Teams need high performing individuals to achieve top results.  High performing individuals need strong teams to attain the best results.  Individuals can be successful on their own of course but, intuitively, support of a group of people enhances the opportunity  attain the greatest achievement.

Most organizations seek “team players” when they are adding additional resources.  This buzz word is used to describe a required skill.  What exactly does it mean?

Teams are?

To dissect the skill described by the term  “team player” the first question is what is a team?  Simply put, teams are groups that have come together to achieve a common goal.

Player describes a member of the team whom actively supports the achievement of the goal. This is different from a person participating within the group, but in pursuit of their own goals.

Teams largely composed of members that focus on their own individual goals rarely achieve their full potential.  The individuals might exceed their goals but probably at the expense of the players.

For Example

The 1984 Edmonton Oilers hockey team was voted by NHL fans as the greatest hockey team in the past 100 years.  The team had a large number of highly skilled performers, proven by their lifetime carreers.

They were rated as the greatest team ever because of everyones ability to focus on team versus personal success.  This fact is highlighted over and over by the stories, videos and testimonials about the team.

I believe having a group of team players feels good for the participants and enables superior performance.  Unfortunately, although often given lots of lip service, true groups made up of real team players are rare.