Unlocking potential with a true team approach

Throughout your life, professionally and otherwise, you can likely think of certain standout moments or experiences that made you stop and think or that left a distinct impression and shaped your views or goals. For me, one of those impactful instances came years ago when I watched a video of Nelson Mandela discussing the concept of “Ubuntu.”

Ubuntu is a philosophy about humanity and interconnectedness that originated in southern Africa, and the word itself can be loosely translated as, “I am because we are, and we are because I am.”

In the video, Mandela talks about the “old days when everyone helped one another,” and he tells the story of a traveller who stopped at a village very hungry, thirsty and hot. Without the traveller even asking, the people of the village happily gave him food and water, and made sure he was taken care of. This was because the people shared the belief that no single person is more or less important than anyone else, and it’s through helping and supporting every individual that the greatest good can be achieved. Mandela then went on to reinforce the values behind Ubuntu: respect, helpfulness, caring, community, trust and unselfishness.

Though the video itself was fairly simple in its presentation, I found Mandela’s message to be so powerful. By embracing positivity, respecting the importance of community, living to our highest potential and at the same time always looking for and seeing the potential of others, we can collectively accomplish more. While this philosophy can apply very broadly to society, for me, it also really struck a chord for how we can achieve the greatest success in a work and team environment. 

Learning about Ubuntu has helped shape my leadership style over the years. By applying its philosophy within our team and as part of our approach, we’ve seen the benefits it creates when many work as one. 

In putting Ubuntu into practice within a team setting, the focus is on appreciating each individual for their own specific skills, talents and expertise, at the same time recognizing that it takes every single person in order for the team to be at its strongest.

What it really comes down to is being conscious of taking positive steps each day. Knowing and caring about how your colleagues are doing is so important, and I think we should all have the mindset of wanting to help to benefit the team. So, if you’re sitting at your desk and you’re ahead of schedule, and you see that your colleague beside you is piled up and stressed out, you can do two things: leave them alone or ask, “How can I help?”

Big or small, our actions make a difference, and when you develop a team culture of helping, sharing knowledge, collaborating and respecting differences, everyone has a better chance of raising the bar together.