By David Tepera, May 1, 2019

One of the many lessons from youth sports is teaching kids about teamwork. If you’ve ever watched a little kid’s soccer game, it’s typically 20 kids bundled together trying to kick a ball. But, there’s always that one kid who has more skills than others who scores all the points.

When I coached my children’s youth soccer teams, I would set up cones on the practice field with position boundaries. They were only allowed to play within those cones. From this, each player learned the importance of teamwork in order to pass the ball down the field.

In all sports, throughout each season, as our children get older, they will develop better skills for specific positions. Each one of those positions requires full effort in order to maximize teamwork.

We’ve all heard “a chain is only as strong as the weakest link.” Of course, this relates to not only sports, but other aspects of our lives.

Which department of your company is slowing progress? Who is the salesperson not hitting their numbers? Which spouse is not holding up to their commitment of a partnership? As you can see, the list is endless, but hopefully, you’re not the reason.

Are you the person we can count on? Do I want you in the fox hole with me? Does the team know you’ll hit your blocking assignments in order to score?

This also pertains to leadership skills. Do you lead with determination, respect and integrity? True leaders lift people up, not put them down. When you can build a winning mindset of others, it will create an exciting environment to work.

I know a company who spent an enormous amount of money to train 32 sales people for an intricate surgical device. But, the new VP of Sales started treating everyone from a dictator perspective, so quickly, most left to work for competitors.

Henry Ford was one of the wealthiest businessmen of his time. One of his famous quotes is “if everyone is moving together, then success takes care of itself.”

Now, today is your decision to step up your game, create success through teamwork and go out in this world to prove you’re the one we can count on.