It was a Sunday basketball game in a church league many years ago. Automatically you might think it’s bad basketball, but our team had several players who 10 years earlier were on the floor playing college basketball. I drove the ball into the land of bigger players near the basket, was fouled as I went up but it wasn’t called, and soon I was on the floor with our opponents running the other way. I was furious, and it must have shown because soon I was sitting on the bench between Paul and Roger (both former college players), who one by one worked me over as teammates. First, they calmed me down, then Paul poured into me, before going back into the game. It was then Roger’s turn who said, with a big grin on his face, “Dale, Dale, Dale”, and then spoke into me with wisdom about looking for opportunities where they were and not forcing things, which I had done, and a gentle reminder that a temper never helps anything. These were the two best players on the team, pouring into me. It’s why we were a good team.

That story reminds me of a key question asked by a highly successful former college and NBA coach.

“How good can we expect to be if our best player is not our best teammate?” – Brad Stevens

I think the answer is – not as good as we can be.

Teams in your organization are made up of a unique set of individuals with different personalities, skills and talent. Because of this, they don’t all perform at an equal level, some are better than others.

Examine your best performing teams and those who struggle. Within each team, examine closely the behaviors of the most talented members of the team, the top one, two or three, depending on the size of the team. Notice I didn’t say look at their talent because it isn’t a predictor of a good teammate. Talent will help any team, but how someone behaves is what determines how good a teammate they will be.

Here are some behaviors you should look for:

• Are they genuine, i.e., the same person whether someone else is watching or not?
• Do they help others or always want to be helped?
• Do they take credit for success or share credit with others on the team?
• Do they encourage others on the team, or keep to themselves?
• Are they reliable, i.e., they do what they say they will do and meet deadlines?
• Are they good at collaborating with others on the team, listening and sharing ideas?
• Are they accountable to others, willing to accept personal responsibility when they may have let others down?
• Do they care more about the success of the team than their individual success?

If the most talented people on a team exhibit those behaviors, I would place a bet that the team is very successful.

Why is that?

Because successful teams trust each other. How someone acts determines if others on the team will trust them or say, “I can’t trust you”. If someone can’t be trusted, the team will become guarded and won’t work with them unless they have too. Productivity will drop. It’s even more important for the most talented team members because others look to them to see what they do. They set a standard for behavior.

Last spring I watched a very good high school basketball team, with one member who may have been the most talented player on either team, imploding in a big game. I learned later that the star players’ teammates didn’t like him because it was more about him than the team. The team worked around him instead of with him and didn’t care that they lost. The best player needs to be the best teammate.

That happens in organizations too, where people work around someone instead of with them because of their behavior. If you are a leader and your best talent isn’t behaving as they should, give them the tough love they need from you to behave the way a great teammate will.

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. Philippians 2:3-5 (NLT)