By Tommy Mello, Owner A1 Garage Doors, a $100M+ home service business. Sharing what I’ve learned to help other entrepreneurs scale.
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We’ve hired over 400 employees, and there’s a lot I’ve learned about hiring superstars… but man, this book blew my mind.
It’s called The Ideal Team Player, and it’s written by Patrick Lencioni. Patrick has worked at Fortune 500 companies like Bain and Oracle, and his books have sold over 7 million copies.
According to him, there are three main qualities that make your employee a great team player: hungry, humble and smart. Let me explain each of these qualities and offer some additional insights.
1. Are they hungry?
This means that they are willing to give more than what’s asked of them. They underpromise and overdeliver. More importantly, they have a desire to win. A winning attitude is the first thing to look for, and here’s what you should pay attention to:
• Are they passionate about anything? If they say that they like to do everything, but not really much of anything, that’s a red flag for me.
• Have they had to work hard at something? Have they committed their lives to something important and sacrificed other things (like changing up their schedule)?
• Are they competitive? What do they do in the face of adversity?
To find out if someone is truly hungry or not, I recommend this test from Chet Holmes, the late author of The Ultimate Sales Machine. He’d challenge candidates by saying something like, “I’m not sure if you’re cut out for our business… I’m not sure you’ve got what it takes.”
While many candidates will wilt under pressure, the real hungry and competitive people will be fired up. They might even ask to compete against your best performers and prove their worth by trial!
2. Are they humble?
What does humility look like? Humble people acknowledge that they don’t know everything and that they aren’t always right. They ask questions and learn from others. They’re able to look at themselves and be reflective. And above all, they see themselves as part of a team.
To see if someone is humble or not, ask them about their past professional accomplishments. If they answer with “I did this, I did that…”, that’s a bad sign. They’re probably taking too much credit.
If they reply with: “We did this, we did that…” Carry on! That’s a sign that they see their success as part of the team’s effort.
3. Are they people smart?
Being people smart is about dealing with people and navigating through all kinds of work relationships—whether with clients or coworkers. It’s about being sensitive to the people around them.
Patrick recommends asking this question in interviews: “How would you describe your personality?” You want people to have a good idea of who they are, which helps them communicate effectively with whoever they talk to.
Besides those three qualities, what else do good employees have in common? We have over 400 employees, and here’s one other thing I’ve noticed.
Are they happy?
While you could train an employee to smile, you can’t train them to be happy. Generally, unhappy people make other people feel unhappy. As they all say: “Misery loves company.” If someone isn’t laughing a lot, or is finding it hard to smile, they’re not the best people to be around.
Of course, it’s on the company to create a culture that makes them smile. Heck, it’s on you, the leader—the ultimate team player of the business!
How do you create a culture of team players?
I like to equate culture with the weather. When the sun is shining, when the weather is warm, it is easy to be positive, engaged and committed.
In a culture of acknowledgment and appreciation, your employees will likely be more motivated, energetic and effective. They may want to support each other and work together. And it all snowballs: happy employee, happy team, happy leader, happy organization.
To create a culture where people want to work together, start with appreciation—it’s the glue that keeps teams strong. Here are a few things we do that might help you:
• Feature the faces of your “employees of the month” on a wall
• Give an employee a pat on the back
• Get them something nice (this should not be a cash bonus)
• Learn their office love language (I recommend checking out The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace.)
Praise by praise, acknowledgment by acknowledgment; that’s how you create a culture of team players.
So when was the last time you told an employee that “you matter as part of the team”?
