Would you rather be considered overly cautious and uptight or casual and laid back? The way you answer that question will determine your ability to be a great teammate. Great teammates care more about the team than the opinion of others. People who leave things to chance because they don’t want to seem too overbearing should never
Every great team has a culture of evaluation. This is necessary to assess effectiveness and effort. Even their assessment is effective because they assess the right things. It’s easy to measure things that are going to show a positive result but great teams are not afraid to take a look under the hood to see what needs
There are effective people out there who are ready to be on a team to learn and contribute while being led to something they could not achieve on their own. There are less effective people out there who want to join a team because they think the team needs them. Joining a team requires a desire to
Now the tone the title of this blog has is meant to be in same spirit of the often used “DYEL” fitness meme. Yes…I am making the connection between those who think they know what they are doing but refuse to be led by any kind of authority and those who think they know fitness but have
When standards are set and examples of that standard are consistent, it is important to make sure people believe that the standards are meant for everyone. It’s easy to admire a leader who embodies a standard. It’s an entirely different thing to believe that the rest of the team can follow that leader to the same standard.
The best way to set a standard is to be the example of the standard. It is important to be the change we want to see by being the example as a means of setting a standard. Being an example brings a level of credibility to a leader and team who wants to be good and not
Every team has a certain level of expectation for both quality of product and behavior. Quality is only achieved through a set of standards. Standards have to be set for people to understand expectations. Some people see any standard as overbearing and unreasonable because of the inherent implication of accountability. However having a clearly communicated statement about
Every team is working toward a goal and that goal requires someone on the team to lead the way through example. This is best when it’s the leader, but we don’t have to be the leader to be the example that inspires the change and growth necessary to achieve the goals. Sometimes people need to see the
Semantics can be important when proper communication is at stake. Words matter and clear communication is as important as anything on a successful team. Great teams know that getting the terminology right is more about alignment than anything else. Ordinary teams can get bogged down in an endless circle of conversations about their conversations. Teams are often
Annoying cannot be a deal-breaker on any team. Everybody on the team can be annoying. That includes ourselves. We all have annoying quirks that drive other people crazy. When we choose to be annoyed, and it is definitely a choice, we choose to forget the possibility that we are just as much, if not more, annoying to