Tough Lessons On Teamwork
By Caliber Creative
This summer, I finished my second Tough Mudder. The best part of running the course with 20+ military obstacles was having a larger team to cross the finish line with this year. We even recruited two new members at the starting line, for a total of seven. It took us around four hours to complete the run, which may seem a little long, but it was not a race. It was a challenge to help as many people as we could along the way. Tough Mudder was an experience that showed me teamwork at its best, so let me share the lessons that great teams need to exhibit to succeed.
- Have each others’ backs.
Watch out for your teammates. If someone is falling behind on the run, go along side them and encourage them. Make your end goal to finish together. You’re not running a marathon for yourself to get the fastest time; you want to come out of this with no man or woman left behind. Not every moment of working together is going to be a walk in the park. Sometimes you need to be willing to slide down a slippery slope, crawl out of the mud, and reach back to drag another member out of the mess with you… metaphorically speaking.
- Prevent injuries by having a system.
On the pyramid, one of our more experienced team members would hold down the base as they leaned against the angled wall. The next strongest person stood on his shoulders, reaching a hand down to pull others higher along the wall until they could reach a teammate’s hand at the top. It took communication, and a willingness to take the impact of another person’s decision. Even when people slid back into the water, the team would problem-solve and adjust the system until everyone could make it to the top.
- Lift others up without expecting anything in return.
A little kindness and gratitude goes a long way. At the Mudder, complete strangers would give me a boost over walls, no questions asked. Although, I didn’t always have the physical strength to return the favor, I tried more often to push my limits. I helped push a girl up a peg wall and pulled more participants out of the mud. Would you rather be remembered as the person who left your teammate on the ground, or picked them up and raised them to new heights?
- Ask for help when an obstacle seems too hard to take on alone.
Having people help you accomplish a goal feels much more rewarding than giving up on something you thought you had to accomplish solo. My teammate ran up a 15-foot half pipe called Everest, reaching for hands at the top only to slide back down the wall. After a few more tries she called over others to help, and on her ninth try she made it over the top. Her persistence was amazing, and her willingness to ask for assistance helped her finish every single obstacle. Together we can accomplish more than we can alone. Everyone benefits.