I was amazed at how well they worked together. One was a veteran in her field with many years of work experience. The other was a young millennial with incredible talent but very little work experience. They came from different worlds. One was in the last season of her career and the other was just starting. The older worked a bit slower, but with methodical knowledge of her trade. She was patient with the young worker, taking time to show her the ropes and then giving her space to do her own thing. The younger worker was full of energy and able to rebound from her youthful mistakes quickly. She watched the older team member and learned how to improve her skill. They had a unique way of "honoring" one another. When one of them was focused on an important job, the other would stop what she was doing and support the other. They would "back" each other over and over again.
Meet Bailey and Bella. They are bird dogs. I observed them on a couple of days of bird hunting with different lead teams. Their teamwork was nothing short of remarkable. Bailey, the senior bird dog vet of 12 years, displayed patience and wisdom while tracking birds until she was literally worn out. Bella, the young dog in training of 1 1/2 years, displayed over-the-top energy and enthusiasm for learning the techniques of quail hunting. Over and over, they demonstrated the power of teamwork. The beauty of seeing one dog go into a point position and the other dog stop whatever she was doing and honor her teammate by standing behind her in a "back" position was amazing.
What if we honored one another? What if those in our personal lives felt like we had their "back" when they needed it? What would a team in our work environment look like, if it practiced honoring one another and backing one another?
Thank you Bailey and Bella, for reminding us what team work truly looks like. When we choose to honor and back one another, we will make a difference.
Larry
