Six Common Attitudes that Ruin a Team or Workplace
Or, How to Make Everyone Around You Miserable
Me! Me! Me!
Teamwork – A rugby scrum which involves 16 players (8 each side) binding together as a team. From the NERFU championship game ( Boston vs Mystic ) 5/15/10. Photo courtesy of George Ross http://www.digitalphotoconcept.com/
When our daughter was in elementary school, I always looked forward to seeing the teachers’ comments on her report cards. What I wanted to see was “Works well with others,” especially since she has no siblings. I positioned myself to lead groups that stressed teamwork — like Destination ImagiNation — so she would have every opportunity to learn these vital skills.
Being able to work well on a team is vital in today’s economy. Especially with the broadcasting abilities of social media, a bad attitude or inability to work well with others can quickly ruin your reputation and hurt your chances of working with others. Scott and I have been together since 1987, so we’ve obviously figured out how to work well together. Many of our website, video production and social media projects are handled completely in-house, with Scott and I interacting with the client and no one else. But we’ve also worked closely with marketing and advertising agencies, from 1-man operations to larger groups, on teams involving a project manager, the client, and other providers. We sometimes encounter difficult situations that challenge us, testing and honing our teamwork skills in new ways.
This is a good thing.
What kinds of attitudes ruin a team? John Maxwell, one of my favorite sources for leadership training, lists the following in his book “The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork“:
Six Common Attitudes that Ruin a Team
- An inability to admit when you’re wrong, and accept responsibility
- Failing to forgive others, and harboring resentment
- Petty jealousy about the accomplishments of others on the team
- The disease of “me” — being self-serving and self-promoting
- A critical spirit, focusing on the failings and flaws of others
- A desire to hog all the credit and belittle the contributions of the team
How have you seen these attitudes hurt a team or workplace? What other attitudes would you add?
Thanks to George Ross of http://www.digitalphotoconcept.com/ for the rugby photo!
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The greatest team I ever worked on flipped your 6 attitudes almost upside down like the 3 Muskateers.
1) Almost everyone took responsibility no matter who made a mistake.
2) Nobody held resentment
3) Nobody had any jealousy about others on the team
4) Nobody was self-promoting or self-serving
5) Most of them would deflect any focus on failings and flaws except to illustrate ways to improve.
6) Everyone celebrated contributions of their teammates.
It was a real all-for-one and one-for-all place… and taught me SO much.
John, that’s an amazing team to work on! Sounds like one of the teams I’m working with now. When someone messes up, they immediately accept responsibility and apologize, not making excuses or trying to “save face.” Often someone else will accept partial responsibility, perhaps saying, “I could have been clearer,” or “I should have offered to help with that.”
Thanks for sharing your great experience!
Yes – I’ve been there. The second company that I worked for. But, the good thing was that it made me truly appreciate GOOD teams and what made for a GOOD leader. I learned much from the experience. I’m much older now – I suspect I’d react to the situation differently now, but at that age, at least I learned from it!
Rachel, isn’t it amazing what we learn from negative experiences when we look for the “takeaways”? And, like you, I’d handle a poor leader much differently now that I’m older, wiser, and more mature (older doesn’t necessarily mean “wiser” or “more mature”).
That’d make for a great post, wouldn’t it? “How I’d Handle [Insert Situation] Differently Now That I Know Better.”
Thanks so much for commenting!!