When I decided to start my business more than 10 years ago, I wasn't entirely sure where it would take me. But I knew who I wanted to join me on the journey.
Lynn Mandinec was my first friend at my first job out of college. We started our careers simultaneously; I was in entry-level sales and Lynn was an account manager. Our lives and career paths have included plenty of exciting twists and turns, but our friendship persevered. To this day, I am grateful she decided to be employee No. 1. She makes the business better — and that is reflected on the bottom line.
That is the value of teamwork. And it has never been more important.
Gallup's 2024 State of the Global Workplace report tracked more than 183,000 teams and found that highly engaged ones deliver 23% higher profitability than their disengaged counterparts. The same report puts the cost of low engagement at $438 billion in lost productivity globally, every year. The gap between a good team and a great one does not close on its own. It comes down to the people in the room — and the kind of teammate each of them chooses to be.
The most worthwhile things I have ever achieved have not been solo ventures. I was part of a very good team, and I find that the shared experiences are a whole lot more meaningful and fulfilling.
So what makes a good teammate? What do the best teammates actually do differently? Here are 10 traits from my own Lynn-inspired list with plenty of research to back them up.
Emotional Stability
A great teammate decides how they show up — and they show up with emotional stability, positive energy and enough self-awareness to keep the people around them grounded even when conditions are hard.
Great teammates tend to be optimistic and deeply invested in their organization's vision of the future. They own their part in making that future happen.
When someone can regulate their emotional state and bring genuine empathy to the people they work with, the whole environment shifts. The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report has identified emotional intelligence as one of the most in-demand skills in the modern workforce, and Gallup's research ties emotionally engaged teams directly to higher performance and retention. The teammates who make everyone feel seen, heard, understood and valued — that awareness is what earns them their reputation.
Takes Ownership
A great teammate takes full ownership of their area of responsibility — not just completing tasks but actively making their work better, which makes collaboration easier for everyone else.
Great teammates are competent in their roles, and they take full ownership of their area of responsibility by making it better. This makes collaboration easier for everyone else. It also fuels the growth of the business.
When you own your work, you are able to give more to the team. A Harvard Business Review study found that when individuals feel genuine ownership over their work, they are significantly more generous with their time and resources toward the people around them. That generosity compounds. It makes teams better.
Obsessed with Customer Experience
A great teammate understands that the customer is the point — and they bring urgency, personalization and a high standard of service to every interaction, whether that interaction is internal or external.
Customer expectations keep rising, and how you interact with customers to meet their needs can be the deciding factor between your company and a competitor. Personalization, customization and a sense of urgency are what customers want, and a great teammate knows when to go above and beyond.
According to Salesforce's State of the Connected Customer research, 86% of customers say the experience a company provides matters as much as its products and services. The best teammates understand this intuitively. They set the tone for everyone's behavior and standard of service, and their dedication to a great experience — for customers and colleagues alike — is contagious.
Competitive Readiness
A great teammate is driven to win. They bring urgency, competitive intensity and an unwillingness to settle to their work, and they raise the standard for everyone around them.
Business is a competitive sport. The drive to win deals and outperform the competition is essential to the success of any sales team. I'm naturally a competitive guy, and the people on my team need to match that intensity.
Great teammates want to win. They are dedicated to common goals and to doing what it takes to achieve them. Competition is a powerful motivator — the kind that brings out the best in people and pushes the entire team to a higher level. If you want to win, surround yourself with people who feel that same urgency for the challenge.
Generously Shares Credit
A great teammate does not keep score on recognition — they are genuinely happy for other people's success and quick to give credit where it is due.
Good teammates don't care who gets credit for a win. They want the best for the team, and they celebrate other people's contributions without reservation.
Research backs this up. Gallup's 2024 Human-Centered Workplace report, conducted with Workhuman, found that employees who receive frequent, meaningful recognition show significantly higher engagement and are far more likely to go above and beyond for their team. The teammate who creates that culture of recognition — who makes sure good work gets seen and celebrated — is building something that no budget line can replicate.
Creative Problem-Solver
A great teammate stays curious, owns problems and looks for better solutions — not just executing on what they are told but actively improving the way work gets done.
Great teammates stay in the learning lane. They are willing to test, experiment and get better in every facet of their work. They own problems and solve them in creative and effective ways.
