Teamwork: the combined action of a group of people, especially when effective and efficient
Thousands of teams play together everyday. They play on the same field, the wear the same jerseys. However, a significantly fewer amount of teams exhibit teamwork, that is, success by working together effectively and efficiently. There are a lot of components that go into teamwork, but there is one main one: TRUST.
Trust: firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something
Believe in yourself and believe in others. How many times have you failed because you were worried about someone else failing? I need to shoot over three defenders because, if I pass the ball, I don’t believe he can make the shot. You missed. I need to hit a home run because, if I hit a single, I don’t believe he can hit me in. You struck out. I need to play out of position because, if the ball goes near him, I don’t believe he can clear it. Your man scored. You failed, not your teammate.
Maybe your teammate will not make the shot; maybe he won’t drive you in; maybe he won’t clear the ball. But you will never know because you never gave him the chance to prove himself. When you show confidence in your teammate, he feels confident. When he feels confident, he has a higher chance to succeed. Go into your game saying, “I will succeed, but if I don’t, I know my teammates will pick me up.” Have faith in your teammates, trust them, believe in them. You will perform better and they will perform better.
Good teams become great ones when the members trust each other enough to surrender the “me” for the “we.” — Phil Jackson
When I say trust, I don’t necessarily mean trust your teammates in everything that they do. Trust without question in sports. Don’t carry that over into every aspect of your life. It would be easier if you could trust everybody, but you can’t. Take Shakespeare’s characters: Julius Caesar and Othello. Caesar trusted Brutus and look how that turned out. Othello trusted Iago and look how that turned out. Both died miserably with feelings of painful betrayal.
Conflict occurred because their goals were not consistent with each other.
Othello was blinded by his trust in Iago.
That is why sports are so great. We have been conditioned to be cautious when trusting people, but all of that goes away once you step out onto the field, the court, etc. We don’t have to worry about being betrayed because, ultimately, everybody on your team has the same goal: to succeed.