“All of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind.” – 1 Peter 3:8

It is wonderful to be blessed with the opportunity to reflect on life and record it for the benefit of posterity.

Founded in 1843, Rothamsted Research, previously known as the Rothamsted Experimental Station and then the Institute of Arable Crops Research, is one of the oldest agricultural research institutions in the world. Following my PhD programme in 1968, I enjoyed a memorable six months as a biometrics intern, with an international team, at Rothamsted Research in the UK.

This led seamlessly into my first job, where I was charged with the responsibility of establishing a Biometrics Unit, from scratch, in the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad to serve the CARICOM region. My resources were a room full of cobwebs, access to a secretary (part-time) and the knowledge I had acquired in the UK. Six years later, having built up a formidable team and chosen my successor from the UK, I moved on. The Biometrics Unit is recognizable today in the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) at St. Augustine.

Then there was the Management Consulting pioneering initiative in Barbados (1977) at Systems Caribbean Limited. This was sold in 2000 to local interests as the largest indigenous business development consulting firm in the Caribbean. The firm still exists today as Systems Consulting Ltd. as a result of successful teamwork over the years.

The Caribbean Business Enterprise Initiative (conceptualized at the CDB from 1998 to 2001) was the nucleus for the Shepherding Model, which was designed to be a Caribbean Catalyst turning concepts into Commercial Realities. This model manifested itself through many iterations, CBET (regionally), CBET (Barbados) and NEDCO (Trinidad) with different teams.

The culmination of all this is my involvement as a Director with my son’s company, Marketplace Excellence Corporation in the U.S., which is made up of a diverse global team.

My reflection reveals that teamwork is the key to success and that camaraderie fuels teamwork.

Research on leadership and years of experience reveal that an owner or leader selects a board. The board agrees on a mission for the organization, and then sets smart (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-specific) stakeholder objectives, appoints and monitors management. The management team carries out the needed actions by encouraging mutual trust and friendship as an essential element of a successful team. Management directs the team to solve problems, obtains individual commitments, instills the importance of responsibility and personal accountability, identifies and removes barriers to success and encourages camaraderie because it fuels teamwork.

I have been charged with the responsibility of team building throughout my professional career and can attest to the importance of the above factors.

Let us build on teamwork, deepen our experiences of life, and draw on camaraderie to take our families, companies, communities, cities and countries forward. Yes, we can!

CAMARADERIE FUELS TEAMWORK REVISITED – BASIL SPRINGER COLUMN WHICH APPEARS IN THE BARBADOS ADVOCATE’S BUSINESS MONDAY ON OCTOBER 28, 2019 

“All of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind.” – 1 Peter 3:8

It is wonderful to be blessed with the opportunity to reflect on life and record it for the benefit of posterity.

Founded in 1843, Rothamsted Research, previously known as the Rothamsted Experimental Station and then the Institute of Arable Crops Research, is one of the oldest agricultural research institutions in the world. Following my PhD programme in 1968, I enjoyed a memorable six months as a biometrics intern, with an international team, at Rothamsted Research in the UK.

This led seamlessly into my first job, where I was charged with the responsibility of establishing a Biometrics Unit, from scratch, in the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad to serve the CARICOM region. My resources were a room full of cobwebs, access to a secretary (part-time) and the knowledge I had acquired in the UK. Six years later, having built up a formidable team and chosen my successor from the UK, I moved on. The Biometrics Unit is recognizable today in the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) at St. Augustine.

Then there was the Management Consulting pioneering initiative in Barbados (1977) at Systems Caribbean Limited. This was sold in 2000 to local interests as the largest indigenous business development consulting firm in the Caribbean. The firm still exists today as Systems Consulting Ltd. as a result of successful teamwork over the years.

The Caribbean Business Enterprise Initiative (conceptualized at the CDB from 1998 to 2001) was the nucleus for the Shepherding Model, which was designed to be a Caribbean Catalyst turning concepts into Commercial Realities. This model manifested itself through many iterations, CBET (regionally), CBET (Barbados) and NEDCO (Trinidad) with different teams.

The culmination of all this is my involvement as a Director with my son’s company, Marketplace Excellence Corporation in the U.S., which is made up of a diverse global team.

My reflection reveals that teamwork is the key to success and that camaraderie fuels teamwork.

Research on leadership and years of experience reveal that an owner or leader selects a board. The board agrees on a mission for the organization, and then sets smart (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-specific) stakeholder objectives, appoints and monitors management. The management team carries out the needed actions by encouraging mutual trust and friendship as an essential element of a successful team. Management directs the team to solve problems, obtains individual commitments, instills the importance of responsibility and personal accountability, identifies and removes barriers to success and encourages camaraderie because it fuels teamwork.

I have been charged with the responsibility of team building throughout my professional career and can attest to the importance of the above factors.

 

Let us build on teamwork, deepen our experiences of life, and draw on camaraderie to take our families, companies, communities, cities and countries forward. Yes, we can!