3 Key Qualities of a Good Team Player

One in all my all-time favourite motion pictures is Bear in mind the Titans. It follows the legendary 1971 highschool group that received the Virginia state soccer championship and rose to turn out to be the No. 2 ranked highschool group within the nation. However these victories alone weren’t what impressed a Hollywood movie and provoked barbershop dialog a long time later.

The gamers attended a newly built-in highschool in Alexandria, Virginia, a city teeming with stress. That season they conquered the racial divide amongst themselves and taught their followers to do the identical.

“At a time when the town was able to burn itself to the bottom, the youngsters stepped out and adjusted attitudes amongst themselves and their group,” Coach Herman Boone stated in an interview included within the film’s DVD.

That they had embraced a teamwork perspective; every member studying to place apart his prejudice, distrust, satisfaction and concern to turn out to be a part of a better complete.

The shift from ‘me’ to ‘we’ (or within the Titans’ case, from us and them to only us) doesn’t come naturally for everybody. It certain didn’t for me. That’s why right this moment we’re going to look at some qualities of a very good group participant, and focus on the best way to undertake an perspective of collaboration.

Speak it out

Coach Boone might need taught ball-handling methods, however the extra vital ability he imparted to his gamers was communication. He made the younger males experience collectively, room collectively and prepare collectively. They resisted—aside from one white participant who crossed the colour line and set the tone for everybody else. The regular wins on the sphere might need cracked the wall, however it was the locker room dialog that demolished it, Boone later stated.

Speaking means greater than merely speaking (and positively extra than simply texting). To enhance your reference to individuals…

• Be candid. Harboring hidden agendas, relaying messages by way of third events, sugarcoating unhealthy information, beating across the bush and airing grievances on social media are surefire methods to sabotage group relations.
• Be fast. If one thing is bothering you, tackle the issue inside 24 hours so {that a} short-term frustration doesn’t morph right into a long-term grudge.
• Be inclusive. Be discreet when wanted, however in any other case share as a lot work-related data along with your group as potential. Open communication will increase belief, belief will increase possession and possession will increase participation.

Roll with it

Trailblazing document producer Quincy Jones was as soon as accused of being a sellout. He was massive within the jazz world, rubbing elbows with the style’s most famous musicians. However within the Nineteen Eighties, he jumped into the pop scene with an rising famous person, Michael Jackson, to the chagrin of jazz diehards.

Jones shrugged them off. “After I was 12 to 13 years previous, we performed all the things—strip music, rhythm and blues,” he instructed Context journal. “We performed pop music, [polkas], and Sousa…. We performed each membership on the town—black, white, tennis. So I’ve at all times had a spread to attract from.”

I’m undecided there’s a greater attribute to carry to a group than adaptability. What group doesn’t profit from somebody who is ready to roll with monetary ups and downs, pinch-hit for colleagues, alter to altering operations or shift methods on the fly? These group gamers exhibit a nimbleness that’s contagious, injecting a can-do spirit throughout a whole division.

You possibly can turn out to be extra versatile in your considering if you happen to…

• Continue to learn. For a few years, I carried a notecard in my pocket and jotted down new data as I discovered it. I obtained into the behavior of in search of new materials and abilities to amass.
• Assume past your function. What number of instances have you ever heard a colleague whine, “That’s not my job”? Don’t be that workplace bellyacher! As a substitute study somewhat bit about everybody’s duties, particularly these increased up on the ladder than you. You by no means know when a possibility will come up to avoid wasting the day in an organization disaster.
• Assume creatively. Search for unconventional options while you meet a problem. “There’s an expression that claims an individual’s age could be decided by the diploma of ache he experiences when he is available in contact with a brand new thought,” Jones as soon as stated. “Those who don’t react with concern are the actually inventive individuals. ‘Let’s attempt it,’ they’ll say. ‘Let’s go there even when we blow it.’”

Wave your pom-poms

Figuratively, after all. However take into account the keenness of sideline cheerleaders and the way a lot vitality they infuse into fields and stands.

I take into consideration firms like Harley-Davidson, which went from proudly owning 80% of its market to just about going below within the early Nineteen Eighties. Or Common Motors’ sputtering within the 2000s, or Starbucks diluting itself with fast, unsustainable growth.

In all three instances, the keenness of the CEO and staff rescued these firms from the brink of catastrophe and grew them into the juggernauts they’re right this moment. You don’t have to be cheerleader-perky to carry vitality into your workspace. However you possibly can develop your enthusiasm by…

• Displaying a way of urgency. Give your self deadlines for finishing the steps of a undertaking, particularly the mundane duties you’re laying aside.
• Taking over extra. When somebody asks you to do one thing, do it after which transcend the project.
• Striving for excellence. Nothing breeds enthusiasm like the sensation of success that follows a job nicely performed. Let that momentum carry you into the subsequent undertaking.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz maybe stated it greatest: “Whenever you’re surrounded by individuals who share a passionate dedication round a typical objective, something is feasible.”

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These qualities are merely a style of the numerous attributes good group gamers carry to their organizations.

I’ll go away you, then, with one closing job: Take into consideration the individuals in your sphere. Contemplate everybody from the parking attendant to the CEO. Establish those that exhibit the perfect group qualities. Watch them. How do they put their attitudes into motion? How do they encourage others to observe their examples? Teamwork doesn’t come naturally for everyone. However bear in mind these Titans, and know that attitudes can change.

This text initially appeared within the Fall 2018 problem of SUCCESS journal and has been up to date. Photograph by Jacob Lund/Shutterstock