Posted in inspiration, Leadership, People-Skills, Soft Skills
Collaboration expands everyone’s greatness when they all seek opportunities and are not opportunists. Whether an entrepreneur, a corporate employee, a leader of a business or corporate team, an educator, a student, or a non-profit volunteer – we all reap the benefits of collaboration when we contribute at least as much we take.
Opportunists build their own success while seeming to help others. On the surface the appearance is one of collaboration; you will see it is superficial by (ironically) looking deeper. Why think about this? If you encounter opportunists, why not just avoid them in the future?
Collaboration is powerful mechanism for success. It also requires trust, belief, giving and confidence in others. Opportunists betray the trust through manipulation with often hidden ulterior motives. This impacts future collaboration, teamwork and morale.
Collaboration: Opportunity not Opportunists Image by:Peyri
It changes the dynamic in sometimes unidentifiable ways. You only know that things are not the same. Collaboration and teamwork are not as dynamic, natural, or successful. Mistrust and feelings of foolishness have taken root.
Preserve the Purity of Collaboration
- Give yourself permission to be on the lookout for opportunists. It doesn’t mean you are a cynic. You can collaborate as an optimistic realist and keep your radar tuned for signals.
- If you are a leader, define with your team the difference between a collaborator and an opportunist. Of course make sure you are the former! Build a culture of collaboration through initial discussions, modeling the behavior, monitoring progress, and making changes.
Cut opportunists if they are unwilling to authentically collaborate. This is tough decision for some if the opportunists are contributing results while the impact of their manipulation is less tangible.
If an opportunist has stung you, don’t leave the stinger in. Learn the signals to avoid being stung again. Life is learning so learn from it. Discover your inner strength to recover from bad times. Go forward and create success with authentic collaborators.
Tune Up Your Radar to Spot Opportunists
It is the pattern of behavior that defines an opportunist — not any one moment. Spot the pattern to avoid cynicism.
Opportunists …
- Give half-baked praise or promotion of your contributions.
- Compliment you personally or ask about your personal well being while ignoring your occupational pursuits and professional contributions.
- Sometimes, not always, they take credit for your thoughts and ideas.
- Take more than they give. They accept help from authentic collaborators when the focus is on them or their work and contribute the minimum for apperances when it isn’t.
What else would you add to this pattern list?
What other implications are there for having opportunists on your team?
What ambiguity or confusion do you experience in spotting the difference between collaborators and opportunists?
Kate Nasser, The People-Skills Coach, delivers workshops, consultations, and keynotes to take you and your teams from inspiration to action. Corporate teams, mid-size businesses, and governmental agencies have achieved more success with Kate’s insight and experience in teamwork, leading change, customer relations, and communication within diversity.
I received an ad in my email box for a customer service training video. Even after 20 years of teaching customer service, I still learn new things. So I took a quick look at the sample footage. What I saw was fake, neutral, and difficult for the customer.