Dependability



Teams Go to Go-To Players

Fear not those who argue but those who dodge.—Wolfram Von Eschenbach

Dependability is more than ability alone.—John C. Maxwell

Dependability is important to every team's success. You know it when you have people on your team upon whom you cannot depend. Everyone on the team knows it. Likewise, you know the ones you can depend on.

The essence of dependability:
  1. Pure motives. When it comes to teamwork ,motives matter. Aristotle believed that "all we do is done with an eye to something else." Evidently he believed that you can't trust anyone's motives. I don't agree with that. Most of the time I give people the benefit of the doubt. I try to keep my motives right, and I encourage my teammates to do likewise. However, if someone on the team continually puts himself and his agenda ahead of what's best for the team, he has proven himself to be undependable.
  2. Responsibility. New York Times best-selling author and former editor Michael Korda emphasized, "In the final analysis, the one quality that all successful people have … is the ability to take on responsibility." While motivation addresses why people are dependable, responsibility indicates that they want to be dependable. Dependable team members possess the desire to do the things that they are capable of doing.
  3. Sound thinking. Dependability means more than just wanting to take responsibility. That desire must also be coupled with good judgment to be of real value to the team.
  4. Consistent contribution. The final quality of a dependable team player is consistency. If you can't depend on teammates all the time, then you can't really depend on them any of the time. Consistency takes more than talent. It takes a depth of character that enables people to follow through—no matter how tired, distracted, or overwhelmed they are. As Britain's eloquent and steadfast prime minister of the last century, Winston Churchill, said, "It is not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what's required."


Never underestimate the long-reaching benefits that being dependable can bring. 

Adapted from the book The 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player By John C. Maxwell & an
Old Dominion Basketball Mailer

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