Patrick Lencioni

“You need to make sure you hire people who are capable of being strong team players. Team members should fit the company's culture, be committed to the team, and be capable of being genuinely vulnerable and selfless.”

“I've seen it again and again in my consulting: Most teams are too large to be innovative, despite their leaders' best intentions.”

“Where there is humility, there is more success, and lasting success.”

“The kind of people that all teams need are people who are humble, hungry, and smart: humble being little ego, focusing more on their teammates than on themselves. Hungry, meaning they have a strong work ethic, are determined to get things done, and contribute any way they can. Smart, meaning not intellectually smart but inner personally smart.”

“God bless those employees at United who somehow continue to be gracious and patient and generous with customers even while bearing the brunt of a broken company themselves.”

“Enron - although an extreme case - is hardly the only company with a hollow set of values.”

“At the heart of every great movie is conflict. It's the same with a meeting. There should be conflict and tension.”

“There is almost nothing more painful for a leader than seeing good people leave a growing organization, whether it's a priest watching a Sunday school teacher walk out the door or a CEO saying goodbye to a co-founder.”

“Make sure that the people at the top are working together and there aren't divisions of labor. Don't have people working in silos; have them working across the team.”

“Too many executives I've met over the years have the mentality of a bodybuilder; they've come to accept the idea that growth is synonymous with success.”

“Hungry people are always looking for more. More things to do. More to learn. More responsibility to take on.”

“I have yet to meet members of a leadership team who I thought lacked the intelligence or the domain expertise required to be successful. I've met many, however, who failed to foster organizational health. Their companies were riddled with politics, various forms of dysfunction, and general confusion about their direction and mission.”

“Engaged, enthusiastic, and loyal employees are pivotal drivers of growth and health in any organization.”

“Remember teamwork begins by building trust. And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability.”

“Life is full of surprises: new opportunities come up; that's part of the fun - the adventure of life. The thing is, chaos doesn't allow us to enjoy the adventure.”

“What clients are really interested in is honesty, plus a baseline of competence.”

“We learn by taking action and seeing whether it works or not.”

“Your focus should be on creating an environment where growth can occur and then letting nature take its course.”

“The best kind of accountability on a team is peer-to-peer. Peer pressure is more efficient and effective than going to the leader, anonymously complaining, and having them stop what they are doing to intervene.”

“If you really want to step up your team's creative thinking, take a hard look at how many people you're putting in a room together. More than three to five is probably too many.”