Patrick Lencioni Quotes

Not finance. Not strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and so rare.

If you could get all the people in an organization rowing in the same direction, you could dominate any industry, in any market, against any competition, at any time.

When there is trust, conflict becomes nothing but the pursuit of truth, an attempt to find the best possible answer.

If you’re not interested in getting better, it’s time for you to stop leading.

The key ingredient to building trust is not time. It is courage.

Great teams do not hold back with one another. They are unafraid to air their dirty laundry. They admit their mistakes, their weaknesses, and their concerns without fear of reprisal.

Trust is knowing that when a team member does push you, they're doing it because they care about the team.

The impact of organizational health goes far beyond the walls of a company, extending to customers and vendors, even to spouses and children. It sends people to work in the morning with clarity, hope, and anticipation and brings them home at night with a greater sense of accomplishment, contribution, and self-esteem. The impact of this is as important as it is impossible to measure.

Success is not a matter of mastering subtle, sophisticated theory but rather of embracing common sense with uncommon levels of discipline and persistence.

Failing to hold someone accountable is ultimately an act of selfishness.

A functional team must make the collective results of the group more important to each individual than individual members' goals.

If everything is important, then nothing is.

Members of trusting teams admit weaknesses and mistakes, take risks in offering feedback and assistance, and focus time and energy on important issues, not politics.

Building a cohesive leadership team is the first critical step that an organization must take if it is to have the best chance at success.

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

People will walk through fire for a leader that's true and human.

It's as simple as this. When people don't unload their opinions and feel like they've been listened to, they won't really get on board.

A core value is something you're willing to get punished for.

Trust is the foundation of real teamwork. And so the first dysfunction is a failure on the part of team members to understand and open up to one another. And if that sounds touchy-feely, let me explain, because there is nothing soft about it. It is an absolutely critical part of building a team. In fact, it’s probably the most critical.

Building a strong team is both possible and remarkably simple. But is painfully difficult.

Organizational health is the single greatest competitive advantage in any business.

Members of trusting teams accept questions and input about their areas or responsibility, appreciate and tap into one another's skills and experiences, and look forward to meetings and other opportunities to work as a group.

Team members who are not genuinely open with one another about their mistakes and weaknesses make it impossible to build a foundation for trust.

Really great people rarely leave a healthy organization.

The team you belong to must come ahead of the team you lead: this is putting team results (e.g., organizational needs) ahead of individual agendas (e.g., the team or division you lead, your ego, your need for recognition, your career development, etc.) Confidentiality is respected downward more than it is respected upward. Organizational alignment is a direct result of this hierarchy (if it were the other way around, organizational alignment would be very difficult to achieve).