The first element necessary to more than survive as a Most Valuable Team Player (MVTP) of your team.
This article presents the first element necessary to be a Most Valuable Team Player (MVTP) of your team in today’s challenging environment. It asks you to start with the right mindset.
The right mindset
Joan was a welcome sight when she arrived. My small, windowless office was in the core of a 1,000-bed medical center where we both worked. The drab November day outside had affected my mood inside. Joan was an emergency room nurse. She was 30ish, had a solid athletic build, wore blue scrubs, had a calm demeanor, and kind smile. She handed me a Coke. Wow! She surprised me, and immediately brightened my mood. Joan is my best example of a Most Valuable Team Player (MVTP).
I had already shared deep concerns with Joan about our current rapid response plan for managing tragic accidents if they should occur outside the hospital door. She sensed I was anxious. When she arrived and offered me a Coke, she calmed me down with a small act of kindness. We went on to collaborate, to strategize, and resolve the issues at hand. Amazing! In a subtle way, Joan was doing what MVTPs do. She sensed my personal need at that moment. She treated me as a human being. She met my need in a kind way that let me perform in a superior way.
Being an MVTP does not come easy. From Joan and others, I learned five key elements of what it takes. The first is having the right mindset
Joan had the right mindset, and not just for working with me. When her work situations seemed surreal, she could
stay calm and see the dark humor in the moment.
She and her team expected the unexpected. On a Saturday night there might be gunshots, stabbings, child abuse, and if you can believe it, worse. Joan and her team were ready. They had action plans for specific traumas, with procedures to prevent confusion when a patient came through the door.
From Joan I learned a mindset that can be applied to all businesses:
- Be clear about why we are a team:
ER staff are clear about what they must do (treat the emergency), and what they refer on to others (Intensive care, inpatient care)
- Put the customer first and do what is best:
ER staff resolve personal drama outside of the hospital, and working long hours focused as a team on resolving the critical needs of each individual patient
- Be proactive:
Adapt people, process, and state-of-the-art technology to plan for both the expected and unexpected. (Extensive data entry is still a challenge that needs to be resolved.)
- Note that kindness along the way (that Coke) lessens the anxiety!
Treat the person before you treat their problem.
QUESTION
How might you adjust your mindset in a way that allows you to be a Most Valued Team Player (MVTP) of your team?
Chuck Scharenberg is the Founder of More Profit More Freedom, a consultancy that supports the execution of large-scale growth for small businesses. His practice has successfully grown businesses with processes that identify potential roadblocks and mitigation schemes to accelerate realistic execution.
Challenging Leaders to solve the Right problems by asking the Right questions!