Six Pack of Success – Step 4: Work in a team
Continuing on with the theme originating from a student’s request described on my earlier blog, “The Six Pack of Success”, here’s the 4th step:
Work in a team – There is so much written about team work that I will keep this blog brief but this area is so important and a key step on the road to success that I will share few words with you. Team work is about working together as a cohesive unit to achieve a goal. I’d like to expand a little by taking a slightly different angle and focus mainly on one’s role in a team and what it means to be a team player.
Your role is to fully understand the overall goal of the team and then put your shoulder to the wheel and do your part. Help other members of the team do theirs and then if you can do more – do more. Help your team all the time, especially when it seems that other members do less work than you. This is your opportunity to shine and grow your personal brand. As you do more than others, your team will recognize it and eventually externalize it, appreciate it, and help you grow!
A good team player is the one that goes out of her/his way to make the other members of the team look good, even if they are not “good”. A family working together is a great example of teamwork. When a member of the family falls behind for whatever reason, the resources of the family come together to support that failing member and once that family member is able to contribute, the whole family rejoices in the success! As we all know families never give up on any member of their children and send them away to live next door … So rather than try to ship a perceived weak member of the team onto another team (which, in rare cases, is a good option) you need to judge less, support more and let values guide you in your supporting effort. You’ll be energized by this positive energy and that will spill over onto the team. If you think the whole team is not working well, it could be time to revisit the mission, be crisp and clear on what needs to be done and what each team member’s role is in advancing it. Maintain your focus all the time and don’t wander around relying on the project leader… Each member of the team has a leadership role including you…
So, if you want to advance, help your team, remember, although one person can make a decisive difference, it is the collective force of a team that moves organizations forward and you along with it. Bonne chance:)
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poifectworld 
Workplace culture can impact how people behave in teams! Leaders, especially those in the C-Suite have to be vigilant. On occasion, the executive corps and management teams who report to them can do a good job at pretending that they are supporting teamwork and engaged — but in reality are covertly contributing to dysfunction within an organization. They are very hard to root out.
“The best definition of the word culture (workplaces included) that I’ve heard is that it’s how people behave when nobody is watching.”
– Gwyn Morgan
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Beyond the required reading for my accreditations, one of the two books that has had the most impact on improving the way I manage projects and teams are:
> Sharing the Sandbox: Building and Leading World-Class Teams in the 21st Century by Dean M. Brenner – ISBN 0985435704
Becoming a Better Teammate, Building and Leading Teams
Share with the person next to you, treat acquaintances with kindness and respect, say thank you, and celebrate the successes of others.
If we can harness the skills to become better teammates, if we can learn how to consistently build strong teams, if we can learn to take joy not just from our own success but from the success of others and of the group, if we can learn to motivate people and cause them to want to work together, if we can learn to create an environment where human beings can thrive and succeed together, we will have perhaps the most-sought-after skills in the 21st century. We will have significant competitive advantage and create enormous value for ourselves and everyone around us.
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Are you a good leader? Are you a good teammate? Do people follow your lead because they want to or because they have to? (Are you sure?)
Being a good team leader or teammate is about three things:
> Your ability to contribute to the performance of the team
> Your ability to observe the interests and needs of other team members and meet those needs and interests
> Your ability to put the needs of other people before your own
– SHARING THE SANDBOX building and leading world-class teams in the 21st century, Dean M. Brenner
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Well stated… Thank you for this great comment!
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