A Real Example Of What Team Working Can Achieve
I am a big football (soccer) fan and follow a team that plays in the Scottish Second Division Albion Rovers
Now for those who don’t know about life in the lower ranks of Scottish football, all of the players are part-time and hold down often fairly demanding full-time jobs. Just like the top professionals they have to make a huge amount of personal sacrifice and commit a huge amount of their time to fitness.
While none of the clubs have huge wage budgets, Albion Rovers probably have one of the lowest in their division and possibly in the whole of Scottish senior football. In fact it is rumoured that the budget for the entire team of players is little more than £1,000 a week. As there is a squad of about 18 players you can see just how little they earn.
Despite all of these constraints, the players have done something remarkable as a team. They managed to stay in the Scottish Second Division following promotion last season for the first time in over 80 years.
So what is it that might have contributed to this?
Without doubt team working has played a huge part.
The players appear to genuinely give their best in the interests of the team rather than focusing on their own personal interests.
Players have their own strengths and weaknesses and the manager adopts a style that plays to the strengths of the players.
Full use is made of all the resources at their disposal. A good example of this was recalling players back from loan deals to play their part in the play-offs. The fans that also follow them through thick and thin are another example.
There is a huge amount of camaraderie among the players and they even refer to themselves as the crazy gang at times.
Self belief plays a huge part too. When they ended up in the play offs I honestly felt as if it was going to be a real struggle to stay in the division. However, the players kept belief in themselves when all seemed lost.
The Bottom Line: The reality is that when you have a team of people committed to achieving a common goal you achieve what on the face of it seemed impossible.
Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps organisations and individuals achieve more success. He invites you to sign up for his free audio masterclass here
About the Author Duncan Brodie
Since 2006 I’ve worked with in excess of 8,000 accountants and professionals in workshops, seminars and one to one helping them land their next jobs and become better leaders, presenters and business partners. Before that I spent 25 years in accountancy climbing the career ladder from Payments Clerk to FD. I’m a CIMA Fellow, Certified Professional Coach and Team Coach Facilitator.