Your leader nominates you to join a project workgroup. You volunteer with a group at your local charity. You choose to join a committee at your kid’s school.

In any team you join, when you look across the table, what type of team members are you hoping you get to work with? What attributes would you use to describe the team members you feel like you’ll pair up well with to make a positive impact?

While answers will vary, there are certainly responses that a high percentage of us would all include and expect.

Hard-worker

Open-minded

Collaborative

Accountable

Honest

When you reflect on what you bring to teams, do you represent these attributes?  Personalities will vary greatly so we would never expect everyone’s approach to be same. Some team members may be more assertive and quick decision makers, while some quiet and thoughtful in their approach. Some team members may be stronger analytical while others may be a great fit for the presentation part of a project.

The attributes I’m talking about and listed above are the controllable ones. Regardless of the personality, attributes we all can choose to bring to the team. The idea is not to become someone else and create a different persona. The idea is to focus in on what you can control when you bring your best self to a team. It’s representing what you expect from others and being accountable for bringing your best self to the team to drive positive impacts.

Share in the comment section below what attributes you would add to the list.

Take your step: as you reflect on the teams you’re currently a part of what attributes would you expect from those team members? Not personality specific but something each team member has control over. As you’re thinking about expectations outwardly, now flip the expectations inward. Are you bringing these attributes to the team or are there ways you can bring more of your best self to the team to drive more impact?