The team player
A part of a whole
Dear Young Professional,
Life demands different things from us at various levels.
Throughout my years of formal education, individual success was highly celebrated. Taking center stage and being the star of the class was what was expected, and even when we were put in groups, we could still be scored individually.
However, when I was accepted into the world of work I realized that the rules were different. It became abundantly clear to me that no matter how well I did my work, it amounted to nothing if the whole process was lacking input from other key players. As a lawyer, for instance, it was not sufficient for me to draft a court process; I needed to ensure that it was filed on time and heard by the court. For this to happen, the litigation officer had to work as efficiently as I did.
Then, it dawned on me that I was just a part of a whole and could not win alone; my entire team had to be winning as well. In simple terms, I needed to be a team player.
It was a mindset shift I had to make, and here are three things that helped:
Understand what a win means for your team. This will require that you develop good communication and listening skills.
Find out your role in achieving success, and deliver on it. This will mean that you have the skills to deliver on the task. If not, you should be flexible enough to acquire them and humble enough to ask for help. Flexibility is essential because you might be assigned a role you do not like. Team players do what needs to be done, not what they like.
Assist your team members in achieving their own tasks. This requires that you are attentive to the needs of your team members and are emotionally intelligent enough to know how to offer your help while still allowing the team member to take ownership of their work. Team players do not sabotage their teammates or make them feel less.
Above all, understand that being a team player does not stop or take away from your unique self; it allows you and my team members to blend your different but unique expertise to create magic.
With love,
Ada