#418: 125 Quotes on Teamworking That Will Make You Think, Remember, and Live By

Introduction

125 quotes on teamworking that will make you think, remember, and live by.

01

"When many work together for a goal, great things may be accomplished. It is said a lion cub was killed by a single colony of ants." (Saskya Pandita 1182 - 1251)

02

"We are all angels with only one wing; we can only fly while embracing each other." (Luciano de Crescenzo)

03

"Where there is unity, there is always victory." (Publilius Syrus 42 BC)

04

"We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly, we shall hang separately." (Benjamin Franklin 1706 - 90)

05

"If your group doesn’t laugh at least four out of five days, you have a real challenge on your hands. Small children laugh 400 times daily and adults do so only 15 times a day." (William Blades)

06

"In the long history of humankind (and animal kind too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed." (Charles Darwin 1809 - 82)

07

"Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work." (Vince Lombardi 1913 - 70)

08

"We are born for co-operation, as are the feet, the hands, the eye-lids, and the upper and lower jaws." (Marcus Aurelius)

09

"When team members regard each other with mutual respect, differences are considered strengths rather than weaknesses. The role of the leader is to foster mutual respect and build a complementary team where each strength is made productive and each weakness irrelevant." (Stephen Covey)

10

"A leader must not only be willing to give opportunity to others, but must be in the business of creating opportunity for others." (William Hodges)

11

"I asked, “Why doesn’t somebody do something?”. Then I realized, I was somebody." (Source Unknown)

12

"Work and self-worth are the two factors that interact with each other and that tend to increase the strong sense of pride found in superior work teams." (Dennis Kinlaw)

13

"The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team." (Phil Jackson)

14

"When a team outgrows individual performance and learns team confidence, excellence becomes a reality." (Joe Paterno)

15

"You will be most effective when you can compliment each other without embarrassment and disagree without fear." (Source Unknown)

16

"The key elements in working together are how to deal with change, how to deal with conflict, and how to reach our potential. The needs of the team are met when we meet the needs of the team members." (Max DePree)

17

"Do you want a collection of brilliant minds or a brilliant collection of minds?" (R. Meredith Belbin)

18

"Synergy is the highest activity of life; it creates new untapped alternatives; it values and exploits the mental, emotional, and psychological differences between people." (Stephen Covey)

19

"The ratio of We’s to I’s is the best indicator of the development of a team." (Lewis B. Ergen)

20

"Just because we are all equal doesn’t mean we’re all the same." (Source Unknown)

21

"On an ordinary team, one plus one is two, but on the best teams, it’s three. Rather than having one star, the whole team stars." (Takashi Osada)

22

"Everyone is needed but no one is necessary." (Bruce Coslet)

23

"The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team." (John Wooden)

24

"We regard our living together not as an unfortunate mishap warranting endless competition, but as a deliberate act of God to make us a community of brothers and sisters jointly involved in the quest for an answer to the problems of life." (Steven Biko)

25

"If a friend is in trouble, don't annoy him by asking if there is anything you can do. Think up something appropriate and do it." (Edgar Howe 1853 - 1937)

26

"No one can whistle a symphony. It takes an orchestra to play it." (H. E. Luccock)

27

"Trust is knowing that when a team member pushes you, they are doing it because they care about the team." (Patrick Lencioni)

28

"We are not put on this earth for ourselves, but are placed here for each other. If you are there always for others, then in time of need, someone will be there for you." (Jeff Warner)

29

"Tell everyone what you want to do and someone will want to help you do it." (W. Clement Stone)

30

"No problem is insurmountable. With a little courage, teamwork and determination a person can overcome anything." (B. Dodge)

31

"The world basically and fundamentally is constituted on the basis of harmony. Everything works in co-operation with something else." (Preston Bradley)

32

“Working as a team with one goal, we soon realized we were only as strong as our weakest link. But did we condemn the weaker member? That wouldn’t serve any purpose. Instead, the stronger guys responded by carrying more weight than the weaker teammate." (Jake Byrne)

33

"When he took the time to help the man up the mountain, lo, he scaled it himself." (Source Unknown)

34

"When your team is winning, be ready to be tough, because winning can make you soft. On the other hand, when your team is losing, stick by them. Keep believing." (Bo Schembechler)

35

"We have always found that people are most productive in small teams with tight budgets, timelines, and the freedom to solve their own problems." (John Rollwagen)

36

"Fun is only real and sustainable if it feeds off the team’s purpose and performance aspirations." (Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith)

37

"I love to hear a choir. I love the humanity, to see the faces of real people devoting themselves to a piece of music. It makes me feel optimistic about the human race when I see them co-operating like that." (Paul McCartney)

38

"The nice thing about teamwork is that you always have others on your side." (Margaret Carty)

39

"A well-run restaurant is like a winning baseball team. It makes the most of every crew member’s talent and takes advantage of every split-second opportunity to speed up service." (David Ogilvy)

