Pushing Your Teammates To Success

Amy Wartham //

I’m not a huge fan of NASCAR, but I do respect the sport. Recently, as I was scrolling through Instagram, I came across a scene where seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson backed up and pushed his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliot to the finish line after running out of gas on the track during his victory lap. To me, that was such an amazing gesture and quite honestly a legendary moment.

“I pulled up alongside him to give him the thumbs up and then I could see his car wasn’t running as I drove away, so I backed up and helped him along,” Johnson said. “Seeing Chase’s arm pumping along the way was so cool as I was pushing him. The crowd was going crazy!”

It made for an iconic image as Elliott celebrated the milestone moment, bringing home his first checkered flag and Hendrick Motorsports’ 250th Cup Series win.

We talk about teamwork and collaboration A LOT in our training programs. For many organizations collaboration is the secret sauce to their success. Working together is the only way business goals and visions can be achieved and when your employees have strong connections and relationships with the people they work with and they feel like they’re a part of something bigger – they’ll more than likely continue working with you. And in today’s volatile and competitive workforce market – that’s huge!

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much! – Helen Keller

Being a good teammate is not for the faint of heart. It takes work. I mean, real work. Sometimes it’s just downright hard. Here are a few things that I think make a person a good teammate.

• Respect. Respect for one another and respect for the work that you’re doing. Respect lets others know that they’re valued for their abilities and contributions. Jimmie Johnson pushing chase Elliot to the finish line was a true demonstration of respect.
• Humbleness. A great teammate is humble. I’ve been the Director of Corporate and Custom Training for a long time and I know that I wouldn’t have been able to achieve the success I’ve had without help from others. A good teammate puts their individual accomplishments aside and gives praise to their teammates. Teams succeed when no one cares who gets the credit.
• 110% Effort. A great teammate gives relentless effort. Sometimes you can’t control what happens during your workday, but you can control what you contribute to the team. The only way to get better is to give your maximum effort. This not only makes you better – it pushes your teammates to get better as well.
• Leadership. A great teammate is a leader. You don’t have to be the star employee on your team to be a leader. You don’t even need to be a vocal leader. Teammates can lead simply by the actions they take. Is what you do on a daily basis making your team better?

So, I ask you, would your teammates back up and give you a push? Would you give them a push?

If you’d like to know more about our Building a High Performance Work Team program, then email me at awartham@charlotte.edu to set a time for a quick conversation, or check out our Course Catalog for a program description.