Standing out as an excellent teammate is one of the best ways to ensure you always have a seat at the table, but what qualities are teams looking for when selecting who they want to work with?
According to by a joint team of researchers led by Cynthia Maupin at Binghamton University鈥檚 School of Management, it鈥檚 all about friendliness and trustworthiness over everything else, including individual competence.
Today in The Science of Leadership, we explore how the team used different voice types to come to their conclusions and what we can take away from their findings to help us stand out as stellar teammates in the future.
The researchers focused their study on a cohort of MBA students to determine what a team values when selecting teammates.
At the start of the semester, the students were randomly assigned to a team determined by the researchers. Later in the semester, the teams were broken up and the students were told to create new teams, working with whomever they wanted.
Once these new teams were formed, the students reflected on why they chose their specific teammates. The researchers then examined these choices to determine how students 鈥渟ignaled鈥� their human and social capital.
You can think of as how competent someone is and how well they perform their tasks, and as how trustworthy and friendly a person is.
The team found that students actually 鈥渟ignaled鈥� their human and social capital by using two different voices 鈥� challenging and supportive 鈥� when speaking to one another.
Before we continue with what the team found, let鈥檚 look at how these voices differ. Keep in mind that while these voices are different, most people use a combination of them depending on the setting and situation.
This voice is direct and focuses on outcomes, efficiency, and new ideas. It challenges the status quo and looks to produce results. The Challenging Voice is all about signaling human capital value and what a person can bring on a tangible level to the team.
The Supportive Voice focuses on social capital by creating trust and friendly cohesion. It aims to build stronger interpersonal relationships but doesn鈥檛 necessarily focus on outcomes. The core motivation for using this voice is to connect seamlessly with others.
When the team analyzed their results, they came to an interesting conclusion: friendliness is valued higher than competence when examined head-to-head.
鈥淥ur findings suggest that when people feel like they can trust you, even if you鈥檙e not necessarily the best worker, they鈥檙e going to be more likely to want to work with you,鈥� . 鈥淭hey know that there are likely to be fewer interpersonal issues in that case.鈥�
It turns out that being a great partner and collaborator can smooth out potential missing competencies while also signaling honesty and openness, building trust and strengthening bonds. Overly challenging voices lack most of these interpersonal skills, making them harder to get along with on a personal level.
Those who exhibited both the supportive and the challenging voice in tandem were the most sought-after team members. After all, being a well-rounded, competent, and friendly person is always something to strive for.
Maupin also concludes that using a combination of supporting and challenging voices is even more important now than before the pandemic because many rely on virtual meetings that can strip away much of these signals.
鈥淲ithout those in-person interactions, people have less time to be able to make decisions and assessments about coworkers. You may only be seeing them on Zoom meetings,鈥� she said.
鈥淵ou really need to speak up in both constructive and supportive ways to make your human and social capital signals apparent whenever you鈥檙e working with people virtually, especially if you鈥檙e looking for future team opportunities.鈥�
The new findings point out that most people want to work closely with others who are more like friends than simple teammates. They want to feel a connection, be heard, and most importantly, be supported.
For leaders, all of these aspects come together to form a leadership style called servant leadership.
Servant leadership is the concept that if you fully support those around you, you empower them to perform at their best.
鈥淲hen members of the community see your passion and your commitment through your actions, they want to be connected to you,鈥� wrote Bethany VanBenschoten, Assistant Director of Leadership Development and 黑料不打烊 Chapter Advisor at Utica College, in a guide to servant leadership for the 黑料不打烊.
鈥淪ervant leadership goes against the beliefs that leadership is defined as hierarchical, patriarchal, and related to wealth or status. Instead, it鈥檚 focused on serving others to help them grow, often without the title or recognition that comes with many leadership roles.鈥�
Though not directly examined by the team, the new study adds evidence to support the efficacy of this type of leadership since servant leaders likely utilize the supportive voice regularly.
The next time you find yourself in a group setting, don鈥檛 fret about being the most skilled; instead, focus on how you interact with those around you.
Ready to dig deeper? Read the team鈥檚 full report, Voice as a Signal of Human and Social Capital in Team Assembly Decisions, in the .
Want to learn more about servant leadership? Check out our conversation with servant leader Paul Damico, former President of Moe鈥檚 Southwest Grill and current CEO of Global Franchise Group, on our podcast.
Have a burning question about any of the topics we鈥檝e covered? Email us at blog@nsls.org. We鈥檇 love to hear from you.