicate Openly and Candidly
3. Be Part of the Solution, Not the Problem
4. Respect Diversity
5. Ask and Encourage the Right Questions
6. Use a Rational Problem-Solving Process
7. Build Trust with Integrity and Example
8. Commit to Excellence
9. Promote Interdependent Thinking
10. Pull the Weeds
