"You're My Guys..."

I’ve been thinking about teams a lot in the past couple of weeks. My new job means a new team is forming. We are all from different departments or entirely new organizations, so we are all learning. I’m also reading a books, both fiction and non-fiction that center on the idea of teams.

Teams are important.

At the end of the day you can have a group or a team. Groups are loose and transient collectives of people who occupy the same airspace for a given amount of time.

But a team.

A real team endures.

It’s not easy to be on a team. Teams are made up of people, and people are a messy business. Teams must be formed, then they storm, then settle into a pattern of normalcy, then they storm gain, and somewhere along the way they perform.

Forming, storming, norming, performing, rinse and repeat. This is the life cycle of a team, but in the quiet moments (and the chaotic moments) respect grows, honesty emerges, and if you are lucky loyalty takes root.

I’ve been lucky to be part of many teams, and for that I am grateful. By way of example I served with AmeriCorps*NCCC Team Silver 1 for 10 months. We were a group of strangers randomly selected and thrown together in August 2003 and by June 2004 a family had formed. Sure we had our fair share of difficult times with hammers dropped on heads, fights over the music, minor and major personality conflicts, you name it. But there was also a trust that can only develop when we share a life with 10 other people all day, every day for a year. We parted company nearly 7 years ago, but they are still my team. I think about them every single day. Their picture sits on my desk right next to my brothers and sisters, next to pictures of my wife, and friends from childhood, college and beyond. They are still my team.

Right now, at work, our team is forming. Some have been with the company for a while, others are new, but in the end we have to work together to accomplish some daunting tasks.

Today, a co-worker shared a great quote with me that summed things up quite nicely.

CONTEXT: From the show “The West Wing.” Delivered by Toby to a group of staffers after a comment in a meeting leaked to the Press.

“We're a group…we're a team...We win together, we lose together, we celebrate and we mourn together. And defeats are softened and victories sweetened because we did them together...And if you don't like this team... then, there's the door... It's great to be in the know. It's great to have the scoop, to have the skinny, to be able to go to a reporter and say, "I know something you don't know." And so the press becomes your constituents and you sell out the team... So, an item will appear in the paper tomorrow, and it'll be embarrassing to me and embarrassing to the President. I'm not gonna have a witch hunt. I'm not gonna huff and puff. I'm not gonna take anyone's head off. I'm simply gonna say this: you're my guys. And I'm yours... and there's nothing I wouldn't do for you."

That's it. At the end of the day a good team always has your back. In that way a good team is a lot like family.

Change is Hard

Two months ago Katie and I, with the help of some amazing friends and family, relocated all of our worldly possessions from one side of the state to another.   New jobs and opportunities to be closer to family pried us away from SJC and our friends in Rensselaer.  A lot has changed since our move and times of change are often provide a good opportunity to reflect.  

Round 2 at SJC has been as every bit as educational and thought provoking as my first time in residence with the Pumas.  My friends, both old and new, renewed my faith in the good nature of people, and this time I was fortunate enough to share this with my wife…my best friend…chief advisor and hero.   

At SJC Katie learned to share my love of Puma-culture, she was able to be a part of a Kairos team, we made new friendships and strengthened old ones, and started to build our life together under the shadow of the twin towers.  Life was good. 

But change is a part of life.  

One of the things that I learned at SJC is that we must be true to ourselves and aware of what our minds and hearts tell us.  After four years on staff, it was time for me to move on again.  I was ready.  SJC was ready.  We just didn’t realize it until the change was happening.  When the opportunity to move to South Bend and serve Public Library opened up I knew that this was the right move for me.  I don’t know how I knew it, but some part of me knew that this was the right step. 

When I announced my plans to leave I was burdened with an odd mix of emotions ranging from excitement to guilt.  The guilt nagged at me.  Not because I really felt guilty, but because I was wondering why I felt guilt.  My departure was not wrong, but I felt compelled to play the part of the loyalist dragging my feet and grumbling about not really wanting to go.  In reality, I was simply conflicted.  Both feelings of excitement for new opportunities and regret at having to leave friends were both valid.

Do I miss my friends, Yes.  (every day)

Do I feel guilty for leaving, No. 

Change is hard.  Life is difficult, but does that make a new adventure less desirable? I don’t think so.  My last two months at the Library have been some of the most challenging and yet professionally rewarding that I have known.  It's been difficult, but I don't regret the move.  Paulo Coelho reminds us that our choices are “… real and true precisely because [they are] difficult.”

SJC is above all things, a school.  No school wants it’s students to remain stagnant.   The goal is to spend time in study and then move into a new role or level of awareness.  We celebrate that transition each Spring when students go forth and commence life. 

So I guess this was my second commencement from SJC. 

And it was another wild ride.