Quotes from Patrick Lencioni

All great relationships, the ones that last over time, require productive conflict in order to grow.

Moments of truth are best handled face-to-face P.30

Rita laughed. "I know. Technically, you're right. But I think a guy at this level needs a little more rope." Rich was adamant now. "No. Less rope. Senior people should get less rope, because in the process of hanging themselves, they snag other people too.

Dave always reacts to people rather than responding to them. To have a strong opinion is fine, but to dismiss others' thoughts is not.

When team members do not openly debate and disagree about important ideas, they often turn to back channel personal attacks, which are far nastier and more harmful than any heated argument over issues

Every great movie has conflict.

We have more money, better technology, and more talented and experienced executives than our competitors, and yet we are behind. What we lack is teamwork, and I can promise you all that I have no greater priority as CEO than making you, I mean, us, more effective as a group.

No amount of intellectual prowess or personal charisma can make up for an inability to identify a few simple things and stick to them over time.

Success comes only for those groups that overcome the all-too-human behavioral tendencies that corrupt teams and breed dysfunctional politics within them.

Let me assure you that from now on, every staff meeting we have will be loaded with conflict. And they won't be boring. And if there is nothing worth debating, then we won't have a meeting." The

It is ironic that so many people avoid conflict in the name of efficiency, because healthy conflict is actually a time saver.

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

Contrary to the assumptions of his rivals, Rich O'Connor had no tolerance for touchy-feely off-site meetings. In fact, his staff had come to refer to his meetings as "hug-free zones," a term they coined during Telegraph's first management retreat five years earlier.

small gaps between executives high up in an organization become major discrepancies by the time they reach employees below

All great relationships, the ones that last over time, require productive conflict in order to grow. This is true in marriage, parenthood, friendship, and certainly business.

I am going to be pretty intolerant of behavior that demonstrates an absence of trust, or a focus on individual ego. I will be encouraging conflict, driving for clear commitments, and expecting all of you to hold each other accountable. I will be calling out bad behavior when I see it, and I'd like to see you doing the same. We don't have time to waste.

One of the most difficult challenges for a leader who wants to instill accountability on a team is to encourage and allow the team to serve as the first and primary accountability mechanism.

As strongly as we feel about our own employees and as wonderful as that is for them, it simply cannot come at the expense of the loyalty and commitment we have to the group of people sitting here today.

I'd say that I'm good at solving problems, doing analysis—stuff like that. What I'm not so good at is communicating with human beings." He stopped. "I mean, it's not that I can't do it, but I really prefer people who aren't sensitive. I like to have conversations with people on a purely intellectual level and not have to worry about what they're feeling or anything like that. Does that make sense?

Passing judgment on whether you should or shouldn't be feeling what you are feeling just heaps more emotions on top of the pile and prevents the original feeling from running its course.

Martin didn't attack statements like that with emotion. He preferred what he liked to call a Sarcratic approach—a sarcastic version of the Socratic method.

The most important principle that an executive must embrace is a desire to produce results. As obvious as this sounds, it is not universally practiced by the highest-ranking executives in many companies. Many CEOs put something ahead of results on their list of priorities, and it represents the most dangerous of all the temptations: the desire to protect the status of their careers.

An unrelenting focus on specific objectives and clearly defined outcomes is a requirement for any team that judges itself on performance.

Some people are hard to hold accountable because they are so helpful. Others because they get defensive. Others because they are intimidating. I don't think it's easy to hold anyone accountable, not even your own kids.