Great things can be accomplished when people work together. It is cliché, but the whole IS really greater than the sum of the parts. Knowing how to identify people who will work well on a team is essential to building effective teams.
Even more important, it’s critical for the leader to be a team player. So, as you consider these characteristics, ask yourself how well you stack up (If you read until the end, I’ll have a family systems take on all this).
Team players willingly give up something for the sake of the team.
This could be their time, an idea, power, resources or pride. When a team member sacrifices for the team, for the mission, it’s contagious. Other team members are more likely to do the same. When the leader does this, it becomes the norm.
Team players celebrate the success of others.
You know you have a team player when she is happy for the achievement of others. She knows that a co-worker’s success also contributes to the success of the organization, which is important to them.
People who are out for themselves resent the success of others. People who might be team players will be less so in low trust situations. A lack of trust will put them in survival mode, which will make them less generous and less team-oriented.
As a leader, you can model trust by trusting others and being trustworthy. You can also model celebrating the success of others. Whether it’s another colleague, church or organization, recognizing achievement for the common good lifts everybody up.
Team players don’t care who gets credit.
This is related to the other two. Team players are really all about the…well, team. They don’t care who gets the glory, as long as the team achieves its goals.
You can model this as a leader by not taking credit yourself. When you give credit to the team, and the individuals that comprise it, you are being a team player.
This is especially true when you do this with others. When people praise you as a leader, do you praise the team you work with? Do you lift up the names those who have done excellent work? This shows that you are a team player, as well.
This is where self-differentiation comes in. When you are functioning as a non-anxious presence, you are comfortable with our own role, without needing to take credit. You can be honestly happy for the success of others because you know that your own value is not defined in relation to others. You can remind yourself that the mission is foremost so if you have to sacrifice in some way, you are doing so for the greater good.
When it comes to team players, it takes one to know one.
