“Leaders who can identify, hire, and cultivate employees who are humble, hungry, and smart will have a serious advantage over those who cannot.” Pat Lencioni, The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate The Three Essential Virtues
Attracting and developing talent, and then keeping them, is one of the hallmarks of organizational health and a thriving team. But what distinguishes “those who can” from “those who cannot”? How does one find that desirable team member who is a great fit? Even though organizations spend untold time (and a whole lot of money) on selections, in many cases, they fail to identify the traits that are needed most.
Using the framework Patrick Lencioni outlines in his book The Ideal Team Player, let’s look at the right guiding questions to use as you seek to build the ideal team.
The Ideal Team Member
Business management expert and author Pat Lencioni identifies three “essential virtues” of an “Ideal Team Member”: they are Humble, Hungry, and Smart. Finding the right person/people requires us to dig deeper than simple competence and having X, Y, or Z skill. Those can be taught; the virtues are, if not innate, then at least present and practiced!
Let’s take each in turn:
- Humble: C. S. Lewis phrases it aptly: “Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.” A Humble team member does not have excessive ego or concerns around status. They are quick to share credit and to share praise of others. As importantly, though, they don’t think less of themselves, so there’s no disingenuous, false modesty. No “Oh, really? It was nothing,” because they know their strengths and how those contribute to the collective success of the team. Humility may be the easiest virtue to understand—but that doesn’t mean it’s the easiest to walk in.
- Hungry: “Put me in, Coach. I’m ready to play today!” The Hungry team member takes initiative and is self-motivated to go after goals. This isn’t someone you’ll have to prod or prompt; they have an intrinsic drive to achieve and to tackle greater responsibility. They continually think about—and grasp—the next opportunity.
- Smart: This is the one most people trip over, because “Smart” in this model isn’t about mental intelligence. It’s centered around emotional intelligence (EQ) and interpersonal awareness. It’s people smarts. The Smart team member can read people and sense how they’re feeling. They are able to interpret body language and other nonverbal cues.
Does 1 + 1 + 1 = 3?
We all exist along a spectrum; it’s not as if we are all equal parts Humble, Hungry, and Smart. It’s possible (likely!) that 1.5 + 0.5 + 1 = 3, for example. This is why it is so useful for each person to self-assess these three virtues.
- Which one do you feel is your greatest strength?
- In which do you see the most room for improvement?
- You may be quite strong in all three—but relative to yourself, where are your opportunities for growth?
What about situations in which it’s 1 + 1 + 0? Or even 1 + 0 + 0? We’ll stop with the math now! But it’s worth asking about situations in which team members (or ourselves) lack one or two of Lencioni’s identified virtues:
- Hungry + Humble – Smart = The Accidental Mess Maker: What a fun title! But it may not be so fun having this person on your team. They are typically highly intelligent and motivated, with a seemingly endless stream of great ideas. They’re Hungry and Humble—but not so Smart. Unfortunately, the Accidental Mess Maker often rubs people the wrong way. They don’t realize or notice the impact they have on others, or maybe they just charge in and run teammates over without a thought. In any case, this person can end up making the entire team—and organization—look bad.
- Hungry + Smart – Humble = The Skillful Politician: Hungry and Smart, the Skillful Politician lacks humility. Everyone’s buddy, they are smooth and know just what to say, when, and to whom. While driven, their ambitions and focus typically extend just as far as themselves. We often say that this team member is likely the most dangerous; their ease and facility with manipulation can cause real damage. Plenty of Skillful Politicians are gunning for high-pay, high-profile jobs, and they get those jobs because they know how to spin it. But we caution you to watch for a lack of humility; the clock is ticking until the real effect they are having on their team comes to light, and the kind of damage they do is some of the hardest to come back from.
