Are you part of a team at work? Do you want that teamwork to be more successful, or easier, or less stressful?

Then put yourself to the test and see if you’re ready to succeed in today’s team-driven workplace.

Succeeding with and through teams, partnerships, and other collaborations is paramount in today’s workplace.

Check the following 12 statements. See if they hold true for you. Then read on to see if you have a collaborative mindset or if there’s still work for you to do.

_____ I feel responsible for my team’s success no matter what my role is on the team.

_____ I believe that I perform at a higher level with my team than I perform on my own.

_____ I care about playing a win-win game in a seemingly win-lose world.

_____ I consider team building to be my job.

_____ I am truthful and trustworthy.

_____ I honor my agreements.

_____ I’m loyal to others even when I’m tempted to defect on them.

_____ I don’t excuse or blame my poor performance on others even when they don’t deliver.

_____ I welcome co-workers to renegotiate agreements with me.

_____ I feel the same level of accountability for all my agreements, whether they’re with my boss, peers, or subordinates.

_____ I feel the same level of accountability for all my agreements regardless of their size or significance.

_____ I understand the difference between my expectations of others and my agreements with them and know that it is my responsibility to align expectations and agreements.

Scoring

Give yourself one point for each statement you checked as true. Then look below to see where you stand when it comes to the collaborative mindset.

0-4 points: You think it’s a jungle out there and consider most everything at work a struggle against increasingly difficult odds. Your challenge is to pinpoint at least one person at work who’s on your side and consider him as a potential partner or teammate.

5-9 points: You are in the largest population of people at work, as you want to play a win-win game but feel trapped in a seemingly win-lose environment. Your challenge is to not give up and look for and count the wins. Continue to ask yourself how you can play a win-win game when so many around you are playing a win-lose game.

10-12 points: Kudos! You have an extremely collaborative mindset, including the vision and wisdom to imagine and create a successful outcome that’s positive for everyone involved.
Your challenge is to step up to the responsibility to leverage and demonstrate this mindset in leadership roles.

Get Started With This 5-Minute Stretch

For any items from the quiz that don’t make complete sense to you, invest five minutes conducting a keyword search at my blog’s archive to help you discover The Leadership Gift™ principle on which the item is based.

Leaders and coaches: Get Christopher’s best team building and leadership strategies collected over two-plus decades of solving teamwork problems for smart people. Attend the acclaimed Creating Results-Based Teams workshop, or get this FREE Special Report while it lasts: The Five Flawless Steps to Building a Strong Executive Leadership Team.

Christopher Avery, PhD, is a recognized authority on how individual and shared responsibility works in the mind and an advisor to leaders worldwide.