This little book could make a big change in the way you view
your team.
There’s little more energizing and fulfilling in life than the
satisfaction of working well with others to accomplish a common
goal. And this powerful little book can help you experience more
team satisfaction than ever before Making use of his exceptional,
humor-laced storytelling style, Bill Butterworth makes the basics
of teamwork easy to grasp and easy to put to work. He sketches a
memorable overview of teamwork that includes:
?the three great needs of team members
?the four great barriers to teamwork, and
?the five great traits of effective teams.
It all adds up to a succinct understanding of how to work well as
a team that will satisfy leaders, managers, coaches–anyone who
wants to know how to make a group perform at high levels while
enjoying the camaraderie and satisfaction of being “us.”
Also look for the On-the-Fly-Guide to Balancing Work and
Life!
關於作者：
Bill Butterworth blends humor, storytelling,
wisdom, and practical advice which has made him one of the most
sought-after speakers in a variety of venues throughout North
America. Bill speaks frequently for corporate clients that include
American Express, Ford, Disney, Bank of America, and Chrysler. A
highly regarded author, Bill has written books on topics ranging
from sports to psychology and self-help issues. He has been a
columnist, editor, and script writer. Bill lives with his wife,
Kathi, in Newport Beach, California.
內容試閱：
Introduction
Everything I Know About Teamwork I Learned at Carnegie Hall
“Dad, we’re gonna sing at Carnegie Hall!”
So bellowed my sixteen-year-old son, John, as he ran down the
hall of our California home. An eleventh grader, John was a member
of his high-school choir. They had previously submitted an audition
tape to join a five-hundred-voice all-American high-school honors
choir, and John had just learned that they had been accepted.
Most folks I know have heard of Carnegie Hall. Few have ever been
there.
When I walked through the doors on that cold winter night in
March, I made two discoveries. One, Carnegie Hall is not as big as
I had imagined. Don’t get me wrong, it’s big–a couple thousand
seats at least. But to a guy who has attended too many concerts in
arenas and stadiums, it seemed almost small.
Two, the Carnegie Hall stage doesn’t have a curtain. All onstage
activity comes and goes through a set of double doors on the right
side of the stage. I’m guessing it has something to do with the
hall’s acoustic perfection, but there is no big, heavy, velvet
curtain like you’d expect. This is not a problem aesthetically,
except that, between acts, what would be considered backstage
movement is in full view.
The high-school choir was the main attraction, but obviously it
needed an opening act. And who better to open for the
five-hundred-voice all-American high-school honors choir than the
five-hundred-voice all-American elementary-school honors
choir?
That’s right, five hundred eight-, nine-, and ten-year-olds
marched onto the stage and proceeded to sing their set. I saw proud
parents beaming from every seat in the hall. Many people wept as
the children sang I’ll let you determine why their singing would
reduce an adult to tears, and I quickly decided that this concert
could not fail.
Everyone in the hall was related to one of the performers.
The elementary-school choir performed its last piece, received
well-deserved applause, and marched off the stage.
Now for the good part, I thought and smiled. The high
schoolers.
Not yet. After the first choir was completely offstage, two very
tiny children strolled onstage with the smallest violins I had ever
seen. Their instruments looked like knickknacks you might display
on your coffee table back home. Nonetheless, these two talented
mini-people played a beautiful classical piece to the delight of
several thousand ears. The applause was deafening as they wandered
offstage, their little violins in tow.
The time had finally arrived. The double doors opened wide, and
out of them came five hundred beautiful teenagers. The young ladies
wore formal gowns, the young men tuxedos. I craned my neck like a
giraffe and looked for John. But as student after student glided
onstage, I could not find my son. The first row was in place, but
no John. The second row, no John. As the third row assembled, I
realized what was happening. The choir was lining up front row to
back row, shortest to tallest.
John is six feet four inches tall.
“Oh no,” I groaned. Most certainly, John would be sentenced to
the back row.
Sure enough, after approximately 483 people walked on stage, John
appeared at the double doors. My chest swelled with pride, but I
was still disappointed that he was in the back row. This isn’t at
all how I imagined it, I thought. It was gonna be John up front.
John with his 499 backup singers. Johnny and the Pips, live at
Carnegie Hall.
It was at that moment my disappointment turned into joy. As John
took his place on the back row, he happened to be dead center. A
spotlight shone on him alone, lighting him up like a Roman candle.
No one else looked like he looked, at least to me. He had an
angelic glow, a halo, like in one of those Renaissance paintings of
Jesus.
The choir was now in place. The double doors were closed in
anticipation of the conductor’s appearance. The excitement was
palpable. All eyes were on the double doors. But they did not open.
