Dawayne D. Butler - Being a Team Player
Dawayne D. Butler notes that when your very decisions can lead to tragedies, you have no other choice but to become a team player, and do it fast. Fishing boats are hazardous environments where you have to pay attention to a lot of things, often simultaneously. One bad move and you or somebody else can pay for your negligence with their life.
Being a team player means different things to different people, but mostly it is about swallowing your ego. When you are willing to put your needs aside for the betterment of multiple individuals, you become a team player, and when they do the same thing for you later, you realize that being a team player is good for everybody.
When you did not sleep too well but still help out another deckhand, you make the whole team stronger. And that can be as true in an office, as it is on a fishing boat. Your team can consist of your colleagues, friends or your family members, but the process is ultimately similar. No individual is more important than the team. There can be clear roles with leaders and followers, but individuals can never be more important than the team.
Dawayne D Butler notes that he had to make these sacrifices numerous times during his career, but it almost always worth it. In his opinion, when everybody is willing to do the same thing, a group of people can come together very quickly, to share a bond which could very well last for a lifetime.
