The 17 Essential Qualities Of A Team Player

Exercise…with it come strength and growth; without it come laziness and stagnation. Exercising the body is important to maintaining a good physical well-being, and likewise it is also important to regularly exercise the mind. For me, this has taken the form of reading good books and looking for ways to apply in my life what I am reading.

I recently started a new job and was delighted to discover that I now have access to hundreds (if not thousands) of digitized books thanks to the company’s partnership with Books 24x7. In between checking e-mails and waiting for clearance to work on the team’s projects, I’ve had plenty of time to spend perusing the wealth of information contained within the windows of my web browser.

First on the list of gems I’ve uncovered is John Maxwell’s exposition on the 17 Essential Qualities Of A Team Player: Becoming the Kind of Person Every Team Wants. For each quality, Maxwell brings in thought-provoking quotes, engaging stories, practical advice, and probing questions to cause the reader to get a handle on each quality and begin the process of continuous personal growth in his life. I’m a fan of all things practical, and this book is full of first-rate observations from a man who has proven himself in the very areas he is writing about. For this reason alone it is a worthy use of time as his advice comes from experience. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who interacts with other people—and who doesn’t? As you read, you’ll be challenged to be adaptable, collaborative, committed, communicative, competent, dependable, disciplined, enlarging, enthusiastic, intentional, mission-conscious, prepared, relational, self-improving, selfless, solution-oriented, and tenacious—qualities that will take you far and will help your team achieve new levels of success.

What’s holding you back from being a better team player? The best way to improve is just to work on it—get out there and exercise your mind!