40

"Not the cry, but the flight of the wild duck, leads the flock to fly and follow." (Chinese Proverb)

41

"Many hands make light work." (Old proverb)

42

"The most productive, healthy and satisfying relationships are based, not on a quid pro quo but an ebb and flow of mutual support over time. Don’t just be a giver. Be an extremely helpful giver who demonstrates an awareness of what that person most needs." (Kare Anderson)

43

"Pleasure usually takes the form of me and now; joy is us and always." (Marvin J. Ashton)

44

"What makes a multitude of individuals a society rather than a crowd is a commonly held ideal." (Melvin Lyon)

45

"Love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction." (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

46

"The best morale exists when you never hear the word mentioned. When you hear a lot of talk about it, it’s usually lousy." (Dwight D. Eisenhower 1890 - 1969)

47

"Union does everything when it is perfect. It satisfies desires, simplifies needs, foresees the wishes, and becomes a constant fortune." (Etienne Senancour 1770 - 1846)

48

"Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep in them - a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill." (Muhammad Ali)

49

"Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success." (Henry Ford 1863 - 1947)

50

"Great discoveries and improvements invariably involve the co-operation of many minds." (Alexander Graham Bell 1847 - 1922)

51

"A good marriage is one in which each appoints the other guardian of his solitude. Once the realization is accepted that even between the closest human beings infinite distances continue to exist, a wonderful living side by side can grow up." (Rainer Maria Rilke 1875 - 1926)

52

"The miracle is this: the more we share, the more we have." (Leonard Nimoy)

53

"Let there be spaces in your togetherness." (Kahlil Gibran 1883 - 1931)

54

"Always try to do something for the other fellow and you will be agreeably surprised how things come your way, how many pleasing things are done for you." (Claude M. Bristol)

55

"Few great players make the transition into management. The reason is that great players are normally like soloists in an orchestra. They perform alone and tend to look down on team-mates with lesser ability." (Bob Paisley 1919 - 96)

56

"Teamwork represents a set of values that encourage behaviours such as listening, giving others the benefit of the doubt, providing support to those who need it, and recognizing the achievements of others." (Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith)

57

"None of us is as smart as all of us." (Japanese company slogan)

58

"The speed of the boss is the speed of the team." (Lee Iacocca)

59

"The rule of friendship between friends means there should be mutual sympathy between them, each supplying what the other lacks and trying to benefit the other, always using friendly and sincere words." (The Buddha)

60

"Two persons cannot long be friends if they cannot forgive each others' little failings." (La Bruyere 1645 - 96)

61

"Leadership is not about your ambition. It is about bringing out the ambitions of your team." (Cheryl A. Bachelder)

62

"I take as my guide the words of a saint: in crucial things, unity; in important things, diversity; in all things, generosity." (George Bush)

63

"Teams should be like wild ducks: individually autonomous, but when something needs done, they fly in formation, giving warm air and uplift to each other." (Source Unknown)

64

"If you have eleven workmen, you will never win. If you have eleven artists, you will never win. It is important that the team complements each other and we have that. We have the same vision of football and victory." (Eric Cantona)

65

"It is not so much our friends' help that helps as the confidence of their help." (Epicurus 341 - 270 BC)

66

"Reprove your friends in secret; praise them openly." (Publilius Syrus 42 BC)

67

"If one is intelligent and applies himself well, what can he not accomplish? Even small bands of armies, I have heard, have defeated whole armies." (Saskya Pandita 1182 - 1251)

68

"One person with a belief is equal to a force of 99 who have only interests." (John Stuart Mill)

69

"Upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all." (Alexander the Great 356 - 323 BC)

70

"It's been my experience that the people who gain trust, loyalty, excitement and energy fast are the ones who pass on the credit to the people who really have done the work. A leader doesn't need any credit; he's already in the top slot." (Robert Townsend 1920 - 98)

71

"I not only use all the brains I have, but all I can borrow." (Woodrow Wilson 1856 - 1924)

72

"I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers." (Ralph Nader)

73

"The ultimate leader is the one who is willing to develop people to the point that they surpass him or her in knowledge and ability." (Fred A. Manske)

74

"A key characteristic of transformational leaders is that they motivate people to do more than they originally expected to." (Elizabeth Chell)

75

"Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than in the one where they sprang up." (Oliver Wendell Holmes 1809 - 94)

76

"The next time you're in a meeting, look around and identify the yes-butters, the not-knowers and the why-notters. Why-notters move the world." (Louise Pierson)

77

"The goal is not to have a team but to increase productivity and employee satisfaction." (Source Unknown)

78

“Teamwork is a self-reinforcing upward spiral: performance stimulating pride stimulating performance." (Rosabeth Moss Kanter)

79

"A group becomes a team when each member is sure enough of himself and his contribution to praise the skills of the others." (Norman Shidle)

80

"Teamwork is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results." (Source Unknown)

81

"Real teams don’t emerge unless individuals in them take risks involving conflict, trust, interdependence, and hard work." (Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith)

