Favorite Quote: "The most important measure of how good a game I played was how much better I'd made my teammates play." Bill Russell
When I embarked upon reading about Quality 8 Enlarging, I honestly had never heard the term used before. But although the term may seem somewhat creative, the essence of this quality is age-old. Enlarging is about individuals unselfishly using their gifts and talents to enrich the lives of those around them. Bill Russell speaks of this idea in terms of playing basketball, but enlarging is important on every team and in every organization. Whether you are the star center on the Boston Celtics, a teacher in a school, a student in a classroom, or a part of any type of group, one should evaluate "What do I bring to the table?" or "How can I make us better?" When group members share their own unique talents, they actually elevate the group to a new level. Group members admire and appreciate those who are willing to unselfishly make the group better, before thinking about themselves. When enlarging, one cannot think about how individual actions will help gain some sort of personal benefit. The enlarger must be a secure person that can look beyond possible opportunities for individual success, to see the larger benefit through helping the group. Henry Ward Beecher stated, "No man is more cheated than the selfish man." In other words, when you are willing to enlarge the group, you enlarge yourself!
Attributes of the enlarging team player:
- Enlargers value their teammates. Recognize and appreciate the strengths that other players bring to the game and utilize those strengths.
- Enlargers value what their teammates value. Players who enlarge others try hard to understand the values of their teammates. They get to know their teammates in an effort to make a connection.
- Enlargers add value to their teammates. Adding value to the team is the whole purpose of this idea. Enlargers want to help teammates improve upon their abilities and attitudes.
- Enlargers make themselves more valuable. If you want your team to be more successful, then it is important to make yourself better. Being your best helps the team reach its potential.
If you want to enlarge the team, follow these simple ideas . . .
- Believe in others before they believe in you! Be the initiator in situations and problems. Lead by example and others will soon respect your efforts.
- Serve others before they serve you. Help others in your family and work reach their potential. Offering time and support for the enrichment of others is powerful.
- Add value to others before they add value to you. The book states that as humans we tend to gravitate towards those who enrich us and move away from those who devalue us. We can enlarge people by helping them zone in on their specific talents and help them to reach their potential with those talents. We should not try to force people to embark into areas in which they do not have the talent or skills in which to be successful.
Ask yourself, "If I am not helping the team, am I hurting it?" All teams need all players to be enlargers so that the team can reach its highest potential.
Barb,
ReplyDeleteThank you for an excellent guest blog. I am convinced that this quality of team players is often overlooked. Mostly we concentrate on our own performance - indeed it is our primary responsibility. Every faculty school that I have ever served, as well as the SDOC office, has had people who made it a priority to improve the team by making teammates better.