Often in the course of my job, an almost mythical ‘teamwork attitude’ is referred to. While I’m sure it makes perfect sense on branded ‘policy’ posters – what is the right teamwork attitude to have? Is there one perfect attitude? And if so – how does one go about obtaining it? Does all leadership theory offer consistent advice on the issue?

From one point of view, there are three different frames of mind associated with teamwork.

Dependence

This is the earliest and least productive state of mind. This is the attitude that you form when you are content with the idea that you rely heavily upon others to help you complete your own work.  Someone with this attitude may typically avoid a lot of responsibility and shy away from trying new tasks and growing as an individual. Team mates will often become frustrated at the lack of effort this individual is bringing to the table. This attitude causes the team member to gain less skills and grow into a position whereby they cannot help being dependent. They become stuck in a circle of dependence and lack of team leadership.

As a new joiner at a company, you will undoubtedly have to rely on other key members of staff to be able to finally stand on your own two feet. As long as you appreciate this is a necessary stage, and will pass extremely quickly after you put in hard work and the desire to learn, you will soon transcend from dependance to…

Independence

Independence is the attitude and self confidence that comes from being able to complete a task by one’s self. Independent people often take the brunt of the hardest work, and have a stressful work environment. They also continually seek to prove their effectiveness and worth to their boss, which can make their happiness very sensitive to approval from their seniors.

Some succeed at life with this attitude, while some just get crushed under the weight of high expectations from leadership management. They start to get older and realise that this isn’t good enough A lucky bunch of people begin to see this attitude as actually being flawed. They discover that there is a 3rd attitude that only most effective team leader appreciates…

Interdependence

Interdependence is a brilliant attitude that improves upon the independent state of mind. An interdependent team member does not shy away from responsibility nor seek to minimise their workload. They do however appreciate that sometimes it is best to delegate. All-to-often, team leaders retain the ‘senior’ tasks for themselves and continually dish out the same menial work to their subordinates. Little do they realise that a junior member of the team would be thrilled and motivated incredibly well from being given a chance at more challenging work. Interdependence is the belief that a team will work far better when everyone aligns their needs to the tasks (as in the above example), and works together as a coherent team with synergy. It’s easy to motivate your team when they’re in this state of mind.

In a different approach to gain interdependence, people have often sought out useful leadership books and learning material that will help them along the path to happiness and leadership. These days, most tend to be rather disappointing, but I’m pleased to point you torwards one e-course that is still respected by leadership professionals such as myself:
The 11 Forgotten Laws. It’s generally seen as an essential and core ‘crash course’ in the laws and secrets you need to know to further your leadership & career and even help find happiness in other areas of your life. Its an excellent base upon which you can build your personal development.

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