Farmgirl Sensibilities

I wore a special handmade bracelet the other day. The bracelet was given to me by a physician friend of mine, procured on a recent trip to Mexico. As I was removing it after a crazy busy day at work, it dawned on me how the bracelet represented connections.

Many article or books have been written on connecting. What came to mind, in particular, as I looked at this bracelet and how it was constructed was the uniqueness of each handmade wooden bead, how they were arranged to compliment each other and are tied together, similar to how we establish a good team and arrange team members to match our overall vision.

The unique gifts of each of our team members add to the overall design and culture of the team as a whole. If the designer (leader) can bring the mission and vision to fruition effectively, the resulting creation can be quite beautiful.

The other thing I noticed was how truly connected this bracelet is. Removing one bead from the design could cause several things to happen, the least of which would be disruption of the design. The greatest of which would be the entire bracelet could unravel.

Consider your team in a similar way. Build the best team possible, allowing team members to bring his/her individuality. Tie them together appropriately as you focus on the overall vision of what your “big picture” should look like. The result can celebrate the uniqueness of your team and be something quite beautiful.