Frameworks / The Ideal Team Player
Humble, hungry and smart. All three, every time.
Great teams are built from people with all three virtues. Miss one and you get a familiar kind of trouble, often from someone who looks great on paper.
From the book The Ideal Team Player by Patrick Lencioni (2016)
›Humble + hungry + smart
The ideal team player: puts the team first, does more than asked and knows how they come across. Hire for all three.
The idea
In brief.
In The Ideal Team Player, Patrick Lencioni argues that the best teammates share three virtues. They're humble: they put the team ahead of their ego. They're hungry: they want to do more, and do it well, without being pushed. And they're smart, not in IQ but with people: they read the room and know how their words land.
The power of the model is in the overlaps. Someone with two of the three can look like a star and still slowly wear a team down. Lencioni names each combination, which makes them far easier to spot in an interview and far easier to talk about in a review.
Switch the virtues on and off in the model to meet each one.
The model
Three virtues, six near misses.
Virtue
Humble
Quick to share credit and slow to take it. Puts the team's success ahead of their own and owns mistakes without spin.
Virtue
Hungry
Self-motivated and diligent. Looks for the next thing to do without being asked, and isn't satisfied with just enough.
Virtue
Smart
People smart. Listens well, reads the room and understands how their words and actions affect others.
Humble only
The Pawn
Pleasant and modest, but without the drive or the people skills to make much happen. Often left on the sidelines.
Hungry only
The Bulldozer
Gets results for themselves and flattens people on the way. Can do real damage to a team in a short time.
Smart only
The Charmer
Entertaining and well liked, but in it for themselves and light on actual contribution.
Humble + hungry
The Accidental Mess-Maker
Wants to help and works hard, but doesn't see how their words land. Leaves messes for others to clean up.
Humble + smart
The Lovable Slacker
Kind and easy to work with, but does only what's asked. Needs to be pushed.
Hungry + smart
The Skillful Politician
Ambitious, polished and good at looking humble. Out for their own gain, and the hardest of the six to spot.
- HiringWe add interview questions that bring out humble, hungry and smart, and reference checks that ask about them directly.
- Assessing the teamEach leader rates their people, and themselves, on the three virtues. The gaps usually confirm what everyone already suspected.
- CoachingMost people are short on one of the three, and most can grow it once they see it. We build a plan around that one.
- Making the hard callsWhen someone won't grow a missing virtue, the model gives you a clear, fair way to talk about it.
Try this
Questions to ask your team.
- Who on the team gives credit away, and who collects it?
- Who needs to be asked twice?
- Who leaves people feeling heard, and who leaves a mess behind?
- Which virtue is weakest across the leadership team?
- Do our interviews actually test for any of the three?
Related insights
More frameworks
- Hitting the CeilingWhy growth stalls, and how to break through
- First, Break All the RulesThe 12-level climb to a great workplace
- The Five DysfunctionsFrom trust to results
- OutgrowProactive sales growth, every week
- The Core Values IndexBuilder, Merchant, Innovator, Banker
- Man's Search for MeaningViktor Frankl's three sources of meaning
Next step
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