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22Teamwork

Look for these traits in successful team players

It was a cold winter. The hedgehogs, realizing the situation, decided to bunch together to keep warm. However, the quills from each hedgehog pierced their next-door neighbors, so they decided to move apart. But then they started to freeze and die alone, so they made the decision to cuddle back together and live with the little piercings caused by the close connection with their companions in order to receive the heat that came from the group. This allowed them to survive.

And that, my friends, is the perfect definition of teamwork.

No team is composed entirely of perfect people. Whether you’re a superstar or a benchwarmer, you are an important member of the team.

Individuals working together as a group make a team successful. The success of any team—be it in sports or in business—is dependent on every person working toward a common goal. The role of every team member, no matter how seemingly insignificant, is valuable to the team’s overall success. Success doesn’t come from what you do occasionally; it comes from what you do consistently.

Andrew Carnegie, business magnate and philanthropist who led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and often identified as one of the richest people ever, said: “Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision, the ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people ...