| What
is a team player?
By Evan Wise, Managing Director
of Management One
Hiring
a new employee is an important process for any company.
A small company must hire the right people since every
employee usually is expected to wear many hats and accomplish
many roles. We work with clients to help them hire the
right people for their organization. During that process,
most companies want a “team player” on their
staff.
One
of the important determinations for most companies looking
to hire a new employee is how to evaluate whether a
candidate is a “team player”. The problem
is that there is confusion about what a team player
does. Many managers get the concept wrong.
One
definition of a team player is often thought to be the
guy that relinquishes his own ideas and opportunity
for the good of the organization. He is willing to sacrifice
for the good of the team. Although that is true, a common
interpretation is that the new hire will not buck the
system. The new employee will learn the systems, the
job and the organization and then fit in. He or she
will take direction from the boss and do his job without
question. The new employee won’t make waves. That
definition lacks an important element.
A
team player must do everything possible to move the
team forward. The best employee is an aggressive team
player, not a passive team player. A team player motivates
others to excel while excelling himself. Sometimes a
team player moves the team forward “in spite of
the organization. Sometimes he challenges the boss to
find a better way to reach the strategy and vision.
A
team player must learn the new system and question every
part of it to make the organization better. A team improves
when there is tension and healthy change occurring continuously.
The team player exhibits two common traits:
1.
Questions everything
2. Is willing to compromise to reach consensus for the
betterment of the organization.
The
team player is able to adopt the strategy of the company
and work toward making it into reality selflessly. He
does not have his own agenda or a hidden agenda that
competes with the goals of the team. He is aggressive
in fighting to make the vision and strategy into part
of his daily routine. He is constantly looking for a
better way to accomplish the goal rather than accepting
the current way as the only way or the right way.
The
tension a team player creates in an organization can
wake up a complacent team and spark them to greater
accomplishment. So the next time you are looking for
a team player, get ready for the challenge; get ready
for the questions; and enjoy the results.
|
