Lesson 2 – Working in Teams 3rd August 2019 As an introvert it is very difficult to work in teams and this has enabled me to know that with others working with you, you can learn from them. We have strengths and weaknesses and others may complement you where there is shortfall. Criticism is a way of building up and no way things can be done timeously every time,if you trust that others may do something better than yourself, then you may delegate to someone who has the same vision as yourself. At work I am now delegating some work to be done by others whilst I take charge of the other things that need my attention. I am now becoming open minded and regard all people’s points as significant and acknowledge them for any contribution brought forward. My colleagues have noticed that I have a change of heart as I had been so rigid in what I believe in and could not be swayed into other beliefs but have a room to accommodate them in what they believe in without offending them and being subjective. Don’t try to do it all yourself. One of the reasons we get stressed out is because we think that everything depends on us. Not Jesus. He enlisted, trained, and empowered twelve others so they could share the load. He delegated His work. He got other people involved. So why don’t we do that? Two reasons: (1) Perfectionism. We think, “If I want a job well done, I’ll do it myself.” That’s a nice idea, but often it doesn’t work well because there are just too many things to be done. We simply don’t have the time and talent to do everything ourselves. It’s really an egotistical attitude that says, “Nobody, but nobody, can do it the way I can!” Do you think Jesus could’ve done a better job than His disciples? Of course, but even knowing that, He still let them do the work. Why? Because we need to let other people make some of the mistakes in order for them to learn, the same way the disciples learned. Don’t rob others of an education. (2) Insecurity. “What if I turn this responsibility over to someone else and they do a better job than I do?” That possibility is threatening to many of us. But you won’t feel threatened if you know who you are, who you’re trying to please, what you want to accomplish, and the one thing you need to focus on. In order to be effective you must get other people involved, because you can’t focus on more than one thing at a time and do it well. The older you grow it you realize it was a state of denial instead of accepting it and finding solutions to progress ahead. I am glad that this was an eye opener for me.