Yes

Do you see yourself as a leader?

But I don’t care either way, I’m also a good team player. I often avoid team work though because many people are not.

I prefer to take the lead because I’m very much a born helper, I want people around me to thrive and feel good. I know that a good leader stands back, and only steps in when someone needs support.

A lot of their work is background, setting structures, helping to plan the how then putting timescales to it. Keeping a strong focus on what’s happening, trying to preempt problems, or find fast solutions. Discussion, listening, hearing the experts in your team. Soothing ruffled feathers, making everyone feel valued, and ensuring that they value each other.

There is no I in team is a very true saying. You have to remember it’s the goal that matters. That even the smallest role contributes.

In one team two non-admin people restructured our document detailing the project. I gave them a very polite hell by pointing out that this document was there to sell that project, in it we could put in a great deal of detail that would secure our degree or lead to failure. No one else had strayed into their territory, we’d been respectful.

A colleague and I re-did it to a background of profuse apologies, not a few humbly proffered hot drinks, and admittance that straying into someone else’s territory definitely had not been a good or right thing. Hopefully they took forward that respect is key.

If you struggle in a team believing that you can do everything better than everyone else, you may be right, but you’ll also be the most likely point of failure as you stress everyone around you and bring about the likelihood of more mistakes.

If you want to feel valued, remember that everyone else does too, criticism and threats never bought out the best in anyone, making everyone feel safe around you is one of the greatest skills anyone can have.

Have a great day, it’s freezing in the UK. I wish you warmth, but not to much.

Deb xx