Tom Holmoe, BYU Athletic Director and three time superbowl winner, spoke to our class today on teamwork. He started off stating to us that teamwork is all about relationships. I thought this was interesting considering that the word 'teamwork' bring to mind images of the the football team....and he's telling us that the most important thing about that big group of sweaty, masculine boys is relationships. Well, by the end of his lecture I realized he was right...and here's why.
There are two types of people in the world:
Fire fighters and
Fire lighters. Fire fighters are those that throw cold water on others' fires. Fire lighters are those that go out of their way to build others' fires. Their fire being their passion, enthusiasm, confidence in life.
There are many firelighters in my life, but I'd like to tell you about a few of them...
Cooper- A fellow student at BYU, I met Cooper at the first stake dance of the school year. Ever since I have been so impressed with him and his ability to be a fire lighter. When walking around campus together, he will stop to talk to everyone. And I mean everyone. He knows them all by name and is able to ask personal questions about their life and leave them with a smile on their faces. Not only does he know everyone, but everyone truely considers Cooper their friend. When you're with him he will laugh at every joke you say. He'll honestly compliment you and care about how you are doing. His joy and enthusiasm is contagious, thus everyone wants to be around him. And when they leave him, they leave with a smile on their face and their fire light a little bit more.
My mommasita- I believe my mom to be the most influential fire lighter in my life, naturally. There have been numerous instances where I have come to mom with some sort of silly drama, concern, or problem and she has helped build me up and send me on my way to success. For example, in the morning I would be up at 4:50 a.m. for seminary to find a note on the counter reading "Have a great day! I love you, Mom". Also, she has a few key firelighting phases that she applies to my various upsetting situations: "Her behavior is a result of her own insecurity", "You are just a confident, well rounded person I am so impressed with", "there's a jack for every jill", and "it only takes one guy".
Donald Crouch- When James Earl Jones' dad left at a young age, he and his mom lived with his grandparents. They moved around a lot and he had a very unstable childhood. As a result, James had a speech impediment and refused to ever talk, becoming mute. As a result, he loved to write poetry as a way to vocalize his thoughts. One day his high school english teacher, Proffesor Crouch, announced in front of the class that there was no way that the poem could be written by James with his speech impediment. James was furious to be accused of cheating and not being the owner of his works. So Professor Crouch challenged him to come recite the poem in front of the class from memory. James Earl Gray did just that without even the slightest stutter. James Earl Jones, today, is known for his voice as darth vader, mufasa, and on CNN.
There was a study conducted that tested how long individuals could keep their foot in a bucket of ice water. They found the the average person can tolerate pain twice as long when they're with someone. With that said check out this video from Facing the Giants...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vB59PkB0eQ
With fire lighters in our life, we can endure twice as much. By being a fire lighter, we can help others endure twice as much.
I plan to be a fire lighter. With my calling being a councilor in the relief society presidency I am in a position of leadership where I can serve and influence others. I am specificly set apart with a blessing to be able to receive spiritual revelation for the lovely ladies. Thus, I can use this inspiration to help them. I plan to pray for them every night. I keep them in my thoughts always, especially those whom I am prompted to help. In this case, I am simply a fire lighter in the Lord's hands and I can't wait to see what all he will have me do. I love this opportunity to be a fire lighter!
So what will you be, a fire fighter or fire lighter? How?
5 Dysfunctions of a Team
1. Absence of trust: To understand this concept we played a game. In the game, we had to choose X or Y on each turn. If everyone chose Y then we got 1 point each and if everyone chose X we each lost 1 point. There were other scores available inbetween for a variation of Xs and Ys within the group. The group couldn't communicate before each choice. I chose Y each time in hopes that all my teammates would do the same and we'd all win. However, Jenny was the only other one consistantly choosing Y. As a result I was loosing. Then, Macy allowed us to communicate as a team before the round that would be worth 100 points. Naturally, our team chose to each do Y. However, I raised an X instead resulting in me earning 100 points and the rest loosing 300 points each. Everyone was shocked. However, after I had willing took all those hits raising Y waiting for my teammates to join me and they never did...I didn't trust them and was ready to win for once. There was no trust within our group which is why there was never a round of everyone choosing Y.
2. Fear of Conflict: The most important team I am a member of is my family. In my family, my conflict management style is avoidance; I have a fear of conflict. Specifically, with my mother. However, my mom likes to talk everything out; she likes to fully work through a conflict. As a result, my fear of conflict and her desire to work through conflict are not compatable. I usually have to overcome my fear of conflict and solve the problem with her. This is healthier for our relationship.
3. Lack of Commitment: A team that I love and hold dearly to my heart is my former Laurel class. During my first year as a Laurel, I had not completed any of the necessary project or values to earn my Personal Progress medallion. I was not committed to the program because I felt I was already going to seminary, three hours of church, mutual, and was very active in the church and following the standards, so I didn't need to do the program. However, shortly after I turned seventeen I became Laurel Class President. Once I became President I felt it was important for me to complete the program in order to encourage other girls to. This caused me to become committed. As a result, I earned my Personal Progress Medallion and watched as other Laurels worked towards completing theirs.
4. Avoidance of Accountability: As ASB President I was in several different teams throughout the year to plan various events. My greatest weaknesses is that I don't hold others accountable for what they are asked to do for the project. I avoid hold others accountable. The result is often me completing their tasks. I get frustrated. I am overwhelmed. Thus, the end product is not as succesful. A specific example is a girl whom I had asked to order props for the pep assembly. I gave her plenty of time to do this. On the last possible day to order them I noticed she still hadn't done it. So, I went ahead and ordered them for her. Due to my rushed and frazzled state we did not have the appropriate number of props of even the best ones available. I should've held her accountable to what she had been asked to do.
5. Inattention to Result: For the past couple of christmas's I have worked as a seller for Nordstrom. We consider the sellers in our department to be a sales team. Although our manager would like to think we are all working towards a common goal of increasing the sales for our department, we actually our inattentive to that result. Instead, each seller is soley focused on their personal sales. With our salaries being commision based upon our total sales, we are each attentive to our individual results. This is never as successful as working as a team to sell a person clothing from the various brands of the department (as each seller has their favorite brands). Also, if one person has too many customers another seller who isn't helping anyone yet could give them more attention and have more success for the whole department. This is an example of how inattention to a result hinders our sales team.
What will you do to make sure your team doesn't experience these dysfunctions?