How Do You Know If You're A Good Team Player?

"Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results." – Andrew Carnegie

You may think you are a good team player, but are you?

Teamwork is a vital construct of social and emotional intelligence. Working well with others on a team has many benefits, including better problem-solving skills and increased innovation. And, it can make work simply more fun (if it's a healthy team!).?This skillset?can also?enhance our professional development, by revealing and enabling us to uncover camouflaged areas of growth. Dr. Susan McDaniel , a psychologist at the University of Rochester Medical Center says this:?“We all have blind spots about our behaviors and strengths that we may be unaware of, and feedback from a team member can expose them."

Here's a checklist to use as a self-test to see how you're doing as a team player. How many of these can you answer a resounding YES to??

• You thoroughly enjoy working with others on projects

• You like giving the glory to others in the group, and don't need to be the spotlight when praise or recognition is being handed out
• You celebrate when others succeed
• You have strong listening skills
• You learn from others as much as others learn from you
• You are able to?draw all members of a group into active and enthusiastic participation
• You help everyone on a team feel included and valued
• Your team members enjoy being around you and working with you
• You are able to regulate your emotions, even when upset
• You express gratitude for each and every team member, regularly and often
• You share your plans, insider information, and resources with team members
• You put team goals before your individual goals often
• You interact comfortably and seamlessly with different personalities and those who don't agree with you
• You are a trust builder
• You know your own values and live by them
• You pull your weight and are reliable in carrying out your responsibilities and deadlines
• You reject gossip?
• You provide feedback and can receive it
• You are willing to have difficult conversations when needed
• You regularly collaborate with others and seek the input of your team before making decisions
• You have strong conflict resolution skills
• You don't have to lead every group you're in, and enjoy stepping back and following others at times

To check your accurate self-awareness, consider asking your team members, managers, colleagues, and clients to respond to each of the above statements about you. Compare your responses to theirs. The areas where there is a gap between your response and theirs may indicate an area of growth. Ask them to provide details around these gaps and why they responded the way they did.?Learn the story behind their?viewpoints do your best to leave your defensiveness out of these conversations.?

And, "no shame" on having an area of growth (or two or ten).?Everyone has?room?to?improve. It's part of being a human being who is dedicated to growth and improvement to become your best self. The first step toward growth is recognizing what needs to shift.

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." – Helen Keller

If you'd like to improve your teamwork and collaboration skills, here are some ways you can begin developing this competency:

• Seek out opportunities to work with others
• Take a genuine interest in learning more about team members' work, hopes, and dreams, and ask how you can best support them
• Keep other team members informed of your work, timelines and priorities
• Share knowledge, tips, funds and resources with other team members
• Publicly credit other team members who have done well
• Avoid taking control of the agenda or being the first to make suggestions; be aware of dominating team meetings
• Ask for feedback, advice, and insights from team members
• Bring conflict out into the open and encourage all to resolve it
• Be honest and authentic
• Lay down your defensiveness and be open to learning
• Treat?all of your colleagues with respect at all times
• Be trustworthy?

In addition to the above suggestions, you may want to consider?working with a certified social and emotional intelligence coach to develop your teamwork and collaboration skills.

?"Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than the one where they sprang up." – Oliver Wendell Holmes