I think that everyone has been told to be a team player, yet there is no clear definition of what a team player is. A team player can be associated to any type of profession a person participates in while working with a group of people trying to accomplishment the same goal. In the Webster’s Student Dictionary, there is nothing about the phrase “team player” but, the closest to team player is the definition of teamwork, which is defined as “Unity of action, as by the players on a team”. Some synonyms are collaboration, joint effort, and cooperation. A team player has a plethora of traits and a full understanding of the concepts necessary for careful analysis.
A good personality would have to included being friendly and diplomatic which are two biggest traits the player personality would need. Having a friendly personality is to key to keep the harmony with the other players. Not having a good personality means that someone in the group may be afraid to approach you or others with a problem or an idea, and that is the most important part about working in a team is the sharing of ideas and notifying everyone when a problem does occur so that it can be fixed. The diplomatic skills would help end any disputes that other players might have with someone.
Motivation drives people to get work done. Some people in the team may not have the same motivational drive that others have. Personality is very important for getting along with others in your team; however, it does not accomplish the task entirely. On the other hand, motivation would be something that is done mostly by the team leader or captain, everyone still has a part to play to ensure that team stays on a successful track. Motivation is the key to why team players try so viciously to complete a goal. By discussing ideas, team players work as a whole to solve problems together and works towards solutions. By working together this gives everyone a chance to input their ideas this makes everyone feel important creating more motivation for everyone in the team. When everyone has a great persona and has contributed his or her own ideas this will lead to positive motivation for a team.
Personality and motivation is what keeps the team together and keeps everything moving along while they work on achieving a common goal. Just like in soccer, as the team “goes for the goal,” and drives the ball play downfield the whole time the work When things start to click the team will always be striving for mission accomplishment and constantly wanting the team to be successful. Team players may strive to accomplish a goal by showing no concern for his or her individual needs by putting that goal before anything else. By doing this the team will want to work together until one task is finished and the more tasks that are accomplished gives the team more self-assurance for future goals.
Those only a few traits of what an ideal team player would possess. From looking at this definition of a team player is hard to define, but the idea is that everyone learns off each other and by doing this everyone learns what is needed to function as a team. This will help the team complete more goals successfully and will produce many team players where everyone is a leader. To be a team player, one cannot be selfish nor need recognition for one’s individual acts or contributions. True team players only express pleasure when the team as a whole is successful.