The Ideal Team Player

In his classic book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni laid out a groundbreaking approach for tackling the perilous group behaviors that destroy teamwork. Here he turns his focus to the individual, revealing the three indispensable virtues of an ideal team player. In The Ideal Team Player, Lencioni tells the story of Jeff Shanley, a leader desperate to save his uncle’s company by restoring its cultural commitment to teamwork. Jeff must crack the code on the virtues that real team players possess, and then build a culture of hiring and development around those virtues.  Beyond the fable, Lencioni presents a practical framework and actionable tools for identifying, hiring, and developing ideal team players.  Whether you’re a leader trying to create a culture around teamwork, a staffing professional looking to hire real team players, or a team player wanting to improve yourself, this book will prove to be as useful as it is compelling.

Introduction ix The Fable 1 Part One: The Situation 3 Part Two: Diagnosis 11 Part Three: Discovery 55 Part Four: Implementation 89 Part Five: Indicators 135 The Model 153 The Three Virtues of an Ideal Team Player 155 Defining the Three Virtues 157 The History of the Model 162 The Ideal Team Player Model 165 Application 174 Connecting the Ideal Team Player Model with the Five Dysfunctions of a Team 212 A Final Thought—Beyond Work Teams 215 More Resources 216 Acknowledgments 217 About the Author 219