A Team Sport

How many people remember the old television show "The Lone Ranger"? I sure do. Without question my favorite part of the show was the very beginning when, with Rossini's William Tell Overture in the background, he lets out with his famous "Hi Ho, Silver, away!" This cowboy dressed in white, yet wore a black mask under the guise of doing good, saving the day, defeating bad guys, etc. without need for recognition or personal benefit. What could be more admirable than that? But the funny thing about this lone do-gooder was that he really was not so alone. He had his "loyal, trusted Indian companion, Tonto."

As it turned out, doing good required more than the actions of a single person. The Lone Ranger needed his friend and side kick to rescue those in distress, fight evil, and generally plan out their strategies. The Lone Ranger and Tonto demonstrated that actions of any kind require more than one. The same is true of communication. One is not a good or even bad communicator by themselves. People do not communicate in a vacuum or in isolation. In other words, if someone is standing alone in a forest and starts to talk out loud, can that be labeled as communication? My answer is "no" because there is no public to receive the message or to provide feedback.

Communication is a team sport. Its very nature demands attempts to connect with others. Of course, how sincere, how well thought out and how encompassing that outreach might be collectively determine the quality of both the communicator and the act of communication. Nevertheless, communication is an act of inclusiveness. It represents an outreach toward others and, ideally, a willingness to have others reach back to you. This is not a bad thing. The Lone Ranger needed Tonto in order to fulfill his dream of helping others. We, too, need others in order to fulfill our particular dreams. And, to complete the circle, we are needed by others in order for them to fulfill theirs. It can only be done through communication.