The third element necessary to more than survive as a Most Valuable Team Player (MVTP) of your team.
This article presents the Third element necessary to be a Most Valuable Team Player (MVTP) of your team in today’s challenging environment. It asks you to be clear about your team purpose.
Be clear about your team purpose.
Cathy “Fitz” Fitzhenry always presents what she is doing in her business as an adventure. That is her talent. She is clear about who she is, why she’s doing what she’s doing, how she is doing it, and what results she expects to achieve. She frames all of this as her current adventure. She shares this adventure with everyone she meets. She gets people to join her. Today, Fitz would tell you to share your team’s adventure and your joint talent in a clear and compelling way…with everyone you meet. Here are five ideas on how to share your adventure:
Make your interests known
- make it clear to the team that you want the best for your customers and team
- connect the dots between each team member’s role in serving the customers’ needs
Advocate for what you are doing
- share stories; give examples of Challenges you faced, Action you took, Results achieved, and Skills you have gained for resolving the challenges ahead (CARS)
- Sharing your stories will help team members become leaders as well.
Bridge the gap, take initiative
- Joan, Jennifer, and Cathy are examples of team leaders who have a unique perspective, take initiative, and do the things that are most important. …even if it is just bringing a Coke to a frustrated colleague.
Adapt your style to meet the need
- Positive psychology believes that there are no bad team members, only inflexible leaders. You don’t need to be inauthentic or compromise. Observe your teammates, be flexible, and cater to the other person’s needs.
Ask yourself questions
- People are team members for a reason, sometimes just for a season, and sometimes for the long haul. Asking what is important to you and your team for the long haul will let you be clear about why you’re building specific team skills.
- Asking why you are doing what you are doing for the team right now will result in more energy that all of you can contribute right now.
QUESTION
What is your team’s purpose?
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!