Who is Patrick Lencioni
People you should know about is a section that can help you build your own board of directors. Those authors, leaders or speakers who are doing their thing and have made a name for themselves. You’ll find the ones that you connect with, speak to your passion and motivations and who get you excited about the work you have to do.
The recommendation I got about creating my own board of directors was really useful. Those people I turn to for advice, commentary on topics, feedback, to learn from and consider issues from their perspective or how they might handle a situation or project.
In this post I’m introducing you to Patrick Lencioni. I recently read a second of his books and while he uses a similar format (that of fable/story telling) that you may or may not connect with or enjoy, there is theory and tools that can be readily applied to leading in healthcare.
Patrick Lencioni is an American writer on business management particularly around team management. He is the president of The Table Group, a consultation firm that works with executive teams.
The first book I read of his was ‘The Five Dysfunctions of a Team’ , arguably the book that he is most famous for. It’s a book I readily lend out if you are building a team or stepping into a new team, as it gives you a foundation of tools to start with. I first came across this book in 2016 and the importance and starting point of Trust is one I have written about a number of times.
The book I recently read was ‘Silos, Politics and Turf Wars’. Another book with a lot to take from. For me first up is the mindset of all being in it together. How often are you or your teams talking about ‘their patients’ or ‘that team’. It can get down to factions within one ward or team such as day or night shift staff. So this was an idea that really resonated with me.
Then there was the ideas of how we seem to overcome all the silo stuff during times of crisis. In the book an example is given within an ED area of a hospital and how their approach doesn’t seem to spread to the rest of the organisation. The idea of needing a crisis and reflecting on how we have all responded to COVID-19 was useful for me. The book suggests the idea of ‘why wait for a crisis’. Yet we have managed through a crisis and are busy working out where to from here.
Thirdly the book creates a theory on how to get people together around one common goal. To finish that feeling of silo working and the politics that we have to play out meeting after meeting. Having one specific timeline goal (more than three months, probably not more than 12 months) gives everyone clarity of what you are trying to achieve. Everyone has a part to play in achieving that goal - no matter what your role or area of expertise. Underneath the one goal are a number of defining objectives - they are qualitative descriptors and shared across the team - they build the picture and define what the common goal is for clarity. Standard operating measures then tell you how you are doing towards these objectives and if you are on track.
The book while using the fable telling approach does this from the lens of a few different types of companies so it can be seen at work in a number of perspectives, plus there are a number of examples that help illustrate the theory.
I dug a little deeper into the work this time and found Patrick’s company website that guides you through all his books and has a number of resources that support the tools. The resources part of the website is divided into sections - organisational health, teamwork and managing people , so it’s easy to pick where your interests and needs lie based on these section.
What I like about his tools and the resources is the simplicity and the visual element of them. Because I like the visual elements and I collect these in one place - I’ve created a Pinterest board to make this easy for you. Not many of the resources are free, but there is a podcast, these are relatively short and very energetic.
His ideas, concepts and work are synergistic with the others on my board of directors. He cites Jim Collins and builds on his work. The servant leadership purpose of Simon Sinek and the vulnerability that Brené Brown encourages so strongly.
