What is means to be a valuable team player

When I was a young child I absolutely hated team sports.  I was not very athletic and was often the last choice by appointed team captains for their team.  The captains wanted a team of winners and it was commonly perceived that I would bring the team down.  I always felt isolated and a bit like an outsider to this activity that so many of my peers flourished in.  As I graduated to be an upper classman, I had the option of selecting physical education activities that were a bit more specialized.  At this point I also was allowed to get credit to take something off campus on my own dime.  I much preferred taking a dance class at a classmates mother's dance studio to taking a required team sport at my high school.

In my first job as an accountant I too learned to excel in my own style of work and enjoyed independent projects at an entry level position, however as I watched my colleagues move up the ranks I began to learn more about the comrade they shared around the coffee break area talking about team sports.  Although an anomaly to my upbringing, (my Dad was a historian and said sports were against his religion) I began to see the value of these conversations.  My colleagues were sharing a common interest that sparked conversation beyond the parameters of a spreadsheet.  New understandings of workmanship were often sparked during these impromtu dialogues and sometime led to collaboration of work ideas.

Sadly politics has become a high level team sport.  There are two major teams who do not understand the value of team sports.  Each team is becoming extremely polarized for their own benefit and it is becoming nearly impossible to work together.  Last week Mitch McConnell, Republican House Majority Leader said if the health care bill doesn't get repealed the Republicans may need to work with Democrats as a last resort.  Shouldn't this have been a positive sign to allow the 2 major players to work together to come up with a plan to ammend the ACA Health plan that works but needs some modification.  Instead today they vote to push ahead "repeal" and then "replace" and are rallying to get everyone on the McConnell team.

As a realtor we are trained to work and collaborate with other professionals who are able to complement and enhance our skill set. This includes working and collaborating with professionals on both sides of a transaction to optimize the purchase or sale of real estate.  When I studied management during my MBA program we were taught that the most successful leaders were the ones who worked with others and took the team approach.  In one book I read a long time ago it was noted that the most effective managers were the ones who allowed the team approach and often the best ideas come from the bottom.  See book In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies by Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman (Warner Books) was an American business management “bible” that presents eight specific management principles common to successful companies.  Many of the practices in the book are still being used today by the successful top tier companies.  

As we move more and more forward in the current administration means you have to be on the "right" team of the leader or you are bullied and singled out.  There is no such thing as equal play time.   This was further exemplified today by Trump when he publicly stated today his disappointment in Jeff Sessions for not recusing himself from the ongoing Russia investigation.  Although I do not agree with much of Sessions policies he is a man who is following the law and doing his job in accordance with the Constitution.  The President is not a team player and believes that all loyalty must be to protect him.  A true leader would trust the team to do what they feel is right and to support their work.  

Although through my life and career my perception of participating in a team has changed drastically.  I have learned to become a team player when it is important but it has also become apparent to me that team loyalty is only valuable if the members also have a sense of integrity and can stand up to their individual beliefs when they conflict with the goals of the team.  To me this is the true definition of becoming a winner. 

p.s. since writing this post the latest version of the repeal and replace of the ACA health care bill has not passed thanks to the teamwork of Chuck Schumer for the Democrats and the Heroic efforts of 3 Republican Senators John McCain of Arizona, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine.

Wendy is a realtor at Coldwell Banker Needham.  She has been a realtor for over 8 years and knowing the area quite well can share a hands on local perspective.  She is constantly networking and working hard to build a team that will provide the best level of skills available to fully service her clients in all aspects of the real estate transaction.  She also has her SRES,   Feel free to contact her directly or click here http://www.wendybcb.com if you would like to learn more.