“A successful team beats with one heart.”
~Anonymous~

This saying encompasses how I’ve felt about team dynamics for my entire life. There’s something that I’ve always loved about playing sports with a team of people, working with a team of people and spending time with a team of people. I love the energy that can be created from team situations. Each person on a team brings unique strengths and qualities that make the team thrive. No one could possibly fully possess every trait that a team needs to be successful. I love the give and take from one teammate to the next.

Team dynamics can be a delicate thing, though.

One of the most important things that a team should provide for one another is support. Teammates must understand that the rest of their team brings attributes to the table in unique ways that might get overlooked or even more, might not yet even be discovered.

For instance, every basketball team has a star player and it’s usually the one who is the high-scorer – the one who puts points on the board. But without the rest of the team, the star player would never be able to get open. Furthermore, without the defensive capabilities of teammates, the offense would never get the ball and the star player would be nothing. You see, everyone plays an important role and people in all roles should be properly cultivated, critiqued, encouraged and nurtured in order to have one successful unit working together for the common good of the team. For the team first and foremost – not for the individuals – although individual success does come from within a strong team dynamic.

A great team is there for one another, helping each other along the way. Great teammates pick one another up, rather than trample or stifle one another. A great team will seek the talents that each individual possesses and bring those gifts to the forefront for the benefit of the team. A great team is one in which each team member can flourish so as to improve the team unit.

When all of the teammates are in-sync with one another a beautiful thing happens, the team thrives as if all the individual teammates were beating with one heart.