Early in my communication coaching journey, a mentor said something to me that has stayed ever since.

“The ocean is big enough for us all to swim in.”

It landed personally at the time. I did not realise how much it would shape how I work, and what I would start noticing in teams.

Because some teams have that. Not as a value on a wall. As something you can actually feel. In how people talk about each other’s work. In how someone responds when a colleague gets recognised. In whether people share what they know or hold slightly back. In whether success feels shared or rationed.

I was reminded of it recently. I was coaching a group, not a team exactly, more a team of peers. Afterwards I shared a photo with the person who had organised it. His response made me smile: “it looks like everyone actually liked each other.” As if that were surprising. As if it shouldn’t be the baseline.

But he was right to notice it. Because it isn’t always there. And when it isn’t, teams feel it even if no one names it. Decisions get complicated by things that have nothing to do with the decision. Collaboration requires more effort than it should. People protect territory that was never actually under threat.

That unspoken sense that there is not quite enough to go around is one of the things that stops teams from really moving.

Keeping Things Moving, the final phase of my work with teams, is not about tighter processes or louder accountability. It becomes possible when people have stopped competing for an ocean that was always big enough to swim in.

What was said to you early in your career that still shapes how you work?