{"id":3797,"date":"2026-09-11T14:33:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T14:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dentalsuccesstoday.com\/blog\/?p=3797"},"modified":"2026-09-11T14:33:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T14:33:15","slug":"the-best-teammates-know-how-to-do-both","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dentalsuccesstoday.com\/blog\/the-best-teammates-know-how-to-do-both\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Teammates Know How To Do Both"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding:56.25% 0 0 0;position:relative;\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/1225968353?h=3f23ce1ecf&amp;badge=0&amp;autopause=0&amp;player_id=0&amp;app_id=58479\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;\" title=\"The Best Teammates Know How To Do Both\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last week, on Labor Day, I asked you to think about what you bring to your work instead of waiting for your work to bring something to you. Today I want to take that idea one step further, because there are two characteristics that tell you everything about the kind of teammate someone is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first is whether they are helpful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The second is whether they are helpable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You need both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most people immediately understand being helpful. Great team members notice what is happening around them. They do not live inside the tiny boundaries of their own job description. They recognize when another person needs support, when a patient needs attention, when something is falling through the cracks, or when the team simply needs somebody to step in. They do not always have to be asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is a maturity in that. It says, &#8220;I understand that my individual responsibilities matter, but I am also part of something larger than myself.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Of course, being helpful does not mean inserting yourself into everybody else&#8217;s responsibilities, rescuing people from things they should be doing themselves, or neglecting your own work because you are busy trying to manage everyone else&#8217;s. Helpful people have awareness. They know when to step in and they know when to stay out. They understand that the purpose of helping is to make the team stronger, not to make themselves look important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now we get to the other side, and this one can be more difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Are you helpable?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Can somebody offer you an idea without you becoming defensive? Can another team member show you a better way to do something without you needing to explain why your way was already fine? Can you say, &#8220;I need help,&#8221; before you are completely overwhelmed? Can you receive feedback without turning feedback into criticism? Can you let somebody else contribute without feeling as though it somehow diminishes your own value?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those questions matter because some very capable people are wonderful at giving help and terrible at receiving it. Sometimes it comes from pride. Sometimes it comes from insecurity. Sometimes it comes from wanting control. Sometimes people have simply convinced themselves that asking for help is evidence that they cannot handle their responsibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I see it exactly the opposite way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Being helpable requires confidence. It means you are secure enough to recognize that another person&#8217;s knowledge, experience, perspective, or ability can make you better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Think about how powerful this becomes when an entire team operates this way. You have people looking for opportunities to help each other, but you also have people willing to receive that help. Now information moves faster. Problems get solved sooner. People communicate instead of assuming. Somebody who has fallen behind does not have to hide it. Someone who sees a mistake coming can speak up. Team members can coach each other. The doctor does not have to carry everything. The leader does not have to discover every problem personally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You begin operating like an actual team instead of a collection of people working in the same building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is another important benefit. Your patients feel it. Patients can sense when a team trusts each other. They notice when there is communication and coordination. They feel the difference between a practice where everybody protects their territory and a practice where everybody is working together for the patient&#8217;s benefit. That experience cannot be faked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today, go around the team and let each person answer two questions out loud:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>1. Where can I be more helpful to this team?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>2. Where do I need to become more helpable?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Do not answer for somebody else. This is not an opportunity to tell another team member where they need improvement. Own your side of the equation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maybe you can be more helpful by noticing when the front is overwhelmed. Maybe you can be more helpable by asking questions sooner instead of pretending you understand. Maybe you can be more helpful by sharing something you have learned. Maybe you can be more helpable by accepting coaching without explaining yourself first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are a hundred possibilities, but the principle underneath all of them is the same. Great teamwork requires generosity in both directions. You have to be willing to give and you have to be willing to receive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you can become better at both, you will not only become a more valuable team member, you will help create the kind of team where everybody around you has a greater opportunity to succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That is something worth working on this week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last week, on Labor Day, I asked you to think about what you bring to your work instead of waiting for your work to bring something to you. Today I want to take that idea one step further, because there are two characteristics that tell you everything about the kind of teammate someone is. The&#8230;  <a href=\"https:\/\/dentalsuccesstoday.com\/blog\/the-best-teammates-know-how-to-do-both\/\" title=\"Read The Best Teammates Know How To Do Both\">Read more &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-huddle"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Best Teammates Know How To Do Both<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dentalsuccesstoday.com\/blog\/the-best-teammates-know-how-to-do-both\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Best Teammates Know How To Do Both\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last week, on Labor Day, I asked you to think about what you bring to your work instead of waiting for your work to bring something to you. 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