All for one and One for all! It's showtime!

The Chicago Bulls is my favourite basketball team. My favourite players are John Paxon, Scottie Pipean and Michael Jordan. The team is successful because the players know their roles. If they needed to score with a dunk, they will pass the ball to Jordan. If they wanted a three pointer, the ball would go to Paxon. Pipean was always there to steal the ball from the opponents and hand them over to better scorers. Each team member knew their roles and they knew what it takes to score. Ego and selfishness were never their attitude towards the game. But there is another factor to their success. They had Jordan. Jordan was an excellent player and the team knew they can always count on him to score. Similarly, I realised that my team relied on my existence to get things done. They believed that as long as I was journeying with them, they will definitely succeed.

When some key members wanted to drop out, I kept them together. I told them that the show could not go on without them. Fortunately, they stayed. There were some who wanted more parts, but I didn't want them to assume those parts because others were better. These people think they are the best! There were also times when the team members were anxious and were not sure if they could succeed in giving a good performance. I assured them that the expectation of the crowd was going to be low and it will be easy to surpass their expectation if they just keep trying and follow me. I told them that it was not going to be another Christmas Carolling session offered by so many charity productions! Instantly, with that vision of a good show (beyond Christmas Carols) not only were my team members motivated, so were my sponsors. They simply trusted me because they knew I have the talent.

Bad attitudes left alone can ruin the whole show. To ensure that they remain focused on the vision of a “perfect” show, I brought in the group of orphans who were participating in the show. Their presence constantly reminded the team of the reason why they were doing this. It was not for them, certainly not for me, but for those orphans who needed the funds to run the orphanage. I told them that the orphanage relies heavily on public contributions. Since we had the same set of values and we were all doing this for charity, my team started to get things done.

As time went by, my key members were leading the various departments in the production. I spent my time coaching the casts. As we gathered momentum, the team gained confidence and they realized that it was going to one great show! I had to oversee the coaching, the marketing and also the logistics. But I did not have to spend too much effort in them. This because I trusted my partners and I know where they needed my expert advice they will approach me. This way, I don’t have to do everything alone.

All the tickets were sold for not less than $50 per ticket and the more expensive seats were going for as high as $500. Everyone was surprised by the standard. We were not far off from the singers of the songs when they were first released. There were additional contributions in view of the good performance. It was certainly a night to remember. Everyone displayed their talents and all their hard work paid off. I saw the audience clapping and singing to the songs (in marketing the programmes, I ensured that every one in the audience knew a couple songs). This show would not have been as fun and exciting if not for this dream team. I also have to thank my team mates for recognizing the edge I have.