Emotional Intelligence to become a great “Team Member”

There is no introduction needed for why it is important to work as a team in an organization. Together Everyone Achieves More (TEAM) which every organization & every athletes believes & creates such a value. Even though lot of emphasis shown on working as a Team, but still there are chances where they become unsuccessful as a team.  In a sport there can be only one winner which we say the “Best Team wins”.

A team is built with different individuals with different capabilities, skills & mindset. Getting a diversified set of people in to achieve one common goal is the greatest difficult any leader or coach will have. In this aspect what would be the role of a team member? how he or she can make sure they contribute to the common goal. We all know the legendary basketball player Michael Jordon was a star performer for his team, but without a team he will not be able to perform his skills at the same time his individual contribution has won his team many titles.

For you to become a great team member, your emotional intelligence can be a great hand. Thinking how? following three tips can help you.

Build your Character 

James Kerr in his book “Legacy” he states that one of the reason the All Blacks (New Zealand Rugby Team) had a highest winning rate in history of rugby, because the players character. When you become more aware of your strengths & weakness which is developing "Self-awareness" you are building your character. Your emotions, feelings & mood have great impact on the field as well as on the office floor, so take time consider what you can be like in your best & worst emotions. This is simply because when you’re in a positive emotional state your thinking becomes more broaden so your character of contributing is more. One of the practices can be practiced is seeking feedback from your team mates. Ask them how do you behave when you’re in best emotions or when your triggered with negative one.

Being Consistent.

Trust is one of the key element in teams. For you to build trust with in the team, you need to be consistent in what you say and the same time whether you take the action accordingly. When you become more Authentic or reflect and identify things you would have said and complete. Further diarize what you have said and not done, again reflect on this as well. This will help to build your consistency & honoring commitment with your team members. Again you may seek third party opinion from your team mates as well.

Need of support

In January 1999 at Hobart, Australia the Sri Lankan legendary cricketing spin wizard Muttaih Muralitharan was called as chucking (illegal delivery) by Ross Emerson. This incident happened after he was cleared by ICC on the previous incidents. This led the legendary bowler mentally dejected. But his captain & his team mates step up for the occasion and started to walk out from the ground as a protest of Ross Emerson’s’ action. This would be one the best example when you have built awareness of others (Social Awareness). If you take time to get to know you colleagues, listen to your instinct, if you feel someone is in need of help step up to the moment and ask proactively “Can I help you with this”. Stepping up to the situation will lead you to build better relationship in the long run. There will be no such legend if his captain & team mates didn’t step up on that moment

When you become more Self Aware, Authentic & Socially aware it helps you to become a great team member which will enable to achieve team goals.

Always seek understanding on what desired feelings will help me & my team to become successful in our journey towards reaching desired objective. because your emotions & feelings are vital for your teams success, hence ever leaders & captains need to give attention on the teams emotional culture

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About the writer,

Mohamed Azeem Saheer brings with him over a decade of hands on experience in management both in Sri Lanka and the region. Azeem’s experience in multiple industries offers him the unique ability to offer context and empathetic appreciation for the different programs he runs. Azeem is one of the one of first Genos Certified Emotional Intelligence practitioner, First Riders & Elephant certified Emotional Culture Deck Practitioner and ICF certified coaches in the country. He combines a unique flavor to his programs via Lego Serious Play : bringing the ‘fun’ of our childhood favorite toy Lego and combining it with ‘serious’ topics : enabling an immersion into learning.

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