The Key To Teamwork is 100% Ownership
If you are not taking 100% ownership for the results you are getting in your life, you are not reaching your maximum potential as an individual or as a team. You may also negatively impact your relationships in both your personal and professional life.
I was taught a long time ago that when things weren’t going my way … I needed to change my way. I was taught not to point my fingers and blame others for my mishaps or misfortunes. Now that doesn’t mean I’ve never wasted time blaming others at points in my life, oh believe me, I have done my fair share of blaming others for my missteps.
That was until … I came to the painful realization that each and every time something went wrong in my life, whether it was a blown business deal or failed relationship, there was always one person who was always at the scene of the crime … ME!
Bitching and complaining about my woes to someone else or attempting to place the blame for my mishaps on others eventually became extremely debilitating. You see, at first I thought I was getting attention and sympathy and bringing others closer to me which is what I really wanted. The truth was that I was actually doing the opposite, I was driving people away because after awhile, no one wants to listen to that garbage over and over and over. Apparently they also came to the same conclusion that I did … only sooner. I was always present and highly involved.
Over the years of working with leaders, I have learned that one of the key components for a successful team is that individuals on the team take 100% ownership for their actions and their work. When this happens, the level of cooperation, trust, and productivity is extremely high.
However, when just one of the team members places blame on others for what they didn’t accomplish, doesn’t show up for work or meetings, and then blames everyone else for their shortcomings, it has a disastrous impact on the functionality of the team. The folks carrying the load get more frustrated and further alienate the blamer. The blamer get pushed farther away which creates a greater feeling of isolation and so they bitch and complain even more thinking that will get them the attention, sympathy, and sense of belonging they want. Bottom-line: Everyone is miserable, especially the leader.
If you’re the leader of a team that isn’t clicking quite right, you could blame the inability of the team to perform on the fact that you inherited a lousy team. Or you could take 100% responsibility and take the necessary actions needed to start weeding out and getting rid of the non-performing gears. Getting rid of non-performing gears is critically important, even in environments where the deck is stacked in favor of an over-protected employee which can happen in institutions, governments, unions, and with employees who abuse FMLA.
Yes, it can be more difficult in these situations, so as a leader, you have to keep focused on what it’s truly costing you and the team and be sure to not allow the system to wear you down. Other-wise you end up being just another broken gear in a broken system and eventually end up blaming the system for your misery. Think Washington D.C.
Like a finely tuned watch, cooperation and teamwork doesn’t happen unless each and every member of the team takes 100% ownership for themselves and their part.
And that’s where the magic of time comes into play …
You can choose to live with a bad gear and hope it will change or you can replace the gear and know it will change.
Either way you will get results … it’s just a matter of time!