Great people, right? Hire great people, give them what they need to succeed, and get out of their way… seems deceptively simple. But what makes people “great?” Talent, intelligence, experience, work ethic, qualifications, “outside the box thinking”…? These are the typical things that come to mind. But what if something’s missing from that list? What if the number one differentiator between a high performer and a mediocre performer wasn’t even there?
Smart people are everywhere. Ideas abound. Information is ubiquitous. But it’s what we do with that information that produces results or losses. Being able to communicate effectively and efficiently with other human beings, build trust, add value from the other’s perspective, in a word: be a great team player; I would argue that is the true barometer of a high performer.
But wait, you might say; not everyone works in a team. Some people work on their own and produce results without ever depending on anyone else. Are you sure? I would argue that in today’s knowledge based economy almost every one of us is depends on moving other people to accomplish their own goals. Leaders, sales people, service people, administrative people, design, engineering, finance; no one is an island any longer and in a land of interconnected people, bridge-builders, team players represent the most valuable and rare commodity around.
What makes a great team player? Pat Lencioni makes an excellent case for three characteristics in his book, The Ideal Team Player. I highly recommend it.
