Lessons for a father - The King's Walk

Let me start this post with a very pertinent question

When was the last time you walked around and interacted with your team and did not talk about work at all? 

As I found out, the result could be very rewarding and a great learning experience. It might also benefit people who have an appreciation for team work.

Frankly, it had been some time that I had made an intentional investement in team building. My interactions had been limited to work, goals and time-lines and I had lost sight of one of the most basic of human traits - the need to belong. There was a correction needed and thankfully all it took was a walk, a genuine appreciation for team work and an interest in my team's life outside of work.

The king that does not walk amongst his people after the sun sets rules his people, but never wins them over, for he never knows what ails his people, and can never make them truly happy.

It turned out to be a very good day indeed. My team-mates, as great as they are, excel as pirates, mountain bikers, visual effect artists, race car enthusiasts, horse trainers and pilots amongst other things outside of their work life. One of them even featured in a music video recently and she was fantastic. Great stories of accomplishments and hard work, and I am sucker for good stories especially the ones of success.

Talk to your team mates about what they love doing outside the work environment. One of the best ways of knowing someone is showing a genuine interest in them as people and not treating them merely as a resource at your disposal.

Organizations, and successful ones, are investing a lot of time and money in the truest of their resources - their people. Knowing your team, which goes past their names, titles and resumes, is a very humbling exercise. There is a possibility that we are going to learn a lot about ourself in the process and work together with our peers not as a group of people, but as a team.