Star Player or Team Player?

A thought came to mind that I had wanted to put down on the blog for the longest time. When in the work environment, many people ask if it is better to be a top performer or a team player. Ok – given the nature of the question, it’s not fair because you can actually be a top performing team player. But all things being constant, I believe firmly that being a team player is far better than being a top performer.

 

In all my work experience (probably not considered very much for some of you, but probably enough to share), I’ve realized that the harmony and interdependent nature of the working world requires team work and collaboration. I know some people think that there is a need to be independent, for instance, where selling is concerned, isn’t it better to be independent? Well, I’ve got some reason to believe that the team works far better, especially when bonded effectively. I know that there are many instances where individual performance skyrockets at the expense of the team performance. I’ve been doing lots of team building training for corporations just to help them create a new corporate identity through that training. The results I’ve seen are tremendous – team building really creates a powerful synergy within an organization to make things happen.

 

You can have a fantastic individual track record, but if you are unable to work with the needs of the larger group in mind, then you are really missing the point. People have the opportunity to succeed as individuals - but without recognition from society, the success ceases to be meaningful.