Before I was eight, all the neighbors would come and call on my Dad to come out to play, either touch football or softball. He would say “after dinner” but more importantly, he said “everyone gets to play.”
While we kids were always competitive with each other, at school and in the workplace one thing sticks with me the most: teamwork.
You’re only as good as your team. If you hire inferior people to make you feel more important, you should lose. The better the team, the better you are, who cares if someone is smarter than you or another has better ideas.
A few years ago I watched the first Top Chef Masters when the masters had to choose sous-chefs. During the few moments allowed for menu planning, there were two styles at play, one that invited collaboration, camaraderie and a buy-in for success, and one a top-down brigade style. Guess who won? Teamwork.
I married my husband because I knew he was ethical, moral and a good judge of character. I knew he’d be a team-builder and that he is, as well as a mentor to younger folks. He is brilliant, I mean it, and loves to meet and work with people he believes are smarter and more talented in certain areas. It challenges him and makes him better at what he does.
On the other side, his mother believes I should be on the ground helping to bring down his balloon. She doesn’t know that I’m up there looking at the ground below and seeing new landscapes with him. This lifetime partnership is sealed because as he is very tall, he can reach things in cabinets over the refrigerator, and I can look for things he needs from under counters.
He grew up on a dairy farm in the middle of nowhere. I grew up in a house nearby a dairy in the middle of nowhere. My sister and I had a softball team with our two buddies from 1/4 mile away. Tons of ghost men and we played every day. If kids can create ghost players, then all the kids can play.
I’ve run teams and volunteers for a lifetime and what I can tell you is is that all the kids can play. Thank you for teaching me that, Dad. I always thank my team and you’re first as you’ve been there for me forever. Dee
Cooking with Dee 