When the team plays well together, it gets results!

I know that effective teamwork can be extremely important for a team, a family, or even a nation. Most of us have been in situations where we’ve experienced success as part of a team, where we knew that the reason we did so well was because we’d worked together extremely well. When the team plays well together, it gets results!

But there are also examples of people who have apparently achieved great success on their own. I’m often asked about exactly that – “Yes, but what about them?” “Look at me, I’ve done well by myself” and so on. I don’t know if I can give these questions the answers they deserve, but I’ll try my best.

As people, we have an ego that strengthens our individualism, and we need this to survive. If we take this away from a person, they lose their power. But if a person’s ego swells too much, they can come across as arrogant, or unwilling to cooperate.

So, let’s return to playing well together, who we want to play alongside, and who we can play alongside. In Norway today, there are plenty of options. Individualists who succeed on their own are awarded hero status, while if you rely on social security benefits, you’re seen as a scrounger. On the other hand, if you work as part of a team, the way most of us do, you’re completely normal. As I said - anything’s possible in Norway.

It’s usually the case that people who achieve great success have a good team around them, whether it be a sports star, pop star, entrepreneur, etc. This isn’t always made obvious in the media, but if you dig a bit deeper, read biographies, it soon becomes clear that they have a good support network around them. This might be anyone from a mother, a father, a coach, or a team. There has always been someone alongside them en route to their goal. That’s the essence of bringing out the best in one another – it works everywhere. If a football team wants to win, all the players need to be focused on the same goal. Otherwise the upshot will be an own-goal, boosting the score of the opposing team. If one player starts to follow a different strategy than the one agreed before kick-off, chaos soon ensues on the pitch. If the manager buys an expensive player with an over-large ego, it can be a challenge for the team. He may be good enough, in his own eyes, to skip Tuesday training sessions, or to follow his own strategy on the pitch. This strategy might be good, but his team-mates won’t be familiar with it. The manager will see that his 500 million kroner investment is turning into a problem for the team. What does he do? I don’t know, but if he can’t get the new player to play as part of the team, it can have catastrophic consequences for their league ranking.

As a manager or coach, it’s important to instil the right impulses and attitudes in your team. The strongest team member must never forget that they were new once, and the new additions should be hungry to learn from the best. Get this right, and the team can go on forever!

Wishing you all a fantastic week!

All the best,
Martin