How to Be An Ideal Team Player

Recently, the Table Group presented an online event about how to be an ideal team player. The Table Group is Patrick Lencioni’s company. NextGen Orgs uses their team assessment that’s based on the 5 Behaviors of Cohesive Teams. It’s a useful framework for developing engaged, productive teams.

How to be an ideal team player is somewhat based on the 5 behaviors, but is geared toward individuals. Lencioni has written a book called The Ideal Team Player. If you want to be an ideal team player, you’ll need to be humble, hungry, and smart. Humility is an essential trait for leaders. It’s not a common trait, unfortunately. However, as people develop their emotional intelligence, they naturally become more humble. Humility is defined as the belief that one is no better, nor no worse, than anyone else. 

Beware of false humility, though. False humility exists when someone brushes off praise but is secretly thinking, “yeah, keep it coming!” It’s pretty easy to see through false humility. The biggest clue is that they don’t ask for opinions and ideas from team members. Someone who’s genuinely humble will be curious and interested in what others are saying. 

Hungry is the most widely recognized of the three traits. It’s about wanting to win. It’s also about wanting to be the best. Hungry without humble makes a person uber competitive. They won’t think about what’s best for the team. They’ll be focused on what’s best for them as individuals. 

When Lencioni says “smart” he means emotionally intelligent. Emotional intelligence is the number one skill necessary to be a great leader. There are four aspects to EQ: self-awareness, self management, social awareness, and relationship management. According to a LinkedIn study, 89% of executives say that it’s hard to find people with good soft skills. Emotional intelligence is the most powerful soft skill a person can learn. According to a study by the Harvard Business Review, 90% of the difference between high performers and colleagues with similar skill sets can be attributed to emotional intelligence.

Having two out of three of these traits isn’t enough. According to Lencioni, if you’re humble and hungry but lack smarts, you’ll be an “accidental mess maker.” If you’re humble and smart but lack hunger, you’ll be a “lovable slacker.” And if you’re hungry and smart but lack humility, you’ll be a “skillful politician.” Those people are also known in some circles as snake oil salesmen.

Rate yourself: which of the three traits are you strongest in? What do you need to do to develop the trait you’re weakest in? Are you ready to be an ideal team player? Here’s a link to a TedX talk Lencioni did on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlWLJunHf_s

Johanna Lyman is the Founder and CEO of NextGen Orgs. She is a Leadership Consultant and Executive Coach with over fifteen years of experience in implementing organization- wide change strategies for both Fortune 500 companies and small businesses. 

At NextGen Orgs, they use a combination of unique delivery methods and processes that crack the code on establishing lasting organizational behavior changes in a relatively short period of time. Their proprietary and evolutionary system can eliminate months of frustration often associated with developing strong leadership and building a cohesive, collaborative team.

Johanna is a professional speaker, available to speak on a variety of topics related to culture, communication, innovation, and leadership skills. She is the Board President for the Bay Area Chapter of Conscious Capitalism and is deeply versed in how to help businesses be a force for good in the world. Learn more (URL: https://www.nextgenorgs.com/about/). Contact Johanna at [email protected]