Ep 008: Patrick Lencioni

SUMMARY:

In this episode of the GLS Podcast, Patrick compares “smart” vs. “healthy” organizations, making the case that organizational health is the greatest competitive advantage in business. He then unpacks the four disciplines necessary to building organizational health.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Organizational health is the single greatest competitive advantage in business.
• Organizations need to be smart and healthy.
• Smart organizations focus on strategy, marketing, finance and technology.
• Healthy organizations focus on minimal politics and confusion, high morale and productivity and low turnover.
• Four disciplines to building organizational health:
  1. Build a cohesive leadership team
  2. Create clarity
     • Six critical questions: 1) Why do we exist? 2) How do we behave? 3) What do we actually do? 4) How will we succeed? 5) What is most important now? 6) Who must do what?
     • Core values are the things for which you are willing to get punished.
     • Strategy is comprised of intentional decisions that create success and differentiate you from your competition.
  3. Over-communicate
     • If your people cannot do a good impression of you when you’re gone, you’re not communicating enough.
  4. Reinforce clarity

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

1. Do a quick assessment of the health of your team using the rating scale below. (1 is Low, 5 is High)
   • Politics:  1   2   3   4   5
   • Confusion:  1   2   3   4   5
   • Morale:  1   2   3   4   5
   • Productivity:  1   2   3   4   5
   • Turnover:  1   2   3   4   5
2. Focus on your lowest rating. Why did you rate that way? What barriers do you face to becoming healthy in that area?
3. Identify one next step that could increase organizational health in that area. Discuss your thoughts with your team leader.

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

Southwest Airlines

Gary Kelly

Dunder Mifflin

Jim Collins

Mary Kay Cosmetics

Enron

John Ortberg

RELATED LINKS:

The Table Group: A Patrick Lencioni Company

Lencioni’s “Rallying Cry” concept

The Global Leadership Summit

*Check out Patrick Lencioni’s new site called The Hub, an online offering focused on all things organizational health. The Hub is a website, a portal, a blog and an online magazine rolled into one, providing new content every week, much of which can be digested in one minute. Its purpose is simply to provide practical tips for anyone trying to build a healthy organization whether you’re leading a church or Fortune 500 company, managing a small department, or doing something in between.