Those who aren’t irritating aren’t fully known.
Everyone is irritating. They either do things that bug you, or, they leave something undone, and that bugs you.
What does a perfect teammate look like?
Perfect teammates:
- Give more than they take. Bloodsuckers are burdens.
- Acknowledge your smartness and ask what you think. Perfect teammates consider your thoughts before quickly dismissing them. It feels good to be asked even if you don’t know.
- Smile at you. My wife has a perfect smile. We joke that I only need one thing from her, a smile. I look at her and wait. In takes a moment, then she smiles. Life is better. A smile is admiration.
- Want you to have more success than you currently enjoy. They aren’t threatened when you get ahead.
- Enjoy your point of view and have their own.
- Say, “I like it when you _______,” frequently. (A note to my sarcastic friends. You’re supposed to fill in the blank.)
- Share things that make you better, not just theories or complaints. “You should focus on the future more,” doesn’t help.
Bonus: Perfect teammates aren’t irritating.
1 quality:
Perfect teammates generously focus on you more than themselves.
Shift:
The seven marks of perfect teammates are awesome when you’re on the receiving side. But, they feel different when you are on the giving side.
Go BE a perfect teammate.
Challenge and confession:
Choose one of the seven marks of a perfect teammate and do it for your team today.
I thought it would be fun to describe what I wanted in a perfect teammate. But, it felt different when I started applying the list to myself.
Maybe my teammates aren’t as irritating as I thought.
What is your perfect teammate like?
How are you being a “perfect” teammate?