TEAMWORK AND PULLING TOGETHER
by Pamela Herrington

Teamwork is a principle-based concept; if you value teamwork, each person on the team needs to commit to the principles that grow it. You sow the right seeds and you nurture them, every day. To build a healthy team, you have to create an extraordinary amount of faith and belief among team members, a mind-set that puts the team first.

It also means that every team member must generate trust, respect and power without belittling, demeaning, or trying to impose or overwhelm other team members. It means, not micromanaging, it means trusting and supporting the team members into being all that they can be every day. You sow the right seeds and water them every day and eventually the team will strengthen and the team will grow; the seeds will sprout and flourish. If the seeds are not taken care of, if they are not allowed to grow on their own within the row they were sown in, if the team is not nurtured instead of being criticized and over-micromanaged, it will not survive. You don?t dig up the sprouts to make sure they?re growing.

Several years ago I told the story of the parable of the tree. It was the story of living in Arizona and wanting to have a shade tree on the east side of my house on my ranch. It was insane to even think this was a possibility. There were only outcroppings of rock on that side of the house. I did some research to find out what kind of tree would grow in almost solid rock. I found that tree and had it delivered. Of course, it needed to have a hole dug. It took five days of taking out only a little rock at a time and finding small amounts of dirt, day in day out. It was dirty, difficult work and I can assure you, being in Phoenix, it was hot! At the end of the week, I had a 3 foot wide and 3 foot deep hole. I planted the tree. I watered every day. After three weeks the leaves began to fall off. After five weeks the tree stood tall, but had absolutely no leaves. My dearly desired east-side shade seemed to be vanishing like a mirage in the Arizona desert.

I kept watering that tree for the next month to month and a half. It seemed pointless but something kept telling me to just water the tree, just water it no matter what. Then one morning, when I was feeling a little discouraged at my chore, my husband came in and asked if I had watered, and I replied, No, not yet, but I will shortly. He just sort of smiled. I dragged out of the house and began watering. I looked up and what did I see but a tree full of buds, new leaf growth buds. That was why my husband had been smiling. Even after all the teasing and joking about my watering and watering, I just never gave up on that tree. One year after budding, it had grown to a full ten foot diameter, about 20 feet high, and provided plenty of shade.

I could have given up. I could have not kept watering the tree. But instead I continued watering and nurturing it even when it looked futile.

If I had stopped I would have deprived the tree of its life and I would have deprived us of a beautiful healthy shade tree that went on to thrive in the 120o weather in Phoenix, Arizona. That tree continues to grow. It is now well over 40 feet high and 30 feet wide. It withstands the Saharan heat, the electrical wind and sand storms and provides cool, deep shade in a town not noted for cool anything.

Teamwork embodies the same principles of persistence and commitment, and to accomplish goals, teams need to apply them every day. Seeds need to be sown and nurtured. Teams will reap what they sow. Does your team live these principles?

Put the Team First
Share Team Information Openly
Be Part of the Solution
Seek First to Understand
Respect Others? Opinions
Ask and Encourage Questions
Make Rational Decisions
Eliminate Internal Competition
Build Trust With Integrity
Treat One Another With Dignity
Commit to Excellence
Be Accountable For Your Actions
Acknowledge and Accept Mistakes and Learn From Them
Learn Continuously
Promote Interdependence
Be Patient and Persevere
Pull the Weeds

Consistent application of the seventeen principles of effective teamwork ultimately generates trust, respect and power within any team. Conversely, consistent violation of any one principle destroys this bond. Remember the Parable of the Tree.

It is my opinion that Real Estate buying, selling and financing should be approached in this way.

Company Name: Paradise America Mortgage
Website: www.ParadiseAmericaMortgage.com
Author: Pamela E. Herrington
Address: 201 Merchant Street #1901
City: Honolulu
State: HI
Zip: 96813
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