Depending on your situation, you might find some truth to each of these statements. You might have been asked to lead a team that was in chaos and needed strong leadership (1), or they were a highly performing team and required very little guidance (2). Or it could have been a situation in which the leadership and the team were committed to the success and development of the project (3). This is a good time to reflect on how you talk about the success of the project as well as the work done by your team. Statement 1 places you front and center in the success story. Without you, the team would not have been able to do it. You are promoting your leadership skills over the contributions of the team. You are only one step away from claiming that they aren’t competent without you. They will be eager to work with you next time. You are proving that you are not the leader they want to be by bragming about how great you are. Statement 2 promotes teamwork but is a bit self-deprecating. If you were able to stay out of the way, why are you needed? Your salary is an unnecessary expense and you don’t work for free. Let’s do it again, but without a project manager. Statement 3 shows you recognize the value of your team members. You say that you feel lucky to have worked with them, and you are recognizing your role as leader. This statement shows that you are identifying yourself with other top performers. You are not taking away their spotlight and you are not making light or minimizing your contribution. You are the right choice to lead future projects and teams with this level of excellence. Before you claim credit for the team, think about what you are doing. You don’t want to take credit FOR the team. Instead, you want to give credit to the team for their hard work and share some credit WITH them. This is how leaders recognize team success.
