Carrying the team

Everybody is part of a team. You may be part of a family. You may be a part of a group at work. You may be part of a sports team. There are all kinds of teams you could be a part of. The important thing to keep in mind is that you are part of some kind of team and because of that membership you are a specific obligation to help and contribute to the welfare of the team. In some cases you will be required to do things you may not enjoy. In other instances you may have a chance to do something you excel at. In all theses you are expected to pull your weight. To contribute. Nobody likes a freeloader. Nobody likes to have to pull their own weight plus the weight of somebody else if they are not helping out.

The thing is most people are also forgiving. They are willing to help somebody out if they need a break or if something has put them into a tail spin and they cannot contribute right now. The reason? Because if they really think about it they know that at some time in the future or sometime in the past they have been in the same situation and they were the one being carried. They were the “dead weight.”

Looking and watching and finding ways to help out are just a part of the job. Finding a way to help and strengthen the team are just a part of being in a team. We all have down days, but what makes us better as a team are those times when we are focused and all of us are pulling our weight. That makes those times when one of us needs a bit of a breather all the more important because we know one another and know that we have each others back.

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Photo by Olga Guryanova on Unsplash