Originally published in 2018. Updated in 2025 as part of the Personal Branding Blog relaunch under Brown Brothers Media.
“What is teamwork?”
I posed this question to 12 leaders at a small regional credit union. We heard the traditional answers: collaboration, communication, working together toward a common goal.
Then one leader offered a definition that stopped me in my tracks:
“Teamwork is a series of individual interdependent successful efforts.”
That definition is perfect.
That IS what teamwork really is.
Teamwork only exists when each individual team member successfully fulfills their expected role. The whole depends on the parts.
When teamwork “fails”
Have you ever had teamwork not work?
If so, what was the cause?
Think about how it failed. Where, how did it fail?
Notice that it really wasn’t teamwork that failed. What failed was one team member’s effort that other team members and the overall team was dependent on.
Teamwork never fails. Individuals fail teamwork. Not the other way around.
The problem with fixing “teamwork”
Too many organizations focus on fixing the teamwork itself.
The discussion centers around how team members can interact better, communicate more, collaborate more consistently. And the discussion ignores what’s usually happening underneath.
Instead, the focus should be on the interdependent team members’ individual efforts.
That’s where the true magic in teamwork comes from. That’s how it works in sports, in high-performing companies, in any team that delivers results.
Two contexts for championship team performance
To ensure that teamwork thrives and generates championship results, address these two contexts:
First: Each team member must understand their role in relation to the other team members and how the interdependency works.
Second: Each team member must be committed to being held accountable for performing their role at the highest level.
Do those two things and championship team performance can thrive at your company, as it does in all of sports.
The end of finger-pointing
Getting people on board for high-level teamwork—and understanding this definition of teamwork—will end the finger-pointing and blaming that’s common in many small businesses.
When you recognize that teamwork is a series of individual interdependent successful efforts, you shift the conversation from blame to ownership. From pointing fingers to examining your own contribution.
And that’s where real performance improvement begins.
As you build your professional reputation, remember that your reliability as a team member is part of your personal brand.
This article is part of Personal Branding Blog’s evergreen archive and has been reviewed to reflect current career and personal branding best practices. Learn more about our story here.
