Saturday, October 26, 2013

Are You Really A Team Player?

Source: http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20131024152548-52782505-are-you-really-a-team-player




In today’s turbulent economy, does it still pay to be loyal to a company – to give it your unwavering best efforts? Would it be smarter to take a more individualist approach to your career?

I would argue that today – perhaps more than ever – putting the company first is the best way for an individual to be personally successful.

No matter how good the racer, no one can win driving a bad car. This is exactly the relationship between a team member and a team. The key to realizing your full potential is working in a superior organization.

A grouping of thousands of people who only carry out their own assigned roles is nothing more than a herd of sheep. It does not even deserve to be called an organization. An organization must constantly strive to be more than this. An organization must aim to become a single team in which each member acts beyond their own areas of responsibility to cover for others.

Every job is a kind of war, in that every job is a competition. Unless you win, nothing you do has any meaning. In order to achieve absolute victory, each member of your organization must cultivate the mindset that they alone hold the fate of the organization in their own hands.

I believe that only a group of people sharing such a mindset can truly be called a “team.”

When your team begins to work well, your own abilities begin to truly shine.

My book: Marketplace 3.0

(Photo: amcunningham72, flickr)