Team Player — Is That Still A Thing?

My experience says — Not in today’s business world

I was that optimistic, bushy-tailed, keen, ‘Let’s get it done,’ ‘How can I help?’ kind of employee.

Because being a team players is a good thing, right?

— Well, maybe not, when that corporation has a culture based only on self-enrichment. And it doesn’t have to be that way…

I worked for various corporations within the entertainment industry for 20 plus years. I’ve witnessed much of the dynamic I describe below first-hand, and in the eyes of the corporate world, this is simply the ‘way it is’ for most of them.

Most companies talk a good game, using the terms ‘team’ and ‘team effort’ as and when the urge took them. So although ‘lip-serviced’ on a frequent basis, I didn’t see it in practice.

Ironically, wannabe team players may even get the sense that their collaborative overtures within the team are treated with some suspicion by other team members.

After all, if the other members of the department simply see this as weird behavior, then that person is seen as an irritant.

Why’s he saying that to another team player, offering to help? What’s with that? What’s he going to get out of that? What’s his game??