When I think of “team” I think of Caribbean Pink.
Years ago I read a passage in The Secret Life of Bees that became seminal in my thinking and understanding of what it means to be on a team. The story centers on three sisters and a young girl, Lily, comes to live with them for a while. Lily and one of the sisters have this conversation:
“She was with me the day I went to the paint store to pick out the color. I had a nice tan color in mind, but May latched on to this sample called Caribbean Pink. She said it made her feel like dancing a Spanish flamenco.
I thought, “Well, this is the tackiest color I’ve ever seen, and we’ll have half the town talking about us, but if it can lift May’s heart like that, I guess she ought to live inside it.”
“All this time I just figured you liked pink,” I said.
She laughed again. “You know, some things don’t matter that much, Lily.. Like the color of a house. How big is that in the over-all scheme of life? But lifting a person’s heart-now, that matters. The whole problem with people is-“
“They don’t know what matters and what doesn’t,” I said, filling in her sentence and feeling proud of myself for doing so.
“I was gonna say, The problem is they know what matters, but they don’t choose it. You know how hard that is, Lily? I love May, but it was still so hard to choose Caribbean Pink. The hardest thing on earth is choosing what matters.”
This passage probably stayed with me because like Lily, I’m quick to think I know the point a person is making and it can get in the way of listening to them. It also stayed with me because it rings true. It’s hard at times to choose what matters.
With this in mind, we’re kicking off this semester with a “Team Bundle” that has a three-fold focus:
—Outward focus as you interact with others: A Workshop on working with others (18 ideas),
—Inward focus as you consider yourself as a teammate: A 5 Day Challenge to grow as a teammate,
—Upward focus as you pray for your team: The Prayer of Examen designed for cross-cultural workers on teams
Here’s a bit more about each:
Team Workshop
Gavin Pinkston saw up-close the challenges that can arise on team. Using the Enneagram as a tool, Enneagram coach Gavin Pinkston introduces you to the nine types, explains the motivations behind each type, and provides insights into what each type offers your team. You will also walk away with 18 ideas to help strengthen your team relationships.
Team Challenge
Based on the “One Another” verses, you will become a better teammate or coworker in this 5 day challenge. Every day focuses on a different aspect of being a better teammate with a primary question, three supportive questions, a verse, and a resource. Adapts to any situation.
Team Prayer Resource
After receiving the survey responses you completed last year, Global Trellis heard many of you desiring to pray more intentionally for your organizational leaders and teams. Out of that desire, we created an Examen specific to that heart-felt desire, and we will be focusing this week on all of us praying for organizations! Yours or one you know.
I don’t know if the hardest think on earth is choosing what matters, but I do know that healthy functioning teams involve growing in our people skills, growing in our understanding of ourselves and what we bring to the team, and growing in actually praying for our teams.
This Team Bundle will help you do all three.
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