- Humble + Smart – Hungry = The Loveable Slacker: Is this sounding like an episode of The Office yet? Well, let’s add the Loveable Slacker to this cast of characters. Humble and Smart, they generally don’t have much drive. What happens then? Teammates pitch in to carry some of their weight. At first, this may be fine because they’re so genial and well-liked—but over time, resentment can build. Exacerbating the situation, the Loveable Slacker is the hardest to remove from a team because they genuinely care about their colleagues… and their colleagues genuinely care about that. Doing the bare minimum, though, always, plants bitter roots within the team.
One Out of Three?
We also see some distinct patterns that occur when team members are lacking in two of the three virtues:
- Only Hungry = The Bulldozer: They’re Hungry, we’ll give them that! We see a lot of bulldozers in sales; they are going to get to their target, no matter what. They can be arrogant and fall short in terms of interpersonal skills. They don’t realize—or care about—the impact they have on others. While often highly valued by organizations (they are effective), the Bulldozer leaves a wake of carnage behind them.
- Only Humble = The Pawn: You probably won’t have a Pawn on your executive team. They’re Humble but not Hungry or Smart, and it’s unlikely they’d rise to that level in an organization. Sure, they are nice, but they don’t get how they impact others or, even more basic, what message they are really sending. They trudge along as instructed, but don’t contribute in ways that truly build the culture or the company.
- Only Smart = The Charmer: Guess which virtues this team member is missing? The Charmer is all talk, no action. With a great grasp on how to manipulate people, they know how to get what they want without actually having to do anything.
No one is everything. No one can accomplish all their goals on their own. Being aware of yourself and who is on your team is the first step to developing an effective team.
Know Yourself AND Know Your Team
With self-assessment and self-awareness, you will notice when one of these virtues is out of whack, technically speaking! Gather feedback from people around you, who:
- Work with you
- Live with you
- Volunteer with you
What’s their impression? And does it align with your perception? Is there a macro problem going on as opposed to a relative difference?
This isn’t about applying labels to others or yourself. Think of the descriptions above as more of a guide when thinking about the “ideal team member”—and when hiring what your team needs to thrive.
Do Not Settle
We’ve been largely conditioned in our hiring processes to look for competence rather than chemistry or connection. These qualities are far less obvious on paper. You’ll need to engage in real conversations with the people you are considering as candidates, rather than go down a checklist of standard questions. Get to know them, and pose inquiries that are conversational and participatory.
When you dig in like this, seeking the kind of person your team needs, you can “catch” people at their default rather than their prepared, rehearsed best behaviour. An executive we worked with had a great way of going about this. If a few interviews have proven a candidate is promising, he would invite them for a breakfast meeting at a restaurant—at 6:00 am no less. He was trying to find out if they could commit to something that may not be easy or comfortable. Will they inconvenience themselves a bit?
At the breakfast meeting, the executive arranged with the server for a little “accident,” (such as spilling a glass of orange juice on the table) so he could observe the candidate’s response. Does she jump up so it doesn’t spill all over her? Does she scold or berate the server? Does she move to help wipe up?
Who knew a glass of OJ could tell you so much! It may not be your style, but for this leader, the meeting was about identifying the candidate’s strengths and where there may be gaps in terms of the three virtues.
If your self-assessment has uncovered that you are not as strong in the people Smart category, be sure there is someone on your interview team who is. They’re going to see more subtle and nonverbal cues and indicators more clearly. In fact, it’s a good idea to have folks who are strong in the Hungry and Humble virtues as well. You can raise the bar for yourself and for your team by being conscientious of who is at the table and what virtues might be missing.
Using The Virtues As a Tool
Using the three virtues of an ideal team member is, as we have seen, a useful tool when it comes to selecting and hiring candidates. It also unlocks a door that we can use to allow healthy growth to come into our teams. How can you turn these virtues into tools?
- Incorporate it into your culture and conversations. What are our strengths? What would we like to shore up?
- Encourage feedback. On teams, everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. Part of that great “fit” we’ve been talking about is choosing members who complement one another—and who are able to make their peers conscious of things they may have missed given their own unique lens.
Every team will be better if each member works intently, and intentionally, at living these virtues. Humble. Hungry. Smart. Work together so everyone is an ideal team player.
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