In an environment where disruption is the baseline, the teammates who help an organization stay resilient are the ones who treat every challenge as a question worth answering. They are dedicated to continuous learning — and that commitment is one of the most durable advantages any team can have.
Trustworthy
A great teammate is someone you can trust completely — high integrity, willing to tell it like it is, and using candor in direct service of the team's best outcomes.
One of the most valuable traits in a teammate is someone you can trust. That means high integrity and a willingness to weigh in, challenge the status quo and offer honest feedback. When they call it like they see it, you know their feedback is meant to push you and the company to reach maximum potential.
According to Harvard Business Review research, 83% of employees who trust their senior leaders are actively engaged at work. That dynamic runs all the way down to the individual teammate level. Everyone wants to work with people who have their back. On the best teams, that trust is earned in hundreds of small moments — commitments kept, feedback delivered honestly, credit shared freely.
Coachability
A great teammate wants to be challenged, receives feedback with an open mind and uses it to improve — not just for themselves, but to make their contributions to the team stronger.
The best teammates want to be pushed. To be coachable is to have the mental mindset to receive constructive feedback and turn it into an opportunity for growth. But not all feedback is given well or received well.
The gap is real. According to Gallup's 2024 research, only 20% of employees strongly agree that their manager provides them with sufficient feedback. Effective team members do not wait for the system to work perfectly. They seek feedback out, sort through it and make meaningful improvements because they always want to grow and get better. And when the feedback is hard to hear, they are self-aware enough to take the insight without taking it personally.
A great teammate gives and receives feedback regularly. They listen, find ways to make meaningful improvements and bring that same spirit of honest candor to the feedback they offer in return.
Knows When to Disagree and Commit
A great teammate speaks up when they disagree — and then commits fully to the direction the team chooses, even when it is not the path they would have taken.
The best teammates are not afraid of healthy conflict. When you encounter challenges and tough decisions, having someone in the room who brings a thoughtful counterpoint is a genuine asset.
You won't always agree. Sometimes you face a problem with no clear winning solution. In those cases where you have to make a tough choice, a great teammate always commits to what the team decides, even if it is not the route they would have chosen. Alignment to the team's direction keeps everyone on track and ensures you remain unified when situations get complicated.
Fun
A great teammate makes working together genuinely enjoyable — they bring energy, humor and a sense of shared purpose that makes the hard work worth doing.
Work hard and have a blast doing it. That works for me. When someone is a team player on every front, they make working together engaging every step of the way.
Teamwork makes the dream work. Especially today.
If you want to be successful, surround yourself with people who exemplify these traits. More importantly, strive to be that kind of person. Most organizations need more great teammates — especially as work becomes more distributed, more collaborative and more competitive.
At any level of your career, I invite you to consider this question: How do I want to be remembered by the people I work with?
The answer matters. Reflect on it. Write it down. Let it guide how you show up and what kind of contribution you intend to make.
Want more on building high-performing teams and the human side of growth? Read How to Build a High-Performing Team and explore the Human-Centered Leadership keynote.
Frequently Asked Questions About Great Teammate Traits
If I had to name one, it is trustworthiness. Every other trait on this list — ownership, coachability, creative problem-solving — depends on a foundation of trust. When your teammates trust you, they give you honest feedback, share credit freely and fully commit to decisions you make together. Without trust, the rest of the list is just performance.
The opposite of these 10 traits. More specifically: someone who deflects ownership, keeps score on recognition, avoids honest feedback and disengages the moment a decision does not go their way. Bad teammates do not create trust — they quietly erode it, one small moment at a time.
Every trait on this list is learnable. Emotional stability is built through self-awareness and deliberate practice. Ownership is a decision you make. Coachability is a mindset you choose to bring to every piece of feedback you receive. The best teammates I have been around were not born that way. They decided to become that way.
Consistently, and in small moments. Great teammates do not perform these traits on big occasions — they practice them daily. Following through on commitments. Sharing credit without being asked. Staying curious when it would be easier to coast. Giving honest feedback with care. Being the person who makes everyone else's job a little easier. That is what the best teammates do.
A team player fulfills their role. A great teammate makes the whole team better. Team players do their part; great teammates raise the standard for the people around them. The difference is not effort — it is the decision to invest in the humans you work alongside, not just the work itself.
