Sunday evenings used to mean guilt trips for me, mainly during school days cos I hadn’t done my homework for the Monday! Nowadays, Sunday evenings still prompt me to be asking ‘is there anything I need to plan or prepare for the week ahead?’ – such is the power of conditioning over a lifetime! However, last night I was in a great situation – there was nothing I had to do, and I was given the opportunity of going to listen to a Championship Section brass band rehearse for the forthcoming British Brass Band Championships (think Brassed Off and you get the picture!). Why would I be interested in doing that? The brass band I play in (Cold Ash Brass – look us up on the Website!) is also competing in the Championships but in a lower division, so I wanted to learn from people who are already doing what I’m aspiring to.
Well, what a cool way to spend a Sunday evening! Apart from hearing some great music, it was truly inspirational to listen to a group of people who were all playing their individual parts but had come together to polish and perfect the piece as a whole. They’d all taken responsibility for their individual learning of their notes and were there to listen carefully to each other’s performance and take instruction and guidance from the conductor. Real teamwork.
I came away not only having learned a lot from the musical perspective, it set me thinking about other areas in life where working together in a team could produce results far greater than individual ‘performances’ could ever create. There are lots of reasons why people avoid being in a team – they don’t recognise they need a team – they’re afraid to ask for help in case they look stupid- they don’t know who to ask – they don’t trust others to do as good a job as them…..lots of reasons. However, if the band rehearsal last night was anything to go by, working in a team for a greater purpose has to be the way forward.
So who have you got on your inspiring team……..and what are you striving for?
PS – keep watching this space for an update – we compete this Saturday (20th March), so fingers crossed for an inspired team performance!