The Ideal Team Player

“He was learning more than he could have imagined from his uncle, who never finished college but seemed to have a better understanding of business than many of the CEOs Jeff had worked with in technology.”

Jeff’s uncle Bob, the CEO of Valley Builders, is described here. Jeff, who had previously worked in Silicon Valley, admires the comparatively unpretentious manner in which Bob conducts business. Bob’s expertise comes from the trials and tribulations of owning his own company.

“Jeff wanted to argue, but knew that she was right. Thinking about the big picture too much would overwhelm him, but he could certainly manage one issue at a time.”

Jeff’s wife, Maurine, gives him advice that helps provide him with a measure of peace as he stresses about his new position at Valley Builders. In accepting the advice without pushing back, Jeff shows a willingness to be humble.

“‘You know what happens when you keep a jackass longer than you should?’ They didn’t respond, so he answered the question for them. ‘The non-jackasses start to leave.’”

This is Jeff’s comment to his associates, Clare and Bobby, that highlights The Importance of Workplace Culture. When an emphasis is not placed on culture, the company risks losing good employees because the less-than-stellar employees tend to dictate what the culture is. A unifying culture helps to keep every employee aligned with expectations.

“I’d bet my job on the fact that we could get more work done with fewer people if we had real team players.”

Jeff tells this to Clare when she questions the wisdom behind firing people who do not fit into the new cultural model Jeff is trying to implement. Already faced with an urgent need to hire more people, Clare’s question shows a reasonable concern. However, Jeff insists that the new cultural focus will help the company become more efficient.

“We’re not talking about hugging or holding hands or catching each other falling off chairs. We’re talking about getting people to admit when they make a mistake on a project. And to argue about the right way to get things done without worrying that they’re going to offend someone. And sticking to commitments, and holding each other accountable. We need to be teaching this to everyone.”

Jeff dispels misconceptions about team building as a naive undertaking that overlooks reality. He insists that a team-centered approach is not simply a feel-good endeavor that has no substance. Instead, he lists specific applications of the skills he touts to highlight his model as a practical approach to solving common problems in the workplace.

“Bob was always joking, but mostly about himself.”

Clare says this about her former boss, Bob Shanley. That he was always joking about himself highlights his humility, an important aspect of the culture that Jeff is trying to implement at Valley Builders.

“Bob had exactly the same tone of voice and the same eye contact and the same level of interest in what they were saying as he did with the Range Rover client.”

Bobby retells this story about Bob, who, while on a job site, had spoken in the same manner with the wealthy developer as he did with the day laborers. This reveals Bob’s emotional intelligence, which Lencioni equates with the third value of his model: smarts.

“So many people there are so concerned about being socially conscious and environmentally aware, but they don’t give a second thought to how they treat the guy washing their car or cutting their grass.”

This is one of Jeff’s most explicit criticisms of the people of Silicon Valley, where he had previously made his career. At the heart of the criticism is a lack of effective interpersonal skills and awareness and a lack of humility. Jeff contrasts them with Bob, who treats people well regardless of status or wealth.

“He didn’t like the kids who treated him differently than they treated one another. Or who treated the crummy players poorly.”

Jeff’s cousin Ben speaks this about his father, Bob. The idea of treating all people the same, regardless of their skill level or status, is again at the center of this passage. Ben, now a coach, learned this essential value from his dad, and he demands the same kind of respectful and humble communication from his own players.

“It’s like emotional intelligence, but simpler. It just means a person has to know how to act and what to say and what not to say. People smart. Which is a lot more than being nice.”

Clare says this as she, Jeff, and Bobby try to fine-tune the core values of the company. Implied in the idea is that a person with high emotional intelligence has a general instinct toward knowing how to communicate effectively with others.

“People who don’t fit should think we’re a little strange.”

This is Jeff’s way of saying that when hiring new employees, if those people feel the company’s focus on values is strange, then that means they do not share the same values. This makes hiring somewhat easier because it screens for the kinds of people who will not make good team players.

“From a practical standpoint, there were a few indicators that VB’s business had changed as a result of the clarity around teamwork. First, recruiting had shifted largely away from headhunters and outside agencies as more and more employees, from contractors to foremen, sought out jobs at VB through friends and references. Second, morale at the company was undeniably higher, and turnover had dropped markedly.”

