On Being a Team Player at Work and In Your Spiritual Life
An organization needs team players - people who aren't selfish; people who work cooperatively with others and contribute to accomplishing the goals of the organization.
A really good team player likely has personal goals and aspirations, of course. He may want to get a raise, a promotion, learn new skills, etc. But he understands that personal goals should never supersede the goals of their team.
For example, athletes - especially professional athletes - who play team sports all follow personal training regimens. They have goals re their size, weight, speed, strength, quickness, flexibility, endurance, etc. Such goals typically focus not on what they "have to do" to maintain their current capabilities. They're always striving to improve. They push themselves to see what they can do, rather than stop at what they must do. But their personal goals ultimately serve their team's overriding goal, for example, to win.
Combine the drive for personal excellence with teamwork, and you'll find a virtuous circle. The individuals contribute to the team's success. And the team's success inspires the individuals to strive for personal excellence. You can find examples of this in every sport.
A team player at work functions the same way. Such individuals won't just show up at work and go through the motions. They know the goals and objectives of the team and seek to find the most efficient and effective ways to reach them. They do so using their God-given talents, the skills they've learned, and the experience they've gained over time. While they continually seek to sharpen their skills and expand their experience, they don't ignore the team's goals. The team or organization thereby benefits from their increasing competency. And the best organizations will complement this by providing opportunities for their individual team members to learn new skills and expand their knowledge and experience.
And whether in sports or in business, those who dare to be great team players share some additional characteristics: they give without counting the cost; sacrifice over self-comfort. These are people you can count on.
When we consider the dynamics here, we can see how and why the team player commands a central and critical role in the success of any organization. But here's something for us Catholic to consider: being a team player for Christ. That's right. Our Lord wants team players, especially in our increasingly secular age. Here's a clear description and outline of how we can be team players for Christ:
“I think it is evident that, in these days of awful sin and hatred of God, our Blessed Lord wants to gather round Him a legion of chosen souls who will be devoted, heart and soul, to Him and His interests, and upon whom He may always count for help and consolation. Souls who will not ask ‘How much must I do?’ but rather ‘How much can I do for His love?’ A legion of souls who will give and not count the cost, whose only pain will be that they cannot do more and give more and suffer more for Him who has done so much for them. In a word, souls who are not as the rest of men, fools perhaps in the eyes of the world, for their watchword is sacrifice and not self-comfort… (God) cannot, perhaps, gather a large army round His standard, but He wants every one in it to be a Hero, absolutely and lovingly devoted to Him; if only we could get inside that magic circle of generous souls, I believe there is no grace He would not give us, to help on the work He has so much at heart, our personal sanctification. Every day you live means an infallible growth in holiness which may be multiplied a thousand times by a little generosity. When you get the chance, hammer into (those) around you that holiness means three things: - Love, Prayer, Sacrifice.” (Father William Doyle, S.J., 1873-1917)
Note the requirements for being a team player for Christ: Love, Prayer, Sacrifice. While we may struggle with consistently aspiring to holiness, that's OK. With effort, we'll improve over time. And since we know that Our Lord will supply us with the grace we need to persist - if we express the sincere desire to do so - there's really no reason not to join His team today, right?
A really good team player likely has personal goals and aspirations, of course. He may want to get a raise, a promotion, learn new skills, etc. But he understands that personal goals should never supersede the goals of their team.
For example, athletes - especially professional athletes - who play team sports all follow personal training regimens. They have goals re their size, weight, speed, strength, quickness, flexibility, endurance, etc. Such goals typically focus not on what they "have to do" to maintain their current capabilities. They're always striving to improve. They push themselves to see what they can do, rather than stop at what they must do. But their personal goals ultimately serve their team's overriding goal, for example, to win.
Combine the drive for personal excellence with teamwork, and you'll find a virtuous circle. The individuals contribute to the team's success. And the team's success inspires the individuals to strive for personal excellence. You can find examples of this in every sport.
A team player at work functions the same way. Such individuals won't just show up at work and go through the motions. They know the goals and objectives of the team and seek to find the most efficient and effective ways to reach them. They do so using their God-given talents, the skills they've learned, and the experience they've gained over time. While they continually seek to sharpen their skills and expand their experience, they don't ignore the team's goals. The team or organization thereby benefits from their increasing competency. And the best organizations will complement this by providing opportunities for their individual team members to learn new skills and expand their knowledge and experience.
And whether in sports or in business, those who dare to be great team players share some additional characteristics: they give without counting the cost; sacrifice over self-comfort. These are people you can count on.
When we consider the dynamics here, we can see how and why the team player commands a central and critical role in the success of any organization. But here's something for us Catholic to consider: being a team player for Christ. That's right. Our Lord wants team players, especially in our increasingly secular age. Here's a clear description and outline of how we can be team players for Christ:
“I think it is evident that, in these days of awful sin and hatred of God, our Blessed Lord wants to gather round Him a legion of chosen souls who will be devoted, heart and soul, to Him and His interests, and upon whom He may always count for help and consolation. Souls who will not ask ‘How much must I do?’ but rather ‘How much can I do for His love?’ A legion of souls who will give and not count the cost, whose only pain will be that they cannot do more and give more and suffer more for Him who has done so much for them. In a word, souls who are not as the rest of men, fools perhaps in the eyes of the world, for their watchword is sacrifice and not self-comfort… (God) cannot, perhaps, gather a large army round His standard, but He wants every one in it to be a Hero, absolutely and lovingly devoted to Him; if only we could get inside that magic circle of generous souls, I believe there is no grace He would not give us, to help on the work He has so much at heart, our personal sanctification. Every day you live means an infallible growth in holiness which may be multiplied a thousand times by a little generosity. When you get the chance, hammer into (those) around you that holiness means three things: - Love, Prayer, Sacrifice.” (Father William Doyle, S.J., 1873-1917)
Note the requirements for being a team player for Christ: Love, Prayer, Sacrifice. While we may struggle with consistently aspiring to holiness, that's OK. With effort, we'll improve over time. And since we know that Our Lord will supply us with the grace we need to persist - if we express the sincere desire to do so - there's really no reason not to join His team today, right?
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