Building high-performing teams is a challenge for any leader. When done successfully, it creates synergy which helps the team to achieve far better results than any individual could achieve on their own.
A high-performing team is one of the most practical contexts to understand the import of the saying that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”
But before you can build high-performing teams, you need to first get everyone involved to see the value of teamwork. Sharing inspirational quotes about teamwork is one of the most effective ways to do this.
These quotes help us to reflect on the importance of collaboration while also inspiring us to strive for better results. In this blog post, we will explore some of the most inspiring quotes that emphasize the importance of teamwork and building high-performing teams.
40 inspiring quotes about teamwork
1. “Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.” – Andrew Carnegie
2. “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.” – Michael Jordan
3. “Not finance, not strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and rare.” – Patrick Lencioni
4. “Individual commitment to a group effort- that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” – Vince Lombardi
5. “The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” – Phil Jackson
6. “Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.” – Steve Jobs
7. “Interdependent people combine their own effort with the efforts of others to achieve their greatest success.” – Stephen Covey
8. “I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot: together we can do great things.” – Mother Teresa
9. “Collaboration has no hierarchy. The Sun collaborates with soil to bring flowers on the earth.” – Amit Ray
10. “Teams are incredible things. No task is too great, no accomplishment too grand, no dream too far-fetched for a team. It takes teamwork to make the dream work.” – John Maxwell
11. “Don’t aspire to be the best on the team. Aspire to be the best for the team.” – Brian Tracy
12. “It is the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) that those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.” – Charles Darwin
13. “Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than the one where they sprang up.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes
14. “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller [Click to tweet]
15. “The ratio of we’s to I’s is the best indicator of the development of a team.” – Lewis B. Ergen
16. “Cooperation is the thorough conviction that nobody can get there unless everybody gets there.” – Virginia Burden
17. “You are either supporting the vision or supporting division.” – Saji Ijiyemi
18. “Effectively, change is almost impossible without industry-wide collaboration, cooperation, and consensus.” – Simon Mainwaring
19. “There is immense power when a group of people with similar interests gets together to work toward the same goals.” – Idowu Koyenikan
20. “It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed.” –Napoleon Hill
22. “It’s better to have a great team than a team of greats.” – Simon Sinek
23. “When a team outgrows individual performance and learns team confidence, excellence becomes a reality.” – Joe Paterno
24. “Teamwork is the best ever investment. If I make 3 and you make 5, together we will not make 8. We will make 15. Leaders build active teams.” – Israelmore Ayivor
25. “Strategy is not a solo sport, even if you’re the CEO.” – Max McKeown
26. “Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together.” – James Cash Penney
27. “Teamwork does not come naturally. Let’s face it. We are born with certain inclinations, but sharing isn’t one of them.” – Pat Summitt
28. “There is no such thing as a self-made man. You will reach your goals only with the help of others.” – George Shinn
29. “Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life forever.” – Amy Poehler
30. “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” – African Proverb
31. “You need to be aware of what others are doing, applaud their efforts, acknowledge their successes, and encourage them in their pursuits. When we all help one another, everybody wins.” – Jim Stovall
32. “To build a strong team, you must see someone else’s strength as a complement to your weakness and not a threat to your position or authority.” – Christine Caine
33. “A team is not a group of people who work together but a team is a group of people who trust each other.” — Simon Sinek
34. “No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it.” – Halford E. Luccock
35. “The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.” – Babe Ruth
36. “No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you’re playing a solo game, you’ll always lose out to a team.” – Reid Hoffman
37. “Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile things, but just look what they can do when they stick together.” –Vesta M. Kelly
38. “Great teams do not hold back with one another. They are unafraid to air their dirty laundry. They admit their mistakes, their weaknesses and their concerns without fear of reprisal.” –Patrick Lencioni
39. “A group becomes a team when each member is sure enough of himself and his contribution to praise the skills of others.” – Norman Shidle
40. “When you need to innovate, you need collaboration.” — Marissa Mayer
Bonus: “A boat doesn’t go forward if each one is rowing their own way.” – Swahili Proverb
Which of these quotes did you find most inspiring? Consider sharing them with your team members. You may even print out the quotes and put them up in frames around your office to create an environment that inspires your colleagues to imbibe the value of teamwork and collaboration.
