Teams

I was just thinking about this as I get ready to go to church to rehearse with my 'team' of musicians for this upcoming Sunday's service.

Being on a team is an interesting adventure.  It has the potential to make you grow as a person, or the opposite, cause you to lose sight of who you are.  I have been on both.  The ones you just really look forward to being a part of and those you dread. 

Teams exist everywhere.  That's what's really cool.  I was a part of a team in Delaware - a teaching team.  I was a unique part of the Related Arts team, but I was a player.  If I slacked on our team, then it showed on everyone.  Those ladies I worked with were incredible. And the combination of our abilities made us that much greater.  We were not self-absorbed.  None of us were perfect.  But we worked together to make the 'perfect' team.  We used each others strengths and helped our team become one that shined at our school.

Teams have the potential to push your abilities to levels you never thought possible.  I look at the Creative team I'm on now at church this way.  I started playing the piano when I was 5.  I played lots of stuff, but found myself playing for our churches early service when I was around 13 or 14.  I really liked it.  I like the 'churchy' style of music.  Don't get me wrong - classical music is amazing, but I enjoy the free-spirit of church music.  When I left home to go to college I really stopped playing the piano.  Those of you that know me well enough know that at 18 I went to college as a music ed major with an emphasis on piano - and I still say I 'stopped' playing when I left for college.  My experience for the first year and half I was away from home was different.  I didn't play in a church.  I didn't get any of that free-spirited music.  I was playing rigorous classical music that worked my brain to no end.  Each musician has different talents.  My talent is sight-reading.  Growing up I never perfected anything.  I just would read things and then not practice for a week and then go back to my lesson to be told I should probably practice just a little bit more.  Oops.  I was being 'told' I had to memorize things.  It's not that I don't have the ability to, it just sheet music to me is like blanket is to Linus, a safe place.  This made me lose interest in something I knew I was talented at - but I was heading in a direction I found frustrating to my core.

Anyway - back to the 'team' part of this.  I wasn't having fun anymore playing the piano.  So at 20 I basically stopped.  I didn't have any purpose to play.  I didn't have a recital to prep for, I didn't have a service to rehearse for, I just didn't have a purpose.  I'd sit down every once in awhile, but when I had JJ at 28 that restricted my playing to an even greater level. Now, at 33 I find that I have rediscovered my talent.  And how?  Because the team I'm on at church pushed me to a level I never thought was possible.  A talent I never had harvested before because I didn't know it existed.  I had never read guitar chord charts before to play the piano (if your not a musician, this just means there are no notes, just letters on a page with the words for the song).  I was playing completely what was coming from my heart - something that was new to me.  I found when I did it, it was like riding a bike.  I felt so fulfilled doing something I had never done before.  All because of this team. Teams have a way of doing that - of helping you discover things you can do and help you achieve new heights you just didn't see were in your cards.  I am thankful to that team for showing me I can do amazing things.

I have seen teams have the opposite effect on people at the same time.  I was on the high school swim team for one year - and one year only.  Why?  Because I think the coach didn't understand I did not have any desire or the ability to swim long distance competitively.  I was a sprinter.  And what did he only put me in?  Distance events.  He was trying to push an area in my swimming that just was not an area I was talented in.  I dropped swimming after my freshman year.  Could I have been better?  I don't know.  I continued to swim summer league every year and had great times at sprints.  Maybe if I was given the chance to shine I would have.

Teams have pressure - sometimes to the level people cannot tolerate.  Being on a team is about sacrificing your wants and needs and putting the people you work with first.  That's a hard concept for a lot of people.  But what makes teams work is when you have a group of people and they ALL get that.  Selfishness aside - as a whole they prosper.

As a parent, teams are scary.  I have two kids with opposite personalities (at least now they are - that could all change in 5 years).  JJ is an introvert.  I called him the 'turtle' the other day.  When he comes under pressure its like his head ducks back into his shell.  He can't deal.  He is a follower, not a leader.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.  But from a team perspective, I worry that this could come into play in a negative fashion. And his interest in participating on a team, whether its sports or academics, or anything else he might encounter, will disappear.  He has so much to offer and I hope he gets involved with the right group of people so his talents can shine.

MJ, well, she's just beginning to really show her true personality, but she is a pleaser.  Which leads me to believe she could go either way.  She has a strong-will and a very determined personality - which to me says leader.  But she 90% of the time will also do what you say - which to me says follower.  I'll be interested to see how she grows.  But watch out world - she can be a diva!

To wrap this up, because this is way longer than I ever intended, when you're a part of a team its not about you.  Its about your team.  And putting the purpose of your team first will help your team succeed.  Everyone needs to be on board.  When they are, amazing things will happen and you may just find yourself in a place you never thought you'd be.