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Growing together – the Importance of Team Work

How good are you, when it comes to team-work? Do you understand the importance and synergy of team-
work? To my knowledge, “We Indians” are very bad players of team-work. Each member of the team wants
to hog the lime-light, wants to take the credit for the “Success” of the team and “Love to Blame” his team-
member for the failure of his team. Be it any team; as small as a team of two members or as big as a team
of fifteen members, we have always failed as a team. Hard to digest but this is a fact. Some of the factors
our failures as a team are:

1) Personal Ego (Larger than life ego)


2) Its only “me” and no one else
3) Lack of knowledge (Subject Matter Expertise), Confidence and Self-Belief gives rise to self-doubt and
“insecurity”.
4) They love to “Demand Respect” rather than earning respect.

When you have ego, arrogance and insecurity, you tend to block others’ success. You tend to harm them.
You tend to play “Political Games” with your own team-members.

Team-work in Corporate World

Now, let me narrow my write-up to “Team-work in Corporate World” and “Team-work within a department”.
You cannot do all the work that is expected from you and hence, there is a need of a team. “Delegating your
Work”; Outsourcing; Vendor Management is nothing but steps towards “Team Work”. We talk about man-
hours and man-hands. For example, I as an individual is capable of doing X work in seven days but along
with my team of three people, I should be able to complete the task in three days.

But it’s not me who has done that work in three days; it’s my TEAM. Many times, knowingly or unknowingly
we harm our own team. In the process of showing others “my control over my team”, people hurt the team,
insult the team and thereby affect the morale and sprit of the team. There is a saying, “Don’t kill the hen
laying golden eggs”; but some people divide the team because they feel insecure. They divide the team.
They back-stab their own team members; they gossip about one member to another and they insult their
team-members in front of others. They do all this because, they don’t have subject matter expertise, and
they are not sure about their position. They don’t have self-confidence and self-belief. They feel that the
only way that they can survive is by using the old tactic of British India, “Divide and Rule”. Just like the
British rulers of that time, these team-leaders and team-managers are aware that “if I let these people
unite, I will not be able to survive. A very bad tactic, isn’t it??

Role of Team-Leader / Team Manager

There is a saying in Hindi, “Yatha Raja, Tatha Praja” (As the king, so the people). Hence, the Team-Leader
or a Team Manager have very important role to play in “Team Development and Management”. As is
understood that to be a Team-Leader or a Team Manager one should have at least one person to supervise
and manage. Team Leader should have confidence in his own abilities, knowledge and skills. If he does not
have enough confidence in himself, I will doubt his abilities and skills to boost the confidence and morale of
his team. To be honest and fair and based on my personal experiences, I do feel that 90% of managers
have sense of insecurity from their subordinate. They feel that their subordinates will grow faster. They feel
that their position is not secured. They have very low Emotional Quotient. Hence they try “to block” block
the pace of growth of their juniors / subordinates. Here are some blocks that Managers / Team Leaders put
on the way of their subordinates growth:

Dam – When you construct a dam on a river, it does not stop the growth of the river; rather it generates
electricity, helps farmers in irrigation and control floods. Similar is the role of this block in your profession.
He guides you. He mentors you. He grooms you. He sharpens your skill. He helps you to grow. He is a
catalyst. He knows that he is big enough for you to harm him in any manner. It’s like an executive reporting
to a President. This is a positive hurdle.

Hurdle on the road (Rock, big & heavy stone) – Imagine a situation when you are traveling to some
place and happen to face this hurdle on the road. What will you do? Either you will remove the hurdle or you
will just pass by its side. Another example that I have is roundabouts in Chandigarh. You can not drive over
them but need to drive around them to move on other side of the road. In a similar manner, there are
blocks in your professional life and you can grow only by ignoring and avoiding them. They feel that they
have put, big enough hurdle on the path of your career to slow-down you and/or stop you. It might take
some time to over come this hurdle but this is not permanent. This is arrogant / egoistic but temporary
hurdle.

Wall under-construction – This is a positive hurdle that you can face in your life. As you grow, the other
also grows. He is intelligent and knowledgeable. He is willing to learn all the time. He is a person with high-
self esteem. He has high expectations from himself and also from people around him. He is not afraid by the
growth of his subordinates. He does not harm the growth of his subordinates. He does not sabotage their
growth. The more his subordinate grows, the higher he increases his own level and his competencies.

Closed Door – This is a negative block. Whatever you do, you will face rejection. Things will just bounce on
you. This person is afraid of your success and pace of your growth. When in open and competitive market,
he feels insecure. He feels comfortable and secured when he is in closed room and that is why he keep the
doors closed. If you want to grow in the presence of such superior / boss, you should either be pleading him
or buttering him (making him comfortable) or requesting him or you should wait for the right opportunity.
(You should look for the ventilator to enter in).

With Love

Sanjeev Himachali

About Author
Dr. Shailesh Thaker renowned management guru, human potentialist, philosopher, author and motivator in
India, offers HR/HRD Training, Leadership Workshops, Management Training, CEO Training and business
consulting services through Knowledge Inc

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