Pages: 118
Year: 2011
By Richmore Tera
ARE you one of those people who are determined to “land gold” in all your endeavours?
If so, then a recently published book titled The Winning Team: Symbiotic Effect by Patson Dzamara is just for you.

The book was recently published in South Africa where it received rave reviews.
Not only does the book talk about winning, it goes an extra mile in saying that whoever is determined to win in life should value the importance of teamwork.

The book could not have come at a more opportune time than now when most individuals, businesses and institutions in the country are looking for solutions to move forward and make a lasting impact.
It is a book that also challenges leaders to have second thoughts about their positions and, ponder that for them to navigate the murky waters of leadership, they should be in a position to motivate their subordinates to work as a team.

The author urges leaders to build a team that is able to achieve the desired goals, leaders who can herd their people and put them together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle in order to come up with the desired results.
Patson, who studied business administration, business leadership, personal management, theology and psychology, taps from his personal experiences; from those who are close to him as well as eminent personalities in life like Nigel Chanakira, among others, who built successful empires out of the ken of building a team around them.

These people forewent individualism and understood the power that lies in working as a team.
Patson, in writing the book on teamwork, reminds the reader of a maxim by two of the world’s philosophers and great thinkers, Karl Max and Frederick Engels, who said: “Nothing takes place in isolation.”
“One of the most critical truths that I have come to grips with is that no matter how phenomenally an individual is gifted, one cannot get to the top through individual isolated effort.

“One needs to create or work with a team, whichever way is best.
“People’s abilities and acumen vary and, the marvel of team work is that on a winning team, everyone contributes from their positions of strength to the victory of the team,” writes Patson (page 6).

Patson also gives a striking example of what it means to work as a team when he gives the example of how locusts are a formidable force owing to how they move in numbers.
He cites Biblical examples when locusts became a plague to people, more than armies, owing to their teamwork.

The author says people should take a leaf from these insects and put their abilities as a team to good use.
He however reminds that people, owing to their different traits and abilities, should not compete but rather complement one another as a team and strive for success.

“Two are certainly better than one. Our strengths and weaknesses are not at par, they are different wavelengths.
“If we come together as one to pursue any cause, we can achieve everything mightily. This is so because every individual team member has unique strengths and weaknesses.

“By accentuating every team member’s strengths simultaneously, the other team member’s weaknesses are covered up.
One member’s strength is another member’s weakness but when a team is together as one, weaknesses are hardly noticeable as they are swallowed up in the inter-twining of the different strengths of team members,”

writes Patson (page 15).
He however warns those who want to work as a team to be knowledgeable of the kind of teamwork they engage in, as some of them are not mutually beneficial to them.

He reminds readers that while there are winning teams – such as Manchester United, coached by Sir Alex Ferguson, which he cites as one example – there also losing teams that are losers owing to a number of factors.

He urges people to first consider the kind of team they want to be part of before committing themselves.
Patson says there are three kinds of association, what he calls the symbiotic effect that “happens when two or people come together and produce good results.

“There are three forms of symbiosis: parasitism, commensalisms and mutualism.
“In parasitism, one organism lives at the expense of another. Parasites can destroy their hosts. A parasitic scenario is not healthy because one part takes advantage of the other parts.
“In commensalisms, an organism benefits from the host, without the host being affected.

“In mutualism, both parties benefit.
“Mutualism is the best form of symbiosis . . .,” says the author.
The book was launched in the capital recently. Patson Dzamara is a motivational speaker, counsellor and management leadership consultant.

 

You Might Also Like

Comments