Many years ago, when I worked in an electronics manufacturing company, I was able to work my way up the ranks to a management/leadership position with the title of Division Manager, which allowed me to gain experience in both management and leadership positions. .

With those positions I had responsibility for several different management positions that were assigned to me.

These responsibilities gave me reason to assemble and assemble what we call our management “Team,” looking at the various functional responsibilities that made up our organization and addressing how together we could identify and accomplish specific challenges and/or goals that could only be accomplished by working together as a team.

In my working associations with many of my peers and even my leader, people to whom I was accountable, I was never very appreciative of off the cuff comments and innuendos that were sometimes made in reference, as in my division or my organization, or i did this. either that, or this person works for me, or any comment that conveyed a self-identity or personal gratification about how things were accomplished.

It was common practice for most managers to do that, especially in front of a corporate audience, but I often wondered how their subordinates felt when they heard those comments.

I know that most of them never had any negative intentions towards their people; it was more habit and ego showing itself than anything else.

Well, that was a habit that I wanted our team to avoid as much as possible, so we made an effort to remind all of our team members that there is no letter “I” in the word team.

I would constantly tell our people that we are a team, an us, a group, that we work together as a team.

Whenever a member of our staff used the word “I” or “my” in an image of themselves or a reflection of ownership, I would stare at them and usually hold two fingers to my forehead giving the plural sign. more than one, which got a few smiles, but also brought some quick clarifications.

Well, over time, we were able to become more consistent in showing some consideration and respect for the efforts and contributions of the many others who made up our team, especially our total organizational team.

In the course of working together throughout the year, we would have our annual personal performance reviews along the way, meeting one-on-one to talk about how they were able to achieve some functional goals with their specific responsibilities, but also how they were getting along with some of their own personal learning and development goals.

The interviews were very open and casual and were important in understanding their problems and obstacles. and asking how we could help them with some of the career goals they were working towards.

It was after one of these sessions when he had just finished a personal interview, where the person had made outstanding progress towards his master’s degree in human sciences, which allowed him to build his relationships with his peers and with his team members, which which was one of his strengths. This was a person whose functional organization displayed the confidence and ability to go beyond some of his pre-set goals and challenges.

Reflecting on this afterwards, I realized that she herself, her team, and our team were getting better and better, so yes, there had to be an “I” in the word team, as her progress reflected on itself. same. in the overall performance of the total organization.

So as the “I’s” got better, the team performed better. Obviously, the reverse was also true, if a team member fell behind in any way, that would reflect on the team’s performance, unless someone or a group made up for it.

By rethinking the use of the word “I”, I am suggesting that we develop an abundance mindset, that enough good things are happening around us and within us that we need to share in the positive results, there is room for everyone to participate in achieving some recognition, mainly because everyone was involved in some way.

Sure there are some who have a bit more skill, but they may not work as hard as others, and that’s also why we call it a team.

Thinking much more about this topic, I decided to see if there was a chronological order of how a “me” or a “me” could develop an idea of ​​how they could approach a self-assessment and lead to continuous learning. self-development process.

I sat down and wrote an article entitled: “The Six ‘I’s,

The “me” that I am: To look deep within ourselves facing the reality of our true selves –

The “me” I would like to be: What would I like to change that would make me better?

The “me” that I am perceived: How do people see me and/or feel about me?

The “me” that I would like to be perceived: How will the changes I need to bring about reflect and help me?

The “me” that I can be: Looking to set some personal priorities –

“I” will be: This is where self-discipline and commitment come into play –

All of this gives each of us the ability to sit down, and perhaps look at ourselves in a mirror, and reflect on how we feel about the person looking at us in each of these conditions.

This is a place where we can learn to get to know ourselves a little better, address how we can relate to others and assess our potential, and possibly begin to make a commitment to what we feel we should or need to change about ourselves.

When we are able to reflect on this whole “me” thing, we can come to an understanding and conclusion that the “me” is really the core of a “TEAM”.

“A group of ‘I’s that come together is a beginning. The ‘I’s that we can be is progress. The ‘I’s that work together are a winning team.”

There is a story that seems to fit into this discussion and may offer a better example of how the use of the term “I” can be used as a better example in team structures.

The Pennsylvania State University football team’s game day dress code is a very basic plain blue and white. Plain white helmets, black shoes with no names on the jerseys. It’s a very interesting scenario because they’re the only ones in college football who don’t have names on the back of their jerseys.

Well, anyway, the story goes that one day one of the players asked why names weren’t allowed on the jerseys, and coach Joe Paterno replied, there’s no need for names on the back of the jersey, the name on the front is what is important.

Well, the interesting part of this statement was that there is also no name on the front of the jersey, but there is the player’s face that represents the “me” of who they are.

So the bottom line here is that there is no letter “I” in the word team, nor in the words Leader or Follower, but all three are made up of a special group of “I’s”.

The whole Leaders/Followers, Team Players thing, it all stems from the same ingredients that make them unique, their individual focus on humility and unity, with a heavy dose of empathy mixed in.

And remember, wherever you go, there you are. -Confucius

I am only one, but I am still one. I can’t do everything, but I can still do something; and since I can’t do everything, I won’t refuse to do something that I can do. -Helen Keller