“Team” is one of the most used and abused of buzz words, but there is such a thing as working together as a team. Here is a quick rule of thumb: if the people that are supposed to be in your “team” make it more difficult for you to do your job, then you are not really part of a team. Those people might as well be gone and your job would be easier. On the other hand, if someone in your “team” needs help to do their job and no one is willing to help, then that is not a very good team either. There’s more.

Personally, I think being a talented individual is more important than being a “team worker”, but that’s probably because most of the jobs I’ve had involved being tasked with projects and carrying on with the attitude to “make it happen”. I then temper that with respect for other people. It works. The notion of “team” becomes vague if there’s no difference between the group of people you are supposed to work with and simply the other people that are working on the project. Being a “team” requires an authentic commitment to rules, leadership, consequences for failure, and good faith. But typically, “team” is a buzzword for herding people together and getting them moving along at the same pace, and has more to do with managing employees in groups to pool resources.