The Many I’s in Teams

You have heard it often; there is no “I” in team. What a load of crap!

Taking the “I” out of team is like taking the “M” out and then saying teams just don’t exist anymore. Go drink some tea instead!

Teams consist of individuals. In a team, each individual will have their agenda – political or not – but, more importantly, they have their skills, talents, and attitudes.

Sometimes, personal objectives will over-ride team objectives. This is reality.

Sometimes, certain skills are required to achieve the objectives, and the team will depend on having unique talents involved. This is getting to success.

Sometimes, individual attitudes will differ, conflict, and collide. This is real people working in real situations.

Each of these scenarios creates challenges for leaders and team members alike. Our mettle is tested, which makes us act on our intuition and instinct; forge ahead with the given relationships; and facilitate aggressively to keep the initiatives moving forward.

For individual team members, there should be an “I” moment, a pledge of sorts:

I will remember we are working together as a team. We all have talents. We all need to work together to achieve the team’s mission.
I will be on my best behavior, challenging yet always civil. We will have disagreements, but we will resolve them respectfully and with the larger goals in mind.
I will do my part, actively and positively. We have skills and capabilities that make the team better and enhance the chance for success when we all leverage them appropriately and proactively.
I will bring my best attitude, sometimes critical yet always bringing people together to move ahead. We have bad days, good days, and mediocre days, yet we need to put the distractions aside and bring our best. We all have reasoning and analytical abilities, and we need to use them to ensure the best choices and decisions are made.
I will deliver completely and in a timely way. We juggle different projects and tasks. If we do not do our part, the impact on the team multiplies exponentially. So, we do our part.
I will embrace a leadership attitude, meaning I will apply my best skills to solve challenges and contribute fully. We work together graciously. A leadership attitude does not mean acting as a single leader at the front of the table, but we work with the boldness of delivering our best in our sphere of influence and knowledge.

There are many I’s in teams, and we need embrace our individual role. What would you add to the list of I’s in teams? I will…