“There’s no I in team!” What does that really mean?

It’s become such an easily tossed around phrase in today’s business world and instead of inspiring any of the originally intended motivation, it gets relegated to cheesy ear fluff. Frankly, if there’s no “I” in team, it has to be pointed out that there’s also no “we” and no “us”, but there’s definitely a “me”, and a pleasingly strong “tea”.

So, if this phrase gets thrown at you, it’s very possible it’s being said to remind you not to be selfish, to work in your team and not to try to go it alone. It’s likely a prompt, because you are part of a team, guiding you to work more closely with your colleagues to collectively achieve the team’s shared goal. By implication then, you have, or are close to, breaking the golden teamwork rule and you need to stifle your grip on your inner-“I”.

But what if the true aim of real teamwork is to bring out and enhance the strengths and skills of the inner-“I” in each person? What if the actual goal is for the combined efforts of all the “I’s” to reap the fullest harvest of success and efficiency of the team? Highly effective teams are characterised by each individual member performing at their peak, exploiting their potential and skills to the best of their ability as they show up in the group. The team’s success is greatest when each member contributes as the best, most dynamic, personalised, stand-out version of themselves. Does that make them a prima donna, the forbidden “I” in the team? Definitely not because the strongest, most successful teams will be made up of an excellent mix of individuals who can collectively collaborate with each other while harnessing and polishing their unique talents and those of their colleagues. Highly successful groups allow each “I” star to shine as clearly and as brightly as possible in the team, while they collectively contribute towards achieving the group’s shared success.

Just showing up and being in a team does not make the team effective, or successful. What will take it from mediocrity into being highly effective and super productive will be when each individual, each “I” of both the introvert and the extrovert, direct their unique best into working together collaboratively, trusting each other, and achieving their shared, common goal.

In the words of Henry Ford, “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success”. There is no I in team, as much as there is no we or us either. It’s not the letters that count, rather it’s the unique combination of each letter, at its best, that gives the fullest meaning to the word.