The implementation of the company’s new cultural values has significant benefits. The culture has created a hiring process whereby the company no longer has to rely on third parties to find employees. Their new reputation has created a buzz that draws the right kind of people by itself. Also, because most employees know how to treat others, morale increases.

“It is often overlooked, as too many leaders hire mostly for competency and technical skills.”

Lencioni discusses teamwork here and how even though many companies recognize the inherent benefits of teamwork, they do not always hire the kind of people likely to practice it. Instead, they hire in ways that ultimately contradict the value of teamwork. The team’s consideration of Ted Marchbanks in “The Fable” is cautionary in this sense, as the team is nearly swayed by his strong skills in other areas, despite his lack of humility.

“Great team players lack excessive ego or concerns about status. They are quick to point out the contributions of others and slow to seek attention for their own. They share credit, emphasize team over self, and define success collectively rather than individually. It is no great surprise, then, that humility is the single greatest and most indispensable attribute of being a team player.”

Lencioni is adamant that humility is the most important trait when it comes to being a good team player and lists some of the reasons why. The main characters of the book, especially Jeff, Bob, and Clare, all share the same kinds of attributes.

“Leaders aren’t considering the effect that an arrogant, self-centered person has on the overall performance of the team.”

Lencioni argues here that many teams are not cohesive because there are arrogant people who disrupt this cohesion. He also suggests that many leaders simply miss or overlook the real drain that arrogance can have on their companies.

“Truly humble people do not see themselves as greater than they are, but neither do they discount their talents and contributions.”

Lencioni mentions that just because someone is humble, that does not mean they are lacking in confidence. People can be humble but still have self-confidence in their ability to do things well. Unlike arrogant people, their confidence is generally quiet.

“Hungry people are always looking for more. More things to do. More to learn. More responsibility to take on. Hungry people almost never have to be pushed by a manager to work harder because they are self-motivated and diligent.”

Lencioni describes a strong sense of internal motivation as hunger. In “The Fable,” this idea is discussed by Ben when he points to players on his basketball team who have the tendency to push themselves without prompting.

“When I refer to hunger here, I’m thinking about the healthy kind—a manageable and sustainable commitment to doing a job well and going above and beyond when it is truly required.”

Lencioni points out that while hunger is generally a favorable trait, there are exceptions. Being hungry can go too far when a person becomes obsessed and does not keep their ambition to improve well balanced with other endeavors.

“Smart people just have good judgment and intuition around the subtleties of group dynamics and the impact of their words and actions. As a result, they don’t say and do things—or fail to say and do things—without knowing the likely responses of their colleagues.”

The comment here recalls Clare’s comment about emotional intelligence earlier in the book. Lencioni indicates that people smarts can be hard to develop because it tends to be intuitive, and the trait is therefore hard to measure or teach. This is an example of a soft skill.

“What makes humble, hungry, and smart powerful and unique is not the individual attributes themselves, but rather the required combination of all three.”

The quote suggests that while each trait by itself is valuable, the synergy of all three in one employee is what hiring managers should search for. Lencioni shows a drawing of a Venn diagram on a subsequent page to further illustrate his point.

“This first one is the most obvious of all, as it is largely the point of this section, if not the entire book. Still, it’s worth stating. Too many interviews are so generic that they provide little or no insight into specific attributes.”

Lencioni offers guidance on how to give effective interviews with the three values in mind. If a company wants to find out if a prospective employee is a good team player, then they must ask direct questions intended to reveal whether the person has these traits. Generic questions do not probe deep enough to reveal much about the person.

“It is amazing that as we move further into the twenty-first century, most interviews are still the same stilted, rehearsed, and predictable conversations they were forty years ago. The problem is not that they are boring or old fashioned, but rather that they aren’t effective for discerning whether a person has the behavioral skills and values that match an organization or a team.”

Lencioni suggests that instead of typical interviews that follow standard models, a company should explore innovative ways of conducting them. Job candidates can rehearse interviews based on standard questioning, which does not reveal the kinds of information that would make the company better informed about that candidate.

“Humble people generally aren’t afraid to tell their unflattering stories because they’re comfortable with being imperfect.”

Lencioni places the highest priority on humility, and, here, a person who is unafraid to poke a little fun at themselves demonstrates it. This recalls Clare’s anecdote about Bob in “The Fable,” namely that he was quick to poke fun at himself. This can translate into people smarts as well, especially if a leader is able to reciprocate and show their own humility.