There is a difference between being a team player and a whistleblower. Team players are people who work for the better of the group they are a part of, while a whistleblower is someone who reports unethical or illegal behavior. They may be the same when reporting the unethical or illegal behavior will benefit the group or company more than it hurts it. Christa Scharfenberg wrote about protecting whistleblowers, “They need to know that if they speak out, that they are going to be protected. Ultimately, it is to save lives, to save money, to save the integrity of the federal government.”(2007, para. 13). This is important because it illustrates how a whistleblower could be looking out for the betterment of the team and the country by exposing what they know.
References:
Scharfenberg, C. (Nov. 2007). Federal "Whistleblower" Protection System Is Anything But. Center for Investigative Reporting.