Issue 81, October 15th, 2025

CAREER PATH WISDOM

BEING A GREAT TEAM MEMBER



Though my wife and I are living in London right now, I’ve spent most of my adult life in Boston, and this part of October features one of the highlights of the local calendar, the Head of the Charles Regatta. The race atmosphere isn’t quite as raucous and boozy as it used to be – check out England's Henley Regatta if you want that – but it’s still a great event that draws top crew teams from across the world, from juniors up through masters.

Rowing crew (which I have never done, to be clear) is a true team sport, one that requires impeccable precision if you want to be truly competitive. I suspect many of us would say that our current workplace teams are not operating at quite that level. (Few do.) If you’re lucky, you have teammates you like and respect. But you may also look around the table when you’re all together and think uncharitable thoughts, like, “This team is awful” or “We could really be doing better than this.” You may mentally roll your eyes at your teammates who are the suck-ups, solo artists, and would-be saviors – thinking that they don’t seem to get the gist of what being a true team is really about.

Unless you’re working in one of those rare companies that lets teams – and not the boss – choose their new teammates, you probably don’t have a lot of control over your fellow team members. While you could theoretically move to a different team or even a different organization, that’s a drastic step that not many of us would take lightly. So focus instead on what you can do to be a better teammate and to help strengthen the team as a whole. Here are a few tips:

1. Put yourself in your manager’s shoes. Look at what they’re being held accountable for, what their specific targets are, and what their priorities are. Make sure you’re clear on where you fit in and how you can help them with what's most important to them.
2. Do your part. Perhaps this is obvious, but you need to make sure you’re doing solid work that's contributing to the team’s ability to meet objectives.
3. Help your teammates get better. Understand what they’re responsible for and how you can help them to be successful. Also let them know how they can help you, as they may not fully appreciate the support you need. Offer regular coaching and feedback, and ask for it as well
4. Take the high road. Have a ‘team first’ attitude, avoid gossiping about your peers, and do your best to stay optimistic, even if you aren’t fully wowed by how well the team is working together.
5. Keep the drama low. Drama can be a huge tax on team effectiveness. Don’t be a cause of it and avoid being a contributor to it, unless it’s about something truly important

I’d love to hear your stories of your favorite and least favorite teammates, and your thoughts on being a great teammate. You can email me at jr@pathwise.io. We'll pick 10 of our favorites to share in our new community (see below!) and will offer you a $10 discount on a PathWise service.

JR and the PathWise team

Circle is a leading platform supporting member communities like ours, with a rich set of features for us to offer you, and we’ll be launching it in early November. If you're a PathWise member, look out for an e-mail in the coming weeks with information on how to transfer your account over to Circle. If you're not a member, join today and become part of our community of dedicated working professionals.

October 20, Mind Traps: How Cognitive Biases Impact Our Career Choices, presented by Daniela De Luca. If you've ever felt like your mind was playing tricks on you, chances are it was. Our brains have quirks, ones that worked well for us in pre-historic times but get in our way today, both personally and professionally. Join us to learn more about these Mind Traps and how you can work around them, in work and in life. Register today!

October 20 – How to Nail the MBA Admissions Process, with Jessica Shklar. Jessica is an Executive Director at mbaMission, the #1 MBA counseling service. We cover different MBA options, how to choose the schools to which you apply, writing essays, getting references, and more. If you’re considering an MBA, make a point to check out this episode.

October 13 – Mistakes and Setbacks. No matter how good you are, you’re going to make mistakes and experience setbacks. We’ll talk about how to navigate through them, learn from them, and move on.

October 20 – The Hiring Process. One of your most important jobs as a manager is to hire new people into your team. Doing it well benefits you and your organization, but many managers often miss critical steps or invest too little time in the process. We’ll cover best practices and mistakes to avoid.

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