The Ideal Team Player by Patrick Lencioni
Nonfiction. 240 Pages. 5 Stars
Synopsis:
In his classic book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni laid out a groundbreaking approach for tackling the perilous group behaviors that destroy teamwork. Here he turns his focus to the individual, revealing the three indispensable virtues of an ideal team player.
In The Ideal Team Player, Lencioni tells the story of Jeff Shanley, a leader desperate to save his uncle’s company by restoring its cultural commitment to teamwork. Jeff must crack the code on the virtues that real team players possess, and then build a culture of hiring and development around those virtues.
Beyond the fable, Lencioni presents a practical framework and actionable tools for identifying, hiring, and developing ideal team players. Whether you’re a leader trying to create a culture around teamwork, a staffing professional looking to hire real team players, or a team player wanting to improve yourself, this book will prove to be as useful as it is compelling.
My Review:
This book has been sitting on my shelf for several years, just waiting for me to make the time to pick it up. And I’ve heard really great things about Lencioni’s work, so I’ve been wanting to read it. Life has a funny way of distracting us with busyness. But sometimes it throws curveballs that ignite us to action. So, this week, I pulled this off the shelf and dove in.
As this was my first Lencioni book, I was actually surprised that all but 20 or so pages was a story. Looking back, I realize the cover said “a leadership fable” and I should have figured that out way sooner. But what I was not prepared for was how invested I’d be in the fable. It sucked me in! I mean, it’s no writing masterpiece, but it isn’t intended to be. It’s a fable told in a very specific way to show a very specific series of points. And, personally, I think this is a genius move. It’s a very clever method of getting his message across. We buy into stories so much more easily. It lowers our guard. And watching the lessons play out is an effective teacher.
All that said, I enjoyed the book stylistically. I bought into the story and really cheered for the characters to figure things out. But more than that, I enjoyed the message itself. And those last 20+ pages pack a powerful punch riding on the coattails of the fable.
The whole point of this isn’t a fun story that draws you in or a fiction masterpiece, it’s the lesson itself. The moral of the fable: team players are hungry, humble, and smart. Lencinoi demonstrates the message in the fable in such a way as to explore different facets of the nuance of hungry, humble, and smart–as well as the necessity and ways to handle that both in your existing business and in your future hires. But he goes even further than that and dissects the hungry, humble, smart team player ideology directly after the fable ends. He explains the three virtues clearly, the need for them, how to identify and cultivate them, and includes practical assessments, tools, and suggestions for you to apply in your own business.
The book is fairly simple and straightforward. It isn’t difficult to grasp or understand. But wrapping your mind around the point isn’t the difficult part. Applying it and sticking with it is. I love Lencioni’s approach and his voice as a writer. I love his heart behind helping organizations and individuals to become better leaders and individuals. And I certainly intend to continue reading his work and applying it to my own life.
I’d highly recommend this to anyone interested in becoming a better team player or cultivating teamwork in any setting. Home, school, athletics, business, or purely for personal development. It’s an easy, engaging read. It took me a couple of hours. And it packs a little punch.