Teamwork remains a sustainable competitive advantage that has been largely untapped because it is hard to measure (teamwork impacts the outcome of an organization in such comprehensive and invasive ways that it's virtually impossible to isolate it as a single variable) and because it is extremely hard to achieve (it requires levels of courage and discipline that few executives possess) - ironically, building a strong team is very simple (it doesn't require masterful insights or tactics).
Patrick LencioniLike a good marriage, trust on a team is never complete; it must be maintained over time.
Patrick LencioniAs difficult as it is to build a team, it is not complicated. In fact, keeping it simple is critical, whether you run the executive staff at a multi-national company, a small department within a larger organization, or even if you are merely a member of a team that needs improvement.
Patrick LencioniAs a leader, you're probably not doing a good job unless your employees can do a good impression of you when you're not around.
Patrick LencioniSuccess comes only for those groups that overcome the all-too-human behavioral tendencies that corrupt teams and breed dysfunctional politics within them.
Patrick LencioniI've become absolutely convinced that the seminal difference between successful companies and mediocre or unsuccessful ones has little, if anything, to do with what they know or how smart they are; it has everything to do with how healthy they are.
Patrick LencioniAchieving vulnerability-based trust (where team members have overcome their need for invulnerability) is difficult because in the course of career advancement and education, most successful people learn to be competitive with their peers, and protective of their reputations. It is a challenge for them to turn those instincts off for the good of the team, but that is exactly what is required.
Patrick LencioniNot finance. Not strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and so rare.
Patrick LencioniThe vast majority of organizations today have more than enough intelligence, experience and knowledge to be successful. What they lack is organizational health.
Patrick LencioniOpen, frank communication is the lynchpin to teamwork. A fractured team is like a fractured bone; fixing it is always painful and sometimes you have to re-break it to heal it fully - and the re-break always hurts more because it is intentional.
Patrick LencioniIt's as simple as this. When people don't unload their opinions and feel like they've been listened to, they won't really get on board.
Patrick LencioniIf the CEO's behavior is 95 per cent healthy while the rest of the organization is only 50 per cent sound, it is more effective to focus on that crucial and leveraged 5 per cent that makes up the reminder of the CEO's behavior.
Patrick LencioniTrust is the foundation of real teamwork (there is nothing touchy-feely about this).
Patrick LencioniNo action, activity, or process is more central to a healthy organization than the meeting
Patrick LencioniOrganizational health is the single greatest competitive advantage in any business.
Patrick LencioniRemember teamwork begins by building trust. And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability.
Patrick LencioniWhen there is trust, conflict becomes nothing but the pursuit of truth, an attempt to find the best possible answer.
Patrick LencioniThere is just no escaping the fact that the single biggest factor determining whether an organization is going to get healthier - or not - is the genuine commitment and active involvement of the person in charge.
Patrick LencioniLeaders must display their humanness. Those under their authority must be empowered & have the courage to engage in honest dialogue.
Patrick LencioniBuilding a strong team is both possible and remarkably simple. But is painfully difficult.
Patrick LencioniIt is dangerous if our identity as a leader becomes more important than our identity as a child of God.
Patrick LencioniIf you could get all the people in an organization rowing in the same direction, you could dominate any industry, in any market, against any competition, at any time.
Patrick LencioniTeam members have to be focused on the collective good of the team. Too often, they focus their attention on their department, their budget, their career aspirations, their egos.
Patrick LencioniSuccess is not a matter of mastering subtle, sophisticated theory but rather of embracing common sense with uncommon levels of discipline and persistence.
Patrick LencioniThe team you belong to must come ahead of the team you lead: this is putting team results (e.g., organizational needs) ahead of individual agendas (e.g., the team or division you lead, your ego, your need for recognition, your career development, etc.) Confidentiality is respected downward more than it is respected upward. Organizational alignment is a direct result of this hierarchy (if it were the other way around, organizational alignment would be very difficult to achieve).
Patrick LencioniExperiential team exercises can be valuable tools for enhancing teamwork as long as they are layered upon more fundamental and relevant processes.
Patrick LencioniAn organization has integrity—is healthy—when it is whole, consistent, and complete, that is, when its management, operations, strategy, and culture fit together and make sense.
Patrick LencioniTrust is the confidence among team members that their peers' intentions are good, and that there is no reason to be protective or careful around the group. In essence, teammates are not comfortable being vulnerable with one another.
Patrick LencioniAn organization's strategy is simply its plan for success. It's nothing more than the collection of intentional decisions a company makes to give itself the best chance to thrive and differentiate from competitors.
Patrick LencioniTrust is the foundation of real teamwork. And so the first dysfunction is a failure on the part of team members to understand and open up to one another. And if that sounds touchy-feely, let me explain, because there is nothing soft about it. It is an absolutely critical part of building a team. In fact, it’s probably the most critical.
Patrick LencioniMembers of trusting teams admit weaknesses and mistakes, take risks in offering feedback and assistance, and focus time and energy on important issues, not politics.
Patrick LencioniGreat teams do not hold back with one another. They are unafraid to air their dirty laundry. They admit their mistakes, their weaknesses, and their concerns without fear of reprisal.
Patrick LencioniMost of the CEO's who fail think they will find the solution to their problems in Finance, Marketing, Strategic Planning, etc., but they don't look for the solution to their problems inside themselves.
Patrick Lencioni