Episode 7 - The essence of effective team players

What makes someone an effective team player? Fiona Brookwell and Michael Jones explore what sets natural team players apart. How does their unselfish nature drive team success in various arenas, from sports to business? 

Dissecting the role of teamwork, this episode delves deep into the characteristics that define effective team players. Join Michael and Fiona as they uncover what unselfish collaboration means for the individual, the team and the organisation. 

Tune in now for a thought-provoking conversation that might inspire you to see the people on your team in a new light.

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Transcript

Neale James: Here's what's on today's edition of Realising Potential with Fiona Brookwell and Michael Jones.  

Michael Jones: You find in successful teams people who are natural team players.  

Fiona Brookwell: So, how did they get to such senior positions in organisations? Because they knew their stuff. They were nice people that managed to get other people to actually work with them on that journey. 

Michael Jones: But some people are just designed to feed off the energy of other people.  

Fiona Brookwell: That doesn't mean to say that people who are naturally more collaborative can't take charge and take control, but they'll often do it in a more consensus-driven fashion.   

Neale James: Michael, why are some people more natural team players?  

Michael Jones: As somebody who's not necessarily a natural team player, I would say they're just nicer people. 

Of course, I'm flippant when I say that. But some people are just designed to feed off the energy of other people and to realise that if we work together, if we consult, if we collaborate, if we play to the value of our difference, we achieve the objective. Some of us come from a place where it's about my objective, but natural teams have to work together to achieve an objective, which means that everybody wins. 

And I think people who are built that way, they get that. And often they have an ability to put the needs of other people first if it means that together we are going to win. And I just think that for some people belonging to a team, being part of a team, knowing that there are people that they work with, who've got their back, who will look out for them is a really important part of what makes them good at what they do. 

Fiona Brookwell: Often natural team players, the team scenario is actually what helps to give them confidence.  So, as Michael mentioned, these are unselfish individuals, they haven't got ego, they're not arrogant individuals, they don't believe their views and thoughts to be better than others. So, how do they achieve things in life? 

They achieve things in life by collaborating with other individuals. But it's not something they have to think about. They naturally collaborate. And why do they gravitate towards that collaborative environment? Because team gives them somewhere to be. It gives them somewhere to belong. Team gives them strength. 

And it's the team environment and scenario that gives them their confidence.  

Michael Jones: And I think over the years, we've worked with a number of teams in different sports, in football, in cricket, in basketball. And of course, it's no surprise that you find in successful teams people who are natural team players.  

When you think about it, if you, you're playing in defence and you, you're unselfishly passing the ball up and, you know, a couple of minutes later, somebody else scores because of what you did and they get the glory and they're the ones that are fated by the press, if you're that natural team player, you're actually okay with that, because, I did my bit, he scored, he's getting the glory, but that's fine. 

Because we won. So, there is that kind of unselfish orientation that they bring.  

Fiona Brookwell: It's interesting when you look at the football analysis, we have some professional football clubs as clients. And there is so much work and effort that goes in now and in the last few years in football to analysing, and analysing every single part of the game. And just even watching Match of the Day on a Saturday night or on a Sunday morning and they are playing out who passed to who to pass to who to set it up to allow for that goal to actually go in the net. So yeah, there is a lot more celebration and a lot more recognition of the positions and the different positions that a sports team actually have that allow then for the actual glory moment to happen. And there's a lot more focused on that nowadays. And in business, I've worked with a couple of CEOs over the years who are naturally unselfish, collaborative individuals. 

And, and these are individuals who, they weren't successful because of their arrogance and their ego and their self-belief, they were successful because they were industry experts. So, experts in their field, experts in their industry, and in an environment where the culture of the organisation was not just about pure profit. 

It wasn't just about putting that money, making that profit, making the shareholders happy. Actually, it was an environment which was predominantly around service and therefore to make other people happy. So, the industries themselves were service-orientated industries, and these two individuals that I work with were industry experts in their own right. 

So, how did they get to such senior positions in organisations? Because they knew their stuff. There were nice people that managed to get other people to actually work with them on that journey. And achieve some great things.  

Michael Jones: It's interesting, we have a daughter, and this poor child has had two parents staring at her from her first breath. 

Trying to work out, you know, how she was constructed, how she ticks, and I was reflecting on this just last week as I was watching her play netball. And she's very, very comfortable playing in goal defence or goalkeeper.  And I just wanted to be up at the front throwing balls at the opponent's net. 

And she's really, really comfortable. She recognises her skillset. She recognises, I think, her natural orientation. And she values the fact that she adds something to the team and has no desire to be where I would want to be, which would be up there trying to score. She has no need to do that, but she's wonderfully comfortable, and I think adds value to the team because she is comfortable, I think, in her own skin and knowing what she brings. 

Realising Potential with Fiona Brookwell and Michael Jones. For more information about our services and organisation visit www.rpx2.com