I was recently talking with a client who was agitated that she had just made a bad hire. It wasn’t that this new person was inexperienced or unskilled; he was smart and capable, just as had shown up in the interview. But he was quickly proving to be a lousy teammate – ego-driven, secretive, selfish and unproductively competitive.

Great teams are built intentionally. People often think that the best teams come together by some combination of good luck and good timing, but the truth is a much more deliberate story. We studied thousands of teams in dozens of industries and found that the highest performing teams always had similar traits and characteristics. The individuals on these teams chose to be great team players.