The Blueprint for a Thriving Team

The concept is not mine but it works: when hiring people for your team, look for candidates who are hungry, humble, and smart. Patrick Lencioni first introduced these values in his book The Ideal Team Player. 

Humble: people who understand their unique qualities and preferences and are willing to recognize they need the help of others for the team to be successful.

Hungry: people who are willing to go beyond the baseline expectations of the job.

Smart: people who are aware of how their words and actions affect those around them.

When I interview a candidate, I ask open-ended questions that help me evaluate a person on these characteristics. 

But it doesn’t stop there. 

Yes, it is important to hire people that understand and have lived in the atmosphere of humble, hungry and smart. However, to make it a part of an organization’s reality they must, in my opinion, continue to use these words and encourage and challenged people to live out the characteristics of each.

Recently I had the opportunity to be a guest on THe Work Well Project podcast where I unpacked how our organization uses these three virtues as a blueprint to build and develop a thriving team.