“Where’s the conductor?” parents whispered to one another. “What
are we waiting for?”
The wait seemed interminable. Even the choir was getting
restless. After what seemed like an hour, the double doors opened
to show us a middle-aged man in his best blue suit.
As he walked onstage, we could not keep our enthusiasm to
ourselves.
We applauded.
We applauded like there was no tomorrow.
We applauded so wildly we had to stand to accurately show our
appreciation for this unforgettable moment.
So amid this thunderous standing ovation, imagine our surprise
when we discovered that the man strolling toward center stage was
not the conductor.
He was a stagehand.
The two little violinists had neglected to take their music stand
with them when they finished their number, so we were wildly
applauding the Carnegie Hall stagehand! He picked up the stand,
walked back offstage, and the double doors closed once again.
Almost immediately, however, the double doors reopened, and a
handsome man in white tie and tails proudly marched to the center
of the stage. This time it was the conductor, but he was greeted
with lukewarm applause. We had given it all up for the stagehand,
so we didn’t have much left.
I was immediately struck with the thought, When was the last time
I was at a concert where we gave the stagehand a standing ovation?
Clearly he was important to the evening’s festivities. The concert
could not proceed without his clearing the stage. He was every bit
as vital in his way as the conductor. But in our world, we tend to
applaud only the conductor, only the quarterback, only the CEO,
forgetting all the other people responsible for a team’s success.
Examples from business abound. Even the design of an organizational
chart, though necessary for efficient business practices, states,
or at least implies, that there is a pecking order in the company.
Those higher up the ladder are more important than those on the
lower rungs.
As the concert unfolded, I knew I was observing something
special. Beyond the obvious pride of seeing my son’s performance, I
knew I was also witnessing teamwork in action. Every person on that
stage was making a contribution; each one was necessary for the
complete success of the team.
This book explores the many ways you can maximize your own team’s
effectiveness. We’ll talk about team leaders and team members, new
teams and old teams, big teams and small teams. We’ll talk about
your relationships within your business team and the
responsibilities your team places on you. My contention is that
whether you’re a CEO or a personal assistant, the sooner you
realize you are a critical member of a dynamic working team, the
more efficient you will be.
I will explain how you can determine the needs of your teammates,
overcome the barriers to teamwork, and recognize the great traits
of effective teams. Throughout the book, you will find helpful Team
Tips to reflect upon, as well as questions and exercises that will
help you put the book’s lessons into practice.
I wrote this to be read during a short plane ride, to jump-start
your thinking. Be warned: although it’s a quick read, it just might
change for good the way you view teamwork and your position as a
team member. Yet I believe that if you practice these truths, you
will learn how to increase your effectiveness as well as the
effectiveness of all those around you.
And then there’s no telling what you’ll be able to
accomplish.
One
The Three Great Needs of Team Members
Before you can focus your attention on increasing the
effectiveness of your team, you need to examine what each member
brings to the mix. Besides a laundry list of strengths, gifts, and
skills, every human being on your team brings with him or her a set
of needs. The beauty of successful teamwork is that it not only
accomplishes the overall goals and objectives of the team, but it
also helps meet the individual needs of each teammate.
So what are some of the needs a team member might bring to the
table?
Psychologists from many different schools of thought seem to
agree when it comes to the basic needs of individuals. Some add a
few more items to the list, but most include the three I’ll discuss
in this chapter: a sense of belonging, a sense of worth, and a
sense of competence.
THE NEED TO BELONG
For some of us, our earliest recollections of teamwork are from
neighborhood games. Whether our groups gathered at a field, in a
back alley, or in a sandlot, the ritual of choosing sides to play a
game is an almost universal experience.
Since I was an overly large child growing up, I have mostly
painful memories of this experience. Stated simply, because I was
fat, I was almost always the last kid chosen to play ball. The
exception was during football season, when the coaches or other
players saw the value in having some extra tonnage on the offensive
line. I can even remember being chosen first a time or two. My
strategy was simple: hike the ball and roll over. I never failed to
stop the defense in their tracks, leaving my team open to score at
will!
But the rest of the year was dominated by basketball and
baseball. The only way a big boy is desirable in baseball is if he
can knock the cover off the ball. Regrettably, my extra weight
slowed down my swing so significantly that I rarely got a chance to
make direct contact with the ball. Actually I had a good hit once.
I started swinging at the first pitch and solidly connected with
the second.
We all know that kids can be cruel to one another, and this was
certainly true during my childhood. When choosing sides, not only
was I usually last, but I was forced to endure a h...
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