Reflective entry week 11: TEAM (AS)

The American author and political activist Helen KELLER once wrote: “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much”. In my opinion this quote suits very well this week’s coaching assignment. Indeed, while writing my assignment about the characteristics of the leader that I have admired, I realized that the work that we did was so good that I wouldn’t be able to do something like this on my own.

As we are exchange students, we figured out that in Canada group work is something very common, in each class we have at least one work to do in a team. This is not the case in Norway or in France, but thanks to that exchange we now feel the need to ask our friends or colleagues for advices when we are facing a personal work to do. It’s to reassure us that we are going the right way that our ideas are correct. Speaking for myself, I wasn’t a huge fan of group works before coming here, I didn’t knew how to work with others because there was always one or two persons that were not doing the same amount of work as I was doing and we were getting the same mark. As the time passed by and I had a bigger experience in working in groups, I realized that actually if a group is able to be unified and connected, we can all rely on each other. If I cannot do my part on time, I can count on my peers that they will help me and understand my situation. And it’s the same thing for them; they know that if something is going wrong they can count on my help. “Having the back” of someone and knowing that someone has yours is reassuring, you don’t feel alone and your stress level is diminished.

But to achieve that stadium of trust and connection, everyone need to be aware that the project is common so no personal goals need to be put ahead. This is why it’s very important to follow the 4 stages of building an effective team: forming, norming, storming and performing. It helps the team to improve and be even more effective in their work. Working with others also enables you to understand more about yourself, your strengths, weaknesses and limits and this will for sure help you to work better.

Finally, I realized that as far as I am concerned when we are setting goals in teams, it’s better to have an Everest goal. If you are a good leader you can really push your teammates to do the best they can and even better. Being proud of the work you have accomplished is a very rewarding feeling.

Having a good team can be assimilated to a family. Indeed, we know each other, we can count on each other, and we are sharing common goals and all of that in a respectful and supportive environment. For me, being part of a team is being part of something bigger than myself, so automatically I feel more secure, and have more energy to accomplish every task.