TEAMWORK TO ACHIEVE GOALS

Most of the times in order to achieve a goal you have to rely on teamwork. In many professions and in sports results only come when the members of the team help each other towards a common goal. The more the team members the more difficult the task and the more interdependence there is.

Watching volleyball games in the London Olympics 2012 was a memorable experience of seeing a team in action and how they reacted in various situations. Being part of a team though also requires a coach (a leader if you prefer), someone to organize the game, define roles and help team members rise thru any challenge by lifting their spirit and pointing their mistakes to correct. In this Olympics indeed the Best team won, and that was Russia.

Russia was not perfect at all times throughout the tournament, but they were at all times a Team. A team that managed to survive thru defeats and turnaround “lost” games to emerge victorious in the end. One major ingredient that obviously made a difference in Russia winning the tournament was the fact that in each break of every single game, the coach would talk to the players pointing to them what needed to be done, and they were clearly focused to hear what he had to say.  In contrast with other teams like Brazil which had excellent players, in every break the coach would talk little and they players were not paying any attention to him most of the times.

This mere fact shows that in order to achieve a point in the game you need to rely not only in yourself but also in your teammates. It also states the importance and the relationship that must exist between the team and the coach, a relationship of trust, respect and focus on a common goal.

Russia having the ingredients of a successful team and working as one till the end, not losing their spirit but staying united, managed to turn around a seem to be lost final against Brazil by coming back from a 0-2 to a 3-2 victory to win the Gold medal!