Five qualities to make you a team player

This summer I had the pleasure of attending a leadership course by John Maxwell in Atlanta.

And as I move forward in my journey of empowering  people, I feel that learning to be a leader is a quality that is needed on and off the field.

This week I want to share five leadership qualities that would make you a successful team player, whether it be in sports, business, school or politics.

Adaptability

If you do not change, then the team may change you.

If you decide that you will not change your ways for the benefit of progress, then you may find yourself on the other side of the door. Many of us get stuck in our ways and sometimes do not understand that we are a part of producing a great outcome and need to make changes to reach our goals as a team.

Remember, no-one is saying you have to like each other but you have to understand how to work together.

Self-Improve

It is so much better if each team player focuses on improving themselves.

Focusing on your own improvement will help the team, will build your self confidence in knowing who you are and give you strength to walk alone if need be. Greatness in a team means you need to start developing greatness within yourself first.

Do not get caught up in the team goals and forget this.

Be dependable

Each team success is based around everyone being depended upon, making sacrifices to be there and not hiding from the challenges that will be ahead.

The concern should never be with a team member that may argue or challenge decisions, but the one that dodges and avoids the conversation.

Being depended upon brings great trust in each other.

Collaboration

Working together precedes winning together. How many teams or businesses we know  want to be successful but do not work together?

How many teams fail to reach their goals because the team members do not understand the value of working together and are unable to put aside all differences for the goal of completing a task?

This has to change and must change if we want success and outcomes to be positive.

Be tenacious

Never giving up or quitting shows great integrity.

No matter what the situation may be, no matter how hard the sacrifice may be or painful the journey may seem, never, ever give up. Stay focused on the job at hand because the pain will not last long.

Pain may encourage great fear but if you spend time developing yourself and preparing yourself, fear will never be an issue.

Your WILL to be successful will only go as far as your continued learning and motivation.

As we all know there are many qualities one can adopt for being a good team player, from being prepared, communicative, competent to being disciplined.

I would remind you only that winning is a good feeling but winning as a team is the greatest of all. Until next time! 

David Bascome is the coach of Baltimore Blast and founder of the Hope4Life Foundation and the Bermuda100 initiative, which aims to support schools, and recruit and train leaders in our community to address youth development challenges.