Gina London: Aspirational and inspirational – how team work makes the dream work

When I first made the move from the journalistic world to the business strategy, persuasion and training world, I initially recoiled from motivational quotes. I thought they were cheesy. I think my negative reaction was forged by working more than 15 years in television news land which was virtually devoid of anything resembling an attempt by management to create and maintain an atmosphere of team-building. We established our supportive relationships on our own but there were no management-led development programmes or team-building exercises. Ever.

After I left broadcasting, I remember the first time I saw one of those framed inspirational “successories” on the wall of an office. I looked up and read, “TEAMWORK” in all capitals. The one-word headline was positioned under a photo of a lake at sunset with a V-shaped flock of birds soaring overhead. “The lifting power of many wings, can achieve twice the distance of any bird flying alone,” read the remainder of the caption.

I’m sure I involuntarily rolled my eyes and thought about cheddar or gouda. Such cheese. As YouTuber Caroline Winkler snarked recently in her critique of this type of artwork once gracing many a wall in our nine-to-fives: “There is something so singularly special about getting labour orders from a poster.”

And yet, now that I have been supporting teams for nearly as much time as I spent in American network news, I have grown to respect snappy acronyms, abbreviations that spell words, pithy sayings and even the occasional rhyming quote designed to help us remember the importance of behaving with purpose to better attain collective professional goals.

Because it does require a series of important commitments for any team’s effort to be successful. Join me, then, on a romp through a few John Maxwell motivational quotes I have selected to highlight those steps.

“Goals are the fuel in the furnace of achievement. If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.”

About a month ago, I received an invitation to attend a reception in the courtyard of the Killarney House and Gardens. It was described as “an informal summit with current Irish American influencers, employers and leaders to assist Killarney and Kerry into the future and grow the event over the next few years.” The date was set for July 2.

Happy to join the fun and curious to learn more, I hopped on the train and was met by one of the event’s organisers, Annemarie Scully and her delightful 12-year-old daughter Marieclaire. They whisked me over to the lobby of the Park Hotel in the town centre where I met Lisa Leahy, Karina Gallivan and Diarmuid Leen.

Each person was volunteering their time in a partnership between Killarney’s Chamber of Tourism and Commerce and the National Parks & Wildlife Service. The ultimate goal is to raise awareness of the opportunities for companies to support local biodiversity projects as part of their corporate social responsibility efforts.

A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way

Does your team project have a defined goal? Can each member of your team express it clearly? The more unified your message is, the more you can spread the word to other stakeholders you hope to recruit.

“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.”

Diarmuid enthusiastically told me I would be meeting the Director General of the Parks Service, Niall Ó Donnchú, later at the event. “He’s very well-spoken and a great representative of our effort.”

Indeed, I enjoyed meeting Niall very much. When he took the podium, he expressed beautifully how partnership opportunities could best be presented by enticing business leaders to experience the beautiful Kerry countryside for themselves.

The most effective team leaders must be both inspirational and aspirational. This requires effort. I don’t believe Niall was simply born with conviction and eloquence on this subject. He developed it with dedicated time, practice and experience.

“Talent provides hope for accomplishment, but perseverance guarantees it.”

As I mentioned, this was just the first such event designed to bring international businesses together in celebration and potential support of Killarney’s natural environment. A family event, there was a stilt walker, balloons, music and even a delightful play by a local theatre group. There was also rain. But that didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits. The volunteers are determined to make next year’s event bigger and better.

Thank you, everyone, for the invitation and the illustration of what makes a team – and dream – work.​

Write to Gina in care of SundayBusiness@independent.ie​

With corporate clients in five continents, Gina London is a premier communications strategy, structure and delivery expert. She is also a media analyst, author, speaker and former CNN anchor. @TheGinaLondon