No man is an island, entire of itself. Every man is piece of the continent, a part of the main.
We often hear this famous line to illustrate the reality that we are interconnected and interdependent with one another. However, more often than not, the quality of our involvement with one another in the workplace, in the community, or in other collaborative settings is driven by the pursuit of meeting our individual needs, aspirations and dreams. Such that when the endeavor does not add value to us or appears not to have direct impact on us, we care less to cooperate or collaborate.
For instance, when a relationship appears to have no contribution towards a goal to be promoted or to secure a higher position, would we care to invest our time and effort to develop and strengthen it? When a project seems to advance somebody else’s career and not ours, would we care to be part of it for the sake of achieving the agency vision? When an official transaction looks like we cannot gain a personal advantage, would we care to complete the work? When a new initiative in the office or community shakes our daily routine and calls us to go out of our comfort zone, would we care to get involved for a cause greater than ourselves? When a colleague or a neighbor throws a brighter and more feasible idea than ours, would we care to continue to collaborate to make things happen?
John Maxwell, a famous leadership guru, noted that the foundation of cooperation is the attitude. It starts from a heart that truly cares, aspires to add value to somebody else’s life, and seeks for the best interest of other.
Genuine cooperation takes place when there is recognition that the centrality of life is beyond the self-fulfillment or personal agenda, and that there is a community, a nation waiting for each of us to rise and be involved.
It is when we possess a national or global mentality that we see the bigger picture of the call to cooperate. This causes us to make ourselves available – to contribute our knowledge, skills and resources – to achieve a common vision.
Such acknowledgement then leads us to stop competing with out colleagues and neighbors, and start seeking ways to esteem them better than ourselves. It results to valuing one another as integral member of the team and the community. The job gets done with greater efficiency and productivity when all hands are set to accomplish as one.
Time and again the potential of our nation to rise has been ripped off by those in power because of self-interest at the expense of the greater good. This should come to an end. It should start in us today.
Be involved. Be engaged. Cooperate until we harness the strengths of this nation and realize ‘a community marked with honest and righteous environment geared towards a graft-free society’.