Don't hire these 3 types per Patrick Lencioni's NYT best-selling book - The Ideal Team Player

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I am trying to read one book a week and plan to post a quick summary right here on Mondays.

#TheIdealTeamPlayer by Patrick Lencioni, an NYT best selling author has been incredibly encouraging to me. You may know him for his most well-known book - Five Dysfunctions of a Team.

I heard Patrick speak live at this year's Leadercast event (world's largest one-day leadership event) on this topic and was blown away.

As we grew my company Terminus from three co-founders to closing in on 200 people, I think about this a lot. Unfortunately, I always thought you need to look for culture-fit, perfect experience or the “right” skills to hire someone to grow your company.

This book demystifies it and I love the way Patrick makes it simple

Bottom line: When you hire for these three character traits, you are most likely to have a great team.

- Humble. Smart. Hungry.

So who is an ideal team player?

That's someone who wants to do more than necessary or asked because they care. Someone who puts others first and lead with integrity, always got your back and will be ready to take the blame and put a spotlight on others.

Who doesn't want someone like this on a team???

Okay, so here are the three types you should NOT hire

The skillful politician - Hungry and smart but not humble

Per Patrick, these are cleverly ambitious and willing to work extremely hard, but only as long as it benefits them. We all know and maybe have been this person from time to time. Everyone knows them and hate them but somehow the snake their way in the right meetings and say the right words but deep down everyone knows they are NOT good for the long term.

The lovable slacker - Humble and smart, but not hungry

These are amazing people that you adore but per Patrick, they only do what they are asked to do and rarely seek to take on more work or volunteer for extra assignments. They need significant motivation and oversight and could be a drag on the team's performance. They just finish the line but put on heavy tax on everyone on the team to carry their weight.

The accidental mess-maker - Humble and hungry but not smart

They are the least dangerous, accordingly to Patrick as they don't have bad intentions and can take corrective feedback in good humor. That's good. We need these people. In reading about them, I think they lack EQ as well as some IQ as they lack understanding of how their words and actions are received by others.

Summary

We probably have been all three of them at times as no one is perfect but the point is to be more aware of this when you start building a team. To create a #OneTeam mindset you need ideal players who will go to bat for each other and trust enough to have healthy conflicts.

Challenge for you

Step 1: Do a self-audit of who you are? Be honest and it's okay if you find yourself in a bucket you don't like. That just means that now know where you stand

Step 2: Do an audit of your team - read this book as a team to build trust and open dialog

Step 3: Hire for humble, smart and hungry and NOT culture-fit or only "skills".

What do you look for when hiring people?

Join the conversation.