Everyone talks, writes, and pontificates about what leaders have to do. But what about the rest of the team players in your business? How do you spot, attract, hire, train, and retain people that will supercharge your teams?
Pat Lencioni, author of one of the top five business books ever written (Five Dysfunctions of a Team), has a new book titled The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate Three Essential Virtues. Some people are better at teamwork than others. These people add immediate value in a team environment and require much less coaching and management to contribute in a meaningful way.
Two Key Questions
So, Pat asks two very obvious questions. What do these people look like? And how do you find them? As it turns out, they have three qualities or virtues.
Pat makes the case that team players need to be Humble, Hungry, and (People) Smart.
Humble. They lack excessive ego or concerns about status. Humble people are quick to point out the contributions of others; they share credit, and define success collectively.
Hungry. They are always looking for more. More things to do. More to learn. More responsibility to take on.
Smart. They have common sense about people. Smart people tend to be aware of what is happening in a group situation and know how to interact with others effectively.
And the power here is not the individual attributes themselves, but rather the combination of all three. If even one attribute is missing in a team member, your teamwork becomes significantly more difficult.
Follow this link for a ton of free tools and resources including the model, summary article, interactive webinar, a managers assessment and interview guide.
Then I recommend you get this book and read it. Then buy books for all your employees to read.
According to Pat, these virtues can be cultivated – that’s the great news! Contact me to discuss how to leverage these virtues in your business.
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