Being a Great Team Player

Some people make great leaders, and while they can manage the team seamlessly, some have a hard time bequeathing this role to someone else. Could that person be you? Do you play well with others or would you rather do things alone if you can’t lead? Being a team player requires a very different mentality, a dissimilar state of mind.

Good social skills are a plus in a leader, but not a necessity. People have to follow you because you are considered an authority in your field. Though you may not be well-liked by the people on your team, they still have to follow you out of duty or respect. But to be a great team player is altogether another issue. You need to work well with the others on your team and complement your skill with theirs. It’s all about getting along professionally and personally. You have to be able to manage your emotions and then be able to communicate to your fellow team members effectively. Adapt and have an intuitive sense of others in order to become understanding of everyone around you. You will to learn to take into account everyone’s viewpoints in order to make the good of the collective stronger and more effective.

The skill set for the Captain is pivotal to the success of any team, but more than that are the individual attributes of the players who do all the manual labor, so to speak. The members of the team are usually the people known for coordination and hard work. In a way, there has to be a leader in every person. It has to be in them to go further than what they are required to do and make sure that the ones that surround them also get the credit for the effort they put in. There should be no thirst for power with any member and they must have the ability to pick up the slack that others leave behind.

Sometimes, your goals will differ from the goals of others. You must make sure to keep the team's goals on your priority list. You also should have the initiative to learn more about the dynamics of the team and what it takes to accomplish the desired end-state. Try to think about reaching that goal as the absolute destination, and not just a possibility.

Each player must recognize his or her individual strengths so that he knows what to provide the team with and which skills are most useful. You must establish your strength from the very beginning so that the leader is in a better position to put you in a task where you excel and are most comfortable in.

Lastly, be helpful. There may be occasions wherein a team member will become so engulfed in their own tasks that they fail to realize the others who are struggling. The ‘to each his own’ attitude simply doesn’t work here. After all, the team is only as strong as its weakest member. By being more aware of the things around you, you completely eliminate any kind of weakness and actually become a force to be reckoned with.