610: How to Help Team Members Find the Right Work, with Patrick Lencioni

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Jan 9, 2023

Patrick Lencioni, founder of The Table Group and bestselling author, delves into how to align team members with the right roles using his Working Genius model. He emphasizes that understanding individual strengths is vital in combating burnout and enhancing job satisfaction. The conversation highlights effective strategies for team dynamics, the importance of intentional role assignments, and leveraging existing talents to fill gaps. Lencioni shares insights on how leaders can foster engagement and create a fulfilling work environment.

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ANECDOTE

Lencioni's Burnout

Patrick Lencioni, despite loving his work and colleagues, experienced burnout.
He realized he was frequently doing tasks he disliked, hindering his enjoyment of preferred tasks.

INSIGHT

Work-Focused Assessment

Traditional assessments focus on personality and preferences, not the work itself.
The Working Genius model analyzes the work stages and how individuals fit within them.

ADVICE

Three Stages of Work

Recognize three work stages: ideation (wonder, invention), activation (discernment, galvanizing), and implementation (enablement, tenacity).
Consider activation as crucial; skipping it leads to project failure.

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Patrick Lencioni: The 6 Types of Working Genius

Patrick Lencioni is founder and president of The Table Group, a firm dedicated to protecting human dignity in the world of work, personal development, and faith. Pat’s passion for organizations and teams is reflected in his writing, speaking, executive consulting, and most recently his three podcasts, At the Table with Patrick Lencioni, The Working Genius Podcast, and The Simple Reminder.

Pat is the author of twelve best-selling books with over seven million copies sold. After twenty years in print, his classic book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team remains a weekly fixture on national best-seller lists. He has been featured in numerous publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, USA Today, Inc. magazine, and Chief Executive magazine. He is the author of The 6 Types of Working Genius: A Better Way to Understand Your Gifts, Your Frustrations, and Your Team.

Many of us have heard the invitation from Jim Collin’s book Good to Great to get the right people on the bus. But once the right people are on the bus, how to do you find the right seat for each person? On this episode, Pat and I discuss how to utilize the Working Genius model to find the right work for the right team members.

Key Points

When addressing burnout, the type of work someone does is more significant than the volume of work.
Three stages of work are present for almost every team: ideation, activation, and implementation.
A cup of coffee in an excellent thermos can stay hot an entire day — that’s true of us when we’re aligned with our working geniuses.
Finding the right work for a team member is far easier than finding the right person culturally. Before you look elsewhere, be sure they are in the right seat.
To fill gaps in your team’s geniuses, you can hire, borrow, or find people where competence will suffice for now. Resist the temptation to immediately jump to hiring.

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How to Get the Ideal Team Player, with Patrick Lencioni (episode 301)
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The Mindset Leaders Need to Address Burnout, with Christina Maslach (episode 609)

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