There is no “I” in team
Coach Gary Adams was my mentor back in the day when I played baseball at UC Irvine. Through him I learned the true meaning of the word team.
His sage advice and understanding of what it means to be a team player is in constant playback in my mind as I manage the day to day rigors of running a luxury real estate brand. Today, his words served as the alarm clock as I woke from a strained sleep onboard this trans Atlantic flight from the UK to Toronto where I am returning from a two-week holiday with my son.
We departed on this journey in the beginning of October – my last chance in a foreseeable future to spend two weeks as father and son seeing the world together.
For most company Presidents, there is no perfect time to leave. This was no exception. Looming over this trip was the impending launch of our company website and the dozens of components that still needed to be created and decisions that needed to be made. I could have entertained postponing my trip. But I didn’t. There was no reason to. Not with the team I had assembled and the sensibilities taught to me by Coach Adams so many years ago about trusting the collective.
As I awoke and attempted to stretch my limbs across the constricted spaces of the plane’s interior, I thought about how lucky I was to have this experience; indeed a trip of a lifetime. The theater in London. Westminster Abbey. The pictures with the Beefeaters. The Louvre. Gustav’s Tower in Paris. Laughs that were never-ending. The food in Rome along with the Segway Tours and the miles of walking and the countless people that touched our lives and we theirs while all along, my faith in my staff who were attending to the most important agenda items for us this year and next was at an equal all time high.
I am back now. And blown away by what has been accomplished in my absence. To turn an operation the size of Seven Gables Real Estate over to a team where each member did their part without hesitation, flawlessly and all the while telling me to not call or contact them, but to rather enjoy each minute of my time away, reminded me of what Coach Adams accomplished when he hand picked those remarkable championship teams and what can be accomplished when a leader has the right team in place.
As we begin to roll out a host of new features aimed at providing our customers the very best online experience and information about our great marketplace, I am reminded of what Coach Adams and Coach Wooden taught me many years prior: There is no “I” in team. He was so right.
I am eternally grateful to GM, Lisa Greubel, CTO, Eric Duncan, personal assistant Karen Doss, Marketing Director, Gina Santanello and her amazing team, Kelli and Shelly and Audrey in accounting and each of the office administrators and transaction coordinators overseeing our offices. They are the best team any coach/President could ever ask for.
