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SOOKE – You could put all the greatest hockey players on one team and still not be guaranteed to win every game. In fact, they might not win any games. The reason could be, they simply don’t mesh, or there are too many similar playing styles, or they can’t fit all their egos on the ice at the same time. However, get together a team of misfits and because of their drive, desire, heart and talents, they could be the underdog that takes the cup.
Due to this principle – the whole being greater than the sum of its parts – building a cohesive, successful team is a tricky thing to do. As illustrated above, it is not all about having the greatest minds or the best talent. To a great extent, the success of a team is a function of inspirational leadership creating opportunities for meaningful collaboration while recognizing and utilizing the specific talents or expertise of its members. The gravest mistake a leader can make is keeping someone in an ill-fitting role.
To get the most out of your team, take the time to get to know who they are – their strengths, weaknesses and interests – and build roles for them around those attributes. Change up titles, job descriptions and expectations. Because really, what’s more important, a standardized job title or organizing your team in a way that facilitates accomplishing both your and their goals? Then, allow them to do what they do and accept that they will fail. Because from failure comes wisdom, insight and, if managed well, a desire to do better.
The Sooke Region Chamber of Commerce has that desire to do better. We are a Board of misfits coming together with the shared objective of realizing upon Sooke’s potential. We have brainstormed, organized and created action plans. We have refined our role to our core mandate and will be focusing our efforts on economic development and supporting our members. We will do what the Chamber does and we will do it well.
But we are only one player amongst the larger team of organizations in our community and it is now time for us to collaborate to accomplish our common goals. It is time for us to partner with our members and the other volunteer organizations in Sooke to move our projects forward and to assist them in theirs. It is imperative for Sooke’s future that the Chamber, its members, and all the individual organizations in Sooke cease being just parts of a whole. We must become a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
– Kerry Cavers is the President of the Sooke Chamber of Commerce.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The article published in January’s edition for the Sooke Region Chamber of Commerce was a reprint of December’s article written by the past president. You can find the correct article by the current president titled “Sooke’s time to thrive” on our web edition here: https://businessexaminer.ca/clone/victoria-articles/item/it-s-sooke-s-time-to-thrive.
