My phone rang and it was a call from the Parks and Recreation Department asking me to coach a fifth grade girls’ basketball team. After some discussion and inquiry, I found out it was a “left over” group of six girls from several schools who already had their “Team” formed.

Ego is one of the greatest killers of effective teamwork. When someone has ulterior motives, tries to collect all of the credit and is in general more concerned about themselves than the team – it is poisonous. I found the following teamwork story that illustrates this point.

I love fables. The following teamwork story and fable highlights the importance of standing united. Once there was a lion who was watching three bulls feeding in an open field. He attempted to attack the bulls several different times without success. The bulls had kept together and helped each other drive him off.

There is an old Aesop fairytale I have told many times in workshops. I love it. If you are kicking off a project it is a great teamwork story to start with. It demonstrates what can simply go wrong in team execution.