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A Director's Chairby George A. Broeckx When I asked my nine-year-old granddaughter Summer what "team" meant to her, she said, "Together everyone achieves more." I looked in the Webster's dictionary and found the definition of team-a group of people working or playing together, to join in cooperative activity, an organization (e.g., HWFC). Also from Webster, "teamwork"-joint action by a group of people as in a collaboration, union, partnership, cooperative. Most of us began our lives as part of a "family" team. Our classmates in school made up a team. If we played any sports in school, we were part of a team. Looking at HWFC from a team view, we are a collection of teams. Each department, whether it be produce, cheese, bulk, deli, grocery, HABA, front end, Coop Scoop, or administration, etc., make up a team. The Board of Directors is a team. Each of the committees are a team. Working and non-working members along with the general membership are all teams. Together all these teams make up the "big team"-the Honest Weight Food Coop. The HWFC is an extraordinary coop store. It didn't just happen. We are extraordinary because everyone helped each other to be successful at what we each contributed to the whole. I've heard that the whole is more than the sum of its parts. I believe this to be true of the HWFC. No department or team can stand alone, each part depends on the whole to succeed. When we each became members of the HWFC, we agreed to be a part of something, to be a part of something larger than ourselves. When I became a member, I made a commitment to do my part, to put in the time, to do the work; I made a commitment to be in a special relationship with other members. What that commitment means to me is to cooperate with each other with honesty, respect, loyalty and a dedication to the cooperative principles. As we move forward into the future, holding a vision of cooperation is important because as a coop, we are all owners together. We must hold the vision that the "we" is more important than the "me." Continuing to do our best to support each other and to practicing the skills we learn along the way, will support that vision. We will move forward with a focus on helping others, the focus can not be on what the individual personally wants, but rather what's better for the group, the team, the Honest Weight Food Coop. Remember: When love and skill come together, you can expect a masterpiece. |
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