Tag Archives: Work ethic

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Patrick Lencioni on “The Ideal Team Player” from the Leadership Summit 2016

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leadership

I’m at the leadership summit with the team from Revolution Church. This is by far the best leadership conference of the year. This is my 13th summit and every year, God stretches me and challenges me. So much wisdom and inspiration wrapped up into two days. I always blog my notes, so if you can’t attend or missed something, I’ve got you covered.

Patrick Lencioni talked from his new book The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate The Three Essential Virtues, which I think is a must read for every leader. His insights have been incredibly helpful to me.

Here are some takeaways:

  • The ideal team player is humble, hungry and smart.
  • If a person possesses these 3 virtues, they can overcome the 5 dysfunctions of a team. 

Humble

  • Lacking self confidence is lacking humility.
  • Humility is not saying, “I don’t need to be heard.”
  • Humility is thinking about yourself less.
A great team player has to be humble. @patricklencioni

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Hungry

  • Hungry person has a strong work ethic.
  • They hate being considered a slacker.
  • They will do whatever is necessary to get it done.
  • This is the hardest to instill in someone.

Smart

  • Smart is not intellectual smarts, it is common sense around people.
  • People who are good at practicing EQ.
  • They know what they say to others and how it impacts them.
  • Hiring for intellectual smarts is not a good idea.

Humble, but not hungry or smart (The Pawn)

  • They aren’t effective on a team.
  • They are a good neighbor, but they don’t get something done.
  • They don’t have initiative to rise up the ranks.

Hungry, but not humble or smart (Bull Dozer)

  • Lots of drive and ambition, but they can’t work with others.
  • They leave a trail of dead bodies around them.

Smart, but not humble or hungry (The Charmer)

  • They are funny, they don’t get things done.
  • They aren’t hard working and they aren’t interested in other people’s success.

Humble and hungry, but not smart (The accidental mess maker)

  • They have good intentions, they want to get things done, but they aren’t smart emotionally.
  • Cared about the world and wanted to help people but said things he didn’t mean to.
  • Their intentions are good.

Humble and smart, but not hungry (Loveable slacker)

  • These people survive in organizations a long time.
  • They mean well and people like them.
  • They just don’t want to do that much work, they do just enough work to make it hard for you to do something about it.
  • Hard workers get really frustrated by this person.

Hungry and smart, but not humble (Skillful politician)

  • They are ambitious and hard driving and know how to make themselves look humble. They convince people that they care about the team.
  • They are often charming and driven.

Application

  • Go first as a leader.
  • Find out what your teams are like and what they are lacking.
  • You have to have the courage to let your people know where they stand and what they need to improve on and to constantly remind them (not your spouse or co-workers) when they are doing it.

How to hire team players

  • We overemphasize technical skills and what is measurable.
  • Know what you are looking for.
  • Don’t get caught up in what “you think you should look for.”
  • Behavior always rises to the top.
  • To interview someone, get them out of the office to get to know them.
  • Don’t overlook red flags and gut feelings.
  • Ask people the same question more than once.
  • Ask what other people would say about them on something, people are more honest when they tell you what other people would say.
  • Scare someone with sincerity, tell them what you are fanatical about as a church. Tell them if they line up, they’ll love it and if they aren’t, they will hate working here.
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What Makes Leadership so Hard?

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leadership

The other day I asked a friend why he thought leadership and being a leader is so hard. He looked at me and said, “That’s why only a few people aspire to it and only a few people ever do it.”

To cast a vision. To stand against a tide. To say that you are moving forward to a place that no one has ever been and you don’t know how you will get there, but you know you are going. That is hard.

To challenge people to become all that they can be. To withstand the criticism that comes with leadership and the misunderstanding that comes with being confident and purposeful. That is hard.

Romans 12:8 says if you have the gift of leadership you should lead with all diligence. Diligence means, “A zealous and careful nature in one’s work, a decisive work ethic, budgeting one’s time, to guard against laziness, putting forth full concentration in one’s work.”

That is leadership. That is what makes it hard. Leadership challenges. Leadership and vision divide because they say, “This is where we are going and this is what the win is, and consequently, that over there is not where we are going and that is not the win.”

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Women, It Matters Who You Marry

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marry

This past week, as I wrapped up our series Beautiful at Revolution, I preached on Proverbs 31. If you missed it, you can listen to it here.

One of the things that struck me is verse 23 when we are told what her husband is like.

There are many sides and applications to this verse.

The first is to women. I’ll blog another time about fathers and the impact of this verse.

In our culture, we often minimize the impact that comes from who we marry. Whether it is movies, the rise in divorce, the lack of seeing strong marriages as we grow up, but whatever it is, many people seem to minimize the impact of this decision.

Outside of your choice to follow Jesus, who you marry will have more of an impact on your life than any other decision you make.

Who you choose to marry will determine so much of your life. Choose well.

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The woman in Proverbs 31 marries well. She marries a man who is respected. He is at the city gates, with the elders. The gates is where decisions are made. He is part of leading the city and community. He is respected by the others.

Women, if you want marry well, marry a man who is respected by other men.

Men respect men.

Don’t marry a guy you think you will make into a man. That doesn’t happen.

How do you know if you are dating a man or a boy? Here are few ways to find out:

  1. Get him around men you respect. Men can spot men. They can also spot a fake. Women can struggle with this because they fall for a boy and can’t see the truth. Those around you can. Ask men you respect what they think of him. This might be a father, a pastor, someone in your MC, someone who cares about you and wants to see you find a man.
  2. Ask him about his vision for his life. This one question separates men from boys. Men have a vision for their life, which means they will have a vision for your life as a couple. Boys do not. They are simply floating through life waiting for it to happen.
  3. Look at how he worships. Does he read his bible? Does he serve in a church? Does he love Jesus? How does he worship? How does he use his money? How he does these things while you date is exactly what he’ll do when you are married. Most of the time, men will take these things down a notch when they get married, but that’s a post for another day.
  4. Look at his work ethic. Does he have a job? Does he provide for himself? Is he saving money or getting into debt? Men work hard. Men are called to provide (1 Timothy 5:8).

Ladies, marry well.

4 ways to know if you should marry the guy you are dating.

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