The 3 Characteristics of an Ideal Team Player.
Many of my readers are certified in the Team Coaching process and having great joy in delivering the work
Effective leadership communication is a critical skill for executives to inspire, influence, and drive organizational success.
Many of my readers are certified in the Team Coaching process and having great joy in delivering the work. It is hugely satisfying to be a team coach and I am constantly delighted in my conversations with our ICC team coaches and how much they enjoy the satisfaction of assisting a team to go from forming to performing.
Any business requires committed and dedicated team players to develop a productive culture and facilitate growth. As team coaches we encourage meaningful teamwork to create a people-focused, competitive, and resilient business. However, have we dropped the ball on first developing an ideal team player?
Humble team players don't brag or show excessive pride in achievements.
Look at Patrick Lencioniโs book, The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate The Three Essential Virtues.
This book may be helpful. Lencioni is a firm founder who focuses on helping teams advance their businesses. He has authored several books, and in The Ideal Team Player, he portrays characters from a fictitious construction company to demonstrate the three crucial qualities that result in people being better team members.
Taking an excerpt from the book, letโs summarise the three characteristics:
๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฒ #๐ญโ๐๐๐บ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ
- Humble team players don't brag or show excessive pride in achievements.
- Recognised without begging for more attention.
- Remove themselves from being the centre point of the conversation.
- Look for opportunities to recognize the accomplishments of others.
- Think with a group mentality when it comes to success.
๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฒ #๐ฎโ๐๐๐ป๐ด๐ฟ๐
- Hungry team players aspire to be the best at all they do.
- Ask how they can improve and develop.
- Seek mentorship and learning opportunities.
- Aren't simply content with their past successes
- Establish a culture of taking the lead without being asked to.
- They contribute and detest the idea of disappointing the group.
๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฒ #๐ฏโ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐
- Smart team players use common sense.
- Focus on enhancing their emotional intelligence.
- Embrace a growth mentality and look for ways to learn new things.
- Show social and self-awareness when engaging with others.
- Consider how their actions, words, and behaviours affect the group.
- Seek to influence others for the better instead of yearning for power.
See examples where team members only have one of the above characteristics.
Lencioni delightfully labels these as:
Pawns โ These individuals are only humble. Theyโre modest and pleasant people to be around. However, they hardly ever cultivate meaningful relationships and lack ambition and drive. Pawns have a likeability factor because they avoid challenging and confrontational situations. However, this nice but low-key behaviour wonโt be accepted indefinitely.
Bulldozers โ A bulldozer is only hungry. They have a one-track mind when it comes to getting results. Due to this laser focus, they can be selfish and disregard the effects of their behaviour on the team.
Charmers โ A charmer is only smart. Theyโre well-liked because they can be very entertaining. They will compliment team members on doing a good job, but theyโre not interested in the teamโs welfare.
As team coaches, it reminds us that understanding the make-up of the individuals of the team before we start the team coaching process is of huge importance.
Iโll be thinking about what questions I can weave into my individual team member interview intakes to understand levels of humility, hunger and smarts but more importantly, how I can bring an exercise into the room that will help the team to explore what they see as the important characteristics of their team.
Ready to redefine your goals? Embrace a fresh, positive approach with the help of a professional coach today, and transform your dreams into achievable realities.