What Makes a Good Team Member

When hiring people, I try to determine if the candidate has what it takes to be a great team member.  That means carrying interest in the project, technology, companies AND people. It also means dedication. If I see someone dedicated to their family, these are usually good team members.

A team is a bit like a surrogate family, a group you may be spending 40-50 or more hours a week with for years.  You sink or swim together often and it's a bit like a family.

I always draw strength on my late father's dedication to his focus, drive, and dedication to doing a good job. After he retired, we worked together on a small online store and that's when I learned what it meant to be dedicated. He always put in full effort no matter how small or trivial the task.   It always received attention. No customer was too insignificant, no task was not worth doing right. On the last day of his life, he ran through a checklist of unresolved tasks and things he had just completed for the company. He brought that dedication to all things and it showed. It's not potential that matters, it's the effort to get the tasks completed with diligence and dedication.

Thank you for teaching me what dedication truly means.