February

KEEP THE BALL BOUNCING 

Close your eyes. All of you are in a circle. Each of you is bouncing two basketballs simultaneously with both hands. You do this four times, and then take a step to your right and continue to bounce the two basketballs you inherit without missing a beat. You keep this going, until you circle back to the balls you had in the beginning. Now, open your eyes. 

What character traits did you need to keep the balls bouncing?

For me, it is cooperation and teamwork. These two traits are what I would like us all to embody as we carry each other through these uncertain and trying times and strive to reach our ambitious goals for 2021. Remember that this period is in the lead up to our Golden Jubilee of the Union – where the scales move from an oil based economy to a knowledge based one, which will affect both the economy and the skills workers will need to not only survive but also thrive. It is within this post oil economy, that the blueprint we have worked so hard to create, will aid the Youth to serve the UAE and carry the torch into the future. 

While collaboration has become more complex, our successes still hinges on the fundamentals of great teamwork: diverse, dispersed, digital and dynamic teams.

Each one of you is special. Each one of you has a skill that the other does not and each one of you adds value to our family. And perhaps, one of you is carrying a burden the naked eye cannot see and requires support that we have not provided.

We must embody teamwork both in a personal and professional capacity, in the physical and virtual realms. Did any of you check in on your colleague today to see if they were okay? Did any of you offer support? Did any of you learn something new from one another? 

I would like you to take a few minutes to reach out to someone in your team who you have not interacted with or someone you have not necessarily seen eye to eye on matters. If the person is in the former category, ask them how they are and if there is anything you can do to help and if someone falls in the latter category, then find 70 excuses for the person. When you reach the 10th excuse, your heart will soften and then you will ask them how they are and if there is anything you can do to help. 

The spirit of helping others, collaboration and teamwork should be inherent traits in all of us.

Many of you may be wondering what the origin of todays’ circular was, and it was a simple basketball drill undertaken by kindergarten children, which can be seen here. 

In the drill you imagined at the beginning, you exhibited what effective teamwork looks and feels like - when individual team members harmonise their efforts and work towards a common goal. As they pass the balls to one another, they trust that the next person will keep the rhythm and pace... and I pray we continue to nurture these character traits as we move forward to achieve our goals this year.

May Hope light the path and Faith spur us forward and to imaginal growth this February,

Shamma