Download 2 12 May 2017

WHAT PRINCIPALS ARE READING
A PROJECT OF THE ASSOCIATION OF HEADS OF INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF AUSTRALIA
2017
Dear Colleagues,
I cordially invite you to contribute a comment on your past, present or future reading list to our
‘What Principals Are Reading’ project. Contributions of 50–500 words – or more – are welcome and
may be emailed to me. I look forward to reading them!
BETH BLACKWOOD
AHISA CEO
8 February 2017
[email protected]
T 02 6247 7300 M 0417 180 842
ROS CURTIS
Principal, St Margaret’s
Anglican Girls School,
QLD
The ideal team player: How to recognise and cultivate the
three essential virtues, by Patrick Lencioni
What we all know as school leaders is that the best precursor
to success in senior leadership is a proven track record as an
ideal team player.
The ideal team player is a leadership fable; it is both
interesting and easy reading. As a well-crafted story, it offers
a very believable scenario which slowly unravels Lencioni’s
model, all the while the reader is identifying with the
characters and their reactions and reflecting on their own
experiences.
I would recommend anyone interested in developing a
culture of team work in their organisation to take the time to
read this book.
ROS CURTIS’ FULL REVIEW OF THE IDEAL TEAM PLAYER
APPEARS ON THE FOLLOWING PAGES.
Free resources and tools related to The ideal team player,
including an hour-long video with Patrick Lencioni, are
available online.
Page 1 | WHAT PRINCIPALS ARE READING | #2 12 May 2017
The ideal team player: How to recognise and cultivate the three essential virtues, by Patrick
Lencioni.
Reviewed by Ros Curtis, Principal of St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School, Qld.
Just occasionally a leadership and management book can really inspire you. This happened to me years
ago, when I was a Deputy Principal and came across The 7 heavenly virtues of leadership. I really related
to its content, and to affirm my aspirations to lead I have revisited it often throughout my leadership
journey. Just recently, I have read another book that has inspired me – The ideal team player by Patrick
Lencioni. Its message is uncomplicated and reflects common sense.
The ideal team player is a leadership fable; it is both interesting and easy reading. As a well-crafted
story, it offers a very believable scenario which slowly unravels Lencioni’s model, all the while the
reader is identifying with the characters and their reactions and reflecting on their own experiences.
As I was reading The ideal team player I couldn’t help but think of that famous Aristotle quote: ‘He who
cannot be a good follower cannot be a good leader.’
What we all know as school leaders is that the best precursor to success in senior leadership is a proven
track record as an ideal team player.
We have all worked in teams when the dynamic is less than satisfactory, and Lencioni comes up with a
most straightforward view on what makes an ideal team player. I would recommend anyone interested
in developing a culture of team work in their organisation to take the time to read this book.
The ideal team player model centres around three virtues, indicating that every effective member of a
team in an organisation should have all three. Lencioni writes:
For organizations seriously committed to making team-work a cultural reality, I’m convinced
that the ‘right people’ are the ones who have those three virtues in common – humility, hunger
and people smarts. I refer to these as virtues because the word virtue is a synonym for the
nouns quality and asset, but it also connotes the idea of integrity and morality. Humility, which
is the most important of the three, is certainly a virtue in the deepest sense of the word. Hunger
and people smarts fall more into the quality or asset category. So, the word virtue captures
them all. (2016, p. 155)
As we read the fable we are taken on the journey with Jeff, Bobby and Clare, who have taken over the
running of the family business, Valley Builders. Jeff is new in the role of CEO and quickly realises that his
team needs to expand and he starts to question why some managers and team members are more
productive than others. With reference to Jim Collins’ work From good to great, he knows he needs ‘the
right people on the bus’. As the story unfolds Jeff discovers that the ideal team player and, therefore,
the right person must be Hungry, Smart (as in people smart) and Humble.
Page 2 | WHAT PRINCIPALS ARE READING | #2 12 May 2017
Hungry people are those who are motivated and hard working. They are always looking for more work,
to learn more and to take on more responsibility in order to learn more. Hungry is about demonstrating
a commitment to the job and going above and beyond what is required.
In the Lencioni model, Smart refers to having good relationships with people, being attuned to the
group dynamics, judging social and work situations correctly, listening to others and responding
appropriately. Lencioni likens it to having emotional intelligence but believes it is ‘probably a little
simpler than that’ and that it ‘refers to a person’s common sense about people’. (2016, p. 160)
Humble is not about being self-deprecating and dismissing one’s talents and contributions to the team.
It is about directing ambition to building something great; about being generous in thought and
behaviour, being inclusive, working with other people’s strengths, and giving credit to those in the
team. It is defined by a lack of ego and interest in status and hierarchy.
All three virtues need to be present in the ideal team player; the power is in the combination, not the
individual attributes themselves (2016, p. 161). However, in proposing this Lencioni asserts ‘that
humility is the single greatest and most indispensable attribute of being a team player’ (2016, p. 157).
(Lencioni 2016)
This model (Figure 1) shows that the Ideal Team Player sits in the intersection of all three virtues and,
according to Lencioni,
When team members are adequately strong in each of these areas – when they possess
significant humility, hunger and people smarts – they enable team work by ...[being] more likely
to be vulnerable and build trust, engage in productive but uncomfortable conflict with team
members, commit to group decisions even if they initially disagree, hold their peers accountable
when they see performance gaps that can be addressed, and put the results of the team ahead
of their own needs. (2016, p. 165).
Page 3 | WHAT PRINCIPALS ARE READING | #2 12 May 2017
With this description he is referencing his earlier work on teams, also another leadership fable, The five
dysfunctions of a team.
Anyone who leads a team, or who is interested in being a better member of a team or in helping
students to become better team members, should read The ideal team player as it will help in the
recognition and cultivation of the three essential virtues of productive team work.
REFERENCES
Barker, C & Coy, R (Eds) (2003) The 7 heavenly virtues of leadership. Sydney, AUS: McGraw Hill.
Collins, J (2001) From good to great: Why some companies make the leap and others don’t. Harper
Collins.
Lencioni P (2002) The five dysfunctions of a team. New York, USA: Jossey-Bass.
Lencioni, P (2016) The ideal team player. Hobokan, NJ, USA: Jossey-Bass.
ASSOCIATION OF HEADS OF INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OF AUSTRALIA
COLLEGIAL SUPPORT FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCHOOL LEADERSHIP
AHISA NATIONAL OFFICE Unit 17/71 Constitution Ave, Campbell ACT 2612. ABN 99 006 107 124.
T 61 2 6247 7300 F 61 2 6247 3677 E [email protected]
Page 4 | WHAT PRINCIPALS ARE READING | #2 12 May 2017