Which Teammate are you?

Aren't team dynamics an interesting thing? Companies invest significant time and resources in building vision statements, mission statements and values to influence how they are seen in the market and internally. This investment feeds over into Corporate Culture. While it is typically the leadership of a company that works to create this environment, it is up to each and every team member to embrace it and put it into practice.

Diversity within a team is exceptionally important. I think diversity is often put in a box and is confined too much to factors we don't have control over: race, age, ethnicity, gender, etc. But we can't put other areas of diversity on the backburner; things like skills, experience, and personality also offer perspectives that are important to drive meaningful outcomes.

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If you want to be a good teammate, understand what you bring to the table; but also recognize your weaknesses and find a strategy for improving them. What is your personality type? What are your skills? Who are you drawn to? Who do you avoid? Who do you want to be?

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Here are some examples of the types of teammates we are, desire to be, and desire to be around…or not. Keep in mind, someone that seems to be negative, may still play an important role on the team. The goal is to find someone to off-set that personality type.

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Suzie/Samuel Spotlight - spotlighting all the accomplishments

Micromanager Mary/Mark - feeling the need to tell everyone what do

Collaboration Carrie/Caleb - pulling everyone together to tackle the next issue

Problem Solver Polly/Paul - always seems to have the answer

Linda/Larry Lightbringer - shining a light to bring out the beauty and the blemishes

Wisdom Wilma/William - offers perspectives you never thought of

Debbie/Donald Downer - bringing a sense of doom and gloom even when it isn't warranted

Overly Optimistic Olivia/Oliver - thinking everything is going to be ok with any real plan of action

Negative Nancy/Nate - constantly pointing out only the issues in whatever you are working on

Killjoy Karen/Ken - always quick to point out the flaws of others and report them to their manager

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Datahead Daphne/David - is a wiz a pulling down all the data you could possibly need to get to the root of a problem

Analytical Ansley/Austin? - likes to dig into problems and look at it from all the angles

Strategic Stephanie/Steve - able to create a means to meet the teams goals

Communication Colette/Cole - able to explain things in multiple media types

Lucy/Larry the leader - knows who has the skills needed to get the job done

Trina/Tristan the Trainer - helping to build the skills of team members and customers

Planful Penelope/Percy - able to organize even the most chaotic of scenarios

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Oh, and every team needs a Steady Eddie with their even tempered nature and resiliency in getting things done. Not everyone has to be a rockstar, sometimes we just need that person that can get stuff done. And having a good representation of the different generations is also a great idea, if you don't have them on the team; find them elsewhere to gain perspective.