There is a paradox inherent in Olympic eights competition: first oarswomen compete fiercely against each other for a seat in the boat, then they work together to defeat international adversaries. How does a successful team balance the competition necessary to build a strong team with the collaboration necessary to succeed at the highest level? The answer lies in what we rowers refer to as “leaving it on the water”–when you get off the water, you leave all conflict behind and focus on being a good teammate out of the boat. In this talk, I help teams figure out how to confine competition to the proper arena so that competitiveness becomes an asset and not a liability.
Caryn Davies 