BY JENNIFER LEE
At most GORUCK events, you are working with one large team consisting of everyone in your class. This provides you with numerous options for who gets to lead vs follow, who carries what, and how often you grab a rest period from the coupons, so you don’t have to be “on” all of the time. At Team Assessment, there’s no slacking off. It’s just going to be you and your partner, which is both exciting and challenging. In smaller teams, you have more control over your destiny, but it leaves little room for either of you to be “off” at any time. If one person goes into a low period, it’s like having 50% of your team down, and it’s up to the other individual to help the struggling person bounce back. Each person will struggle at different times and will have the opportunity to help the other person. Sometimes, both of you will struggle, in which case both of you will need to dig deep and work together to find a way through. Hopefully, most of the time, you’ll both feel in the zone and work together well.
TA will test your ability to communicate, motivate each other, and leverage each other’s strengths, all of which will allow you to tackle the physical challenges together.
COMMUNICATION
Transparency is key. Let your partner know when you’re struggling mentally or physically, or better yet, starting to struggle, so that they can help you before the situation worsens. There’s no hiding an issue once it becomes full-blown because it’s just the two of you. There will be rules to make sure that you communicate, such as never being allowed to be out of arms’ reach of each other. It’s both teammates’ responsibility to keep an eye out for each other, regardless of whether you’re the one ahead or behind.
Body language is also a means of communication, even if it’s unconscious. Has your partner gone into silent mode because they’re struggling and fighting inner demons, or are they just focusing on the task? Are they slouched over from fatigue? Have you been keeping tabs on them that they’re regularly eating, drinking, and using the restroom (a sign of adequate hydration)? Do they need some extra motivation or help, or do they just want some quiet time to focus? If you’re the faster or stronger person at the time, is it wiser to slow down your pace to something more sustainable, or is it better to try to push your partner despite their discomfort? Is there a way that you could physically help them, even?
Clear communication is very important, especially in the second 24 hours when things become fuzzier. Don't expect your partner to read your mind, or respond to subtle suggestions. Be kind, but be clear about things that will help you keep moving forward.
MOTIVATION
The right words at the right time mean a lot. If you know your partner’s “why”, when do you pull it out to give them that extra boost? Sometimes, acts of kindness provide non-verbal comfort and motivation, like a pat on the back after a job well done, or extra help with a piece of gear or with a heavy object. When you know that your partner has your back, you want to reciprocate and do even more for them. Acts done out of love can often be more powerful than acts done out of ambition. When you focus on others (your partner, in this case), you often forget your own pain.
If you both happen to be stuck in a rough patch, don’t let each other quit! Remind each other that this particular task does have an end. The duration of the evolution and the event as a whole is pre-planned and finite. Keep moving forward as well as you can, and then you can move on to whatever is next. Don’t give up.
If you both really want to quit, stick through the current evolution and plan to quit in the next one. If you still want to quit in the next evolution, finish that one and plan to quit in the one after that. Repeat that until you either bounce back or complete the event!
If your team is struggling with a particular evolution, and you want to quit because you perceive you are failing, know that your opinion of your performance is not important. If your performance is poor, the cadre will let you know. Let the cadre drop you. Don’t drop yourself. Just do your best.
PLAYING TO STRENGTHS
We’re all built and gifted differently, so a neat aspect of Team Assessment comes into play where one partner’s strength is able to help overcome the other partner’s weakness. Nobody is going to be good at everything, but combined, the two of you have more strengths than either of you has individually. Those strengths could be physical (speed, endurance, strength) or personal (bold, positive, strategic, experienced, selfless).
It's fulfilling when you get to be the person who has the strength at the time. You feel like you’re able to contribute something valuable to the team, and you get an extra mental boost from that. You’re only able to move as fast as the weaker person at the time, so help your teammate as much as you can.
Once you have those three components, the rest is a matter of relying on your training.