This past weekend, I had the privilege of watching my daughters take the stage in Peter Pan. My oldest daughter played Peter Pan and my youngest played Tiger Lily. How well they and their castmates performed made my heart smile.
I anticipated leaving the theatre with an idea for a Peter Pan-inspired blog about some aspect of being a good teammate. Up until the play’s closing moments, it didn’t seem like that was going to happen.
Peter Pan is a fun story, but there simply aren’t a lot of good teammates in it. The lost boys, the pirates, the natives, the Darlings, and Tinker Bell all tend to pursue self-serving agendas. They routinely choose “me over we” and give little thought to how their choices impact others.
I had all but abandoned the possibility of getting a blog topic from the show, until a slight miscue sparked an idea.
In the final scene, Peter Pan returns to Wendy’s window, where he discovers Wendy to now be grown up, married, and with a child of her own. Peter convinces Wendy’s daughter, Jane, to come with him to Neverland. The two of them are supposed to then “fly” out the window to end the play.
But something backstage caused the timing to be off with the crew operating the flying apparatus. Peter covered the delay by telling Jane, “Maybe you just need a little more pixie dust.”
And with those words—a little more pixie dust—the inspiration I was looking for presented itself.
In The WE Gear, I refer to good teammates as the magical ingredient in every successful team. Quite often, what makes good teammates magical is their ability to add a little more pixie dust to other team members.
They do this by being encouraging. Most people notice when a team member is struggling. Some rejoice in that misery. Others mind their own business and say nothing. Good teammates soothe the struggle by offering meaningful encouragement.
If their initial encouragement isn’t enough, good teammates go back and offer a little more encouragement.
It may not seem like a big deal, but to the downtrodden a good teammate’s encouraging words can be the difference between flying and failing.
Frustration will ground a person’s spirit and make that person want to quit. Phrases like you can do it, don’t give up, and I believe in you are the equivalent of pixie dust because they have the same uplifting effect. They elevate others’ confidence and encourage others to rise above the frustration.
Being a good teammate doesn’t require any magical talents. All you need is faith, trust, and to share a little more pixie dust.
As always…Good teammates care. Good teammates share. Good teammates listen. Go be a good teammate.
