The two questions of Teamership
Being a great team member is a complex and dynamic task requiring awareness and adaptability. Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash
Being a great team member sounds easy. I'm willing to bet, however, that it doesn't happen as often as you'd like. All of us and those that we work with have moments where we are not so great team members. It's a safe assumption that if there was an easy or obvious solution, someone would have figured out how to make it happen. Given that we're dealing with humans, easy and obvious solutions are rare (or illusions).
The fact is that being a great team member is a complex and dynamic task requiring awareness and adaptability. It is often the case, that in the midst of complexity, insight can be found through a combination of simple questions, answered with honesty.
Here are the two questions that I recommend you ask as a self-assessment of your current Teamership.
Am I bringing my best?
Am I bringing out the best in others?
Simple questions. If you've answered them honestly, you will have gained insight into how you are showing up in your teams and also come up with one of four possible Yes/No combinations. I've given each of those combinations a descriptor to reflect the experience and impact associated.
Energisers
When we answer "yes" to both questions, we are in a great place. We are energising ourselves and others. It is an intrinsically (and often extrinsically) rewarding experience to be bringing our best work while simultaneously helping others to do the same.
It's not easy to do, so let's look at what happens when we can't answer both of those questions in the affirmative.
Anchors
When the two questions are answered as "no", we turn up as the opposite to Energisers. That's when we are Anchors. We are holding ourselves back and holding others back. There are times when anchors are useful on boats - rarely are they useful in our teams.
Both Energisers and Anchors are strong forces on the teams that they are a part of. For that reason, it can be easier to identify when we (or others) are turning up in these ways. When we have a mixed response to the questions, it can be harder to identify where we are and the impacts.
Butterflies
When we are bringing out the best in others, but not bringing our own best efforts we are Butterflies. Butterflies are an enjoyable distraction, something that can take our attention away from our current tasks and remind us of pretty cool things that are a part of nature. While it's nice to have the occasional distraction, being that distraction for an extended or consistent period of time can mean that we are pleasant to be around without making a tangible difference to our teams.
Bulldozers
When we are bringing our best work to the team, but preventing others from doing the same, we are Bulldozers. We get stuff done and achieve the task at hand...often leaving a trail in our wake. In real terms, a bulldozer can achieve its objective at the same time as leaving a path for others to clean up, workaround or need to repair. Same deal as a team member, we can - often unintentionally - create collateral damage when we focus too narrowly on the immediate task at hand.
Over the next few weeks, I'll explore each of these in a bit more detail. If you have a story that illustrates any (or all) of these descriptors, I'd love to hear your experience.
For this week, here are some questions for you to consider that are borne from the central two questions of Teamership:
When do you bring your best to your teams?
What do you do to bring out the best in others?
How do others bring out the best in you?
Have you noticed anything that makes it hard for you to bring your best?