One of my favorite quotes is from Ronald Reagan. “There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit.” Most would agree this is more easily said than done. We by nature want to receive credit for the work we do. 

 

I have found it is very rewarding to have great accomplishments as a team. To have a great team we need to subordinate our personal recognition to the effectiveness of the team. Teamwork is vital to the success of any organization, including Farm Bureau. We have many projects underway that require teamwork and collaboration to be successfully completed. The day-to-day operations of our company are completed by teams of dedicated individuals from the field offices to the home office.   

 

I’ve been reading The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. He points out that the foundation of a successful team is trust. Lencioni describes the characteristics of a high-performing team as:

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• Comfortable asking for help, admitting mistakes and limitations, taking risks, and offering feedback

• Tapping into one another's skills and experiences

• Avoiding wasting time talking about the wrong issues and revisiting the same topics over and over again because of lack of buy-in

• Making higher quality decisions and accomplishing more in less time with fewer resources

• Putting critical topics on the table and having lively meetings

• Aligning the team around common objectives

 

The principles of teamwork tie in closely with many of our leadership principles including "Trust" and "Prepare, Debate, Commit".  

 

We are a team of teams here at Farm Bureau working towards a common vision. Let’s remember we can accomplish so much more together than we ever will alone. 

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Jason Williams, Treasurer