Glue is what holds things together after they have been broken or split apart.
On athletic teams, a glue guy (or gal) is the one who, in the midst of adversity, will make sure that everyone sticks together.
In an corporate or professional setting, a glue guy (or gal) is the one who does the little (often unnoticed) things that help the team to succeed. But that isn’t all a glue person does.
Glue is an adhesive, so it also holds things (and teams) together.
Glue people aren’t overly concerned with individual accolades – like scoring in basketball. Instead, they concern themselves with doing whatever it takes to ensure their team wins. And often, that involved doing the thankless jobs that don’t find their way onto a statistics sheet, but have a huge impact on team chemistry and performance.
A glue person is someone whose attitude and actions are always determined by what is best for the team and his or her teammates.
Every coach and manager wants to have one on his team, and every player and employee wants to work with one. In basketball, one example is Australian player Joe Ingalls.
Coach Quin Snyder of the NBA’s Utah Jazz said of him, “I think people know that he is supportive. He is in it for the team … When he comes out of the game, even if he is upset that I took him out of the game, it never shows. He is still supportive of the guy that comes in for him.”
That is a terrific example of a glue guy – whether in basketball or in business.
Another is one of the NBA’s most well-known in that category. Shane Battier ended up winning three consecutive state championships in high school, one national championship at Duke in college, and then won two NBA championships with the Miami Heat. But those wins didn’t see him posting huge numbers in most traditional statistical categories. He just produced wins.
According to Battier himself, “I knew my value was helping us notch victories however I could. So there were certain things that I did to ensure that my team was always as prepared as possible.”
But the exact same behaviors and attitude create strong glue guys (and gals) in your workplace.
In fact, researchers at the Yale School of Management found that the social cohesion within a team is more predictive of profit and success than the number of years of experience or their collective intelligence.
The truth is that it is not always the most talented athletes or employees who have the greatest impact on a team’s success. If you want a winning team, you need to have winning teammates.
Winning teammates are the glue people in an organization that make thing work better. They are the ones that people want to work with. They are the ones that ring more than just technical skills – they have interpersonal skills that every great organization needs!
Life is a team sport.
Winning Teammates are the GLUE that hold teams together… and there are ten vital lessons that all winning teammates must understand if they want to have the powerful positive influence that will make them irreplaceable.
If you want to have more influence and impact on your team’s success – grab a copy of this book – The 10 Commandments of Winning Teammates.
It is a story about Nick Turner – a man on an unexpected journey to learn what he needs to do to be a better teammate. But it is really a story about you – becoming a better boss, co-worker, and family member.
You will enjoy the story and the lessons it shares.
More importantly, you will enjoy the impact it has on your personal and professional success when you apply the lessons in your life. And you will find out how to be a glue guy.
This is a guest post by Sean Glaze from Great Results Teambuilding. Make sure to check out his website on http://www.greatresultsteambuilding.net/.
