The Art of Teamwork
The above image depicts five jazz musicians playing various instruments, including a keyboard, double bass and flute, in an abstract art style. This image was generated using Midjourney, an AI-based system.
I just completed a ten-day road trip driving art that belonged to my mother to my sister in Tucson, Arizona. I stopped at eight museums along the way: art, musical instruments, civil rights, and dinosaurs. I stared at big open sky and marveled at desert vegetation. It is these kinds of experiences that make travel important. I hope you get out there this summer.
I also had dinner in Memphis with one of my colleagues from Public Allies North Carolina (my last executive director stint). Charles McKinney and I were once part of a team of five who orchestrated the community leadership learning of a crew of twenty plus young adults. We also facilitated partnerships with the dozens of nonprofits that each hosted a Public Ally for ten months as well as with the businesses, foundations, and AmeriCorps that provided financial support. It was complex work made more complex by being a local organization nested within a growing national organization - all with young dynamic leadership.
Charles reminded me of what a wonderful team we were. Charles is a historian and a jazz aficionado. His analogy is that we were a jazz quintet, each of us able to play our instruments with finesse and precision. As soloists, we could do our own thing with grace - and we often did. Bring us together, and we made music that moved hearts and minds. We would sometimes back up the soloist or we would all improv a new tune. We could absorb the challenges thrown our way by two dozen very diverse young adults all shaping their identities and learning to be in the work world. We could play a tune that none of us had played before by relying on each individual’s perspective. We gave grace when people made mistakes and figured out ways to build on failures. As the executive director, I rarely, though sometimes, served as the band leader. Most often, I played the stand up bass, reminding the team of our purpose and our values.
I was glad to be reminded of this experience of teamwork. As I drove west, I remembered that the fifth seat on our team often changed as people stepped into their next adventure. That changed the nuances of how we played but it did not change the fundamentals of the quintet.
Though we are a duet and not a quintet, Heather and I rely on some of the same fundamentals in our teamwork:
Trust that your teammate is a talented expert
Be fully present even when your teammate is taking the lead
Remember that playing the backbeat is as important as the solo
Emphasize the harmonies between your individual contributions
Own your mistakes and failures - and build something from them
Be willing to improvise when thrust into a new situation
Meredith