82

"Just because we are all equal doesn’t mean we are all the same." (Source Unknown)

83

"Teamplayer: one who unites others towards a shared destiny through sharing information and ideas, empowering others and developing trust." (Dennis Kinlaw)

84

"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one." (Jane Howard)

85

"Share our similarities, celebrate our differences." (M. Scott Peck)

86

"There is no such thing as a self-made man. You will reach your goals only with the help of others." (George Shinn)

87

"No one lives long enough to learn everything they need to learn starting from scratch. To be successful, we have to find people who have already paid the price to learn the things that we need to learn to achieve our goals." (Brian Tracy)

88

"There can only be one state of mind as you approach any profound test: total concentration, a spirit of togetherness, and strength." (Pat Riley)

89

"A team which has become a winner has done so by individuals setting and reaching goals for themselves." (Source Unknown)

90

"Teamwork is working together – even when apart." (Source Unknown)

91

"You can buy someone’s time. You can buy someone’s physical presence. But you cannot buy enthusiasm, you cannot buy initiative, you cannot buy loyalty, you cannot buy devotion of hearts, minds and souls. You have to earn these things." (Clarence Francis)

92

"Teamwork is what the Green Bay Packers were all about. They didn't do it for individual glory. They did it because they loved one another." (Vince Lombardi)

93

"It is amazing what can be accomplished when nobody cares about who gets the credit." (Robert Yates)

94

"In a large family, you learn to share the bathroom, the babysitting, and the last bit of ice cream. Everyone wins." (Laura Benjamin)

95

"Members of groups that do not meet regularly usually do not feel a strong sense of belonging and do not take ownership for the success of the group." (Source Unknown)

96

"Teams are successful when they are focused, have a short cycle time, and are supported by the executives." (Tom Bouchard)

97

"If I could solve all the problems myself, I would." (Founder of IBM, Tom Watson, when asked why he had a team of 21 assistants)

98

"We're like blind men on a corner. We have to learn to trust people or we’ll never cross the street." (George Foreman)

99

"A successful team is a group of many hands and one mind." (Bill Bethel)

100

"No individual can win a game by himself." (Pele)

101

"Teamwork. A few harmless flakes working together can unleash an avalanche of destruction." (Justin Sewell)

102

"It takes two flints to make a fire." (Louisa May Alcott)

103

"If two men on the same job agree all the time, then one is useless. If they disagree all the time, both are useless." (Darryl F. Zanuck)

104

"Even though you might be the leader in the kitchen, you need to understand that that you're part of a working machine and that machine stops working if one of the pieces isn't working in unison with the others." (Chef Duane Keller)

105

"A united army of sheep can defeat a divided army of wolves." (Matshona Dhliwayo)

106

"You may have the right idea to work on. You may have the right time to start. You may have the right resources to boost. BUT unless you have the right people, you'll never succeed." (Rateb Rayyes)

107

"Great teams do not hold back with one another. They are unafraid to air their dirty laundry. They admit their mistakes, their weaknesses, and their concerns without fear of reprisal." ( Patrick Lencioni)

108

"Brian Clough once told me, Instead of scoring thirty goals a season, why don't you score twenty-five and help someone else to score fifteen? That way the team's ten goals better off." (David Peace)

109

"You learned a good lesson about fighting as a team. Remember that no warrior needs to be a hero. The most heroic actions take more than one cat." (Erin Hunter)

110

"The key to handling conflict is to make sure people understand it's okay to have an opposing view." (Eunice Parisi-Carew)

111

"To accomplish any goal, embracing the strengths and weaknesses of each member and compensating where necessary are the best ways to make it to the top." (Jake Byrne)

112

"It doesn’t take strength to win. It takes the true heart of the team to win." (Emily Voyles)

113

"Then come the wild weather, come sleet or come snow; we will stand by each other, however it blow." (Simon Dach 1605 - 59)

114

"Becoming more deeply connected with those you admire and love bolsters in you the traits you most admire in them." (Kare Anderson)

115

"A team is a reflection of its leader." (Sunday Adelaja)

116

"In teamwork, silence isn’t golden, it’s deadly." (Mark Sanborn)

117

"A single arrow is easily broken, but not ten in a bundle." (Proverb)

118

"I’m not under too much of an illusion of how smart or un-smart I am because filmmaking ultimately is about teamwork." (Guy Ritchie)

119

"A team is where a boy can prove his courage on his own. A gang is where a coward goes to hide." (Mickey Mantle, American professional baseball player)

120

"I love teamwork. I love the idea of everyone rallying together to help me win." (Jarod Kintz)

121

"With an enthusiastic team you can achieve almost anything." (Tahir Shah)

122

"Teachers call it copying. We call it teamwork!" (Source Unknown)

123

"A leader must inspire or his team will expire." (Orrin Woodward)

124

"Teamwork begins by building trust. And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability." (Patrick Lencioni)

125

"Unity requires a collective moral force, together with a great leader." (I Ching 1150 BC)

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