Episode” 184 of our week-daily virtual coffee, which takes place in new social audio platform, Chatter from 7-8am EST. It’s free and open to anyone from anywhere in the world.

In today’s session, we began reading a new book, Patrick Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of a Team.

The 5 key takeaways from today’s session are: 

1. The importance of teamwork as the ultimate competitive advantage, even more so than finance, strategy, or technology.
2. The need for humility, courage, and self-awareness in building effective teams, as teams are inherently dysfunctional due to the imperfect nature of human beings.
3. The concept of superpowers and weaknesses within a team, and the value of using personality assessments like the Kolbe to understand individual strengths and limitations.
4. The challenges of leading a dysfunctional executive team, as seen in the case of DecisionTech, where the team members had impressive credentials but struggled with interpersonal dynamics.
5. The tension between prioritizing a customer meeting versus an internal team retreat, and the need for a leader to make tough decisions that balance short-term opportunities with long-term team building.

Show notes based on our discussion (as per Otter.ai’s beta tool):

Teamwork principles and challenges. (1:58)

Teamwork, its power and rarity, and the importance of overcoming human behavioral tendencies to build strong teams. (7:39)

Leadership principles and team dysfunctions. (13:32)

Hiring and leading a new executive team. (18:38)

Leadership, humility, and confidence in a business context. (25:26)

Team dynamics at a tech company, including a visionary CEO and a critical marketing role. (32:07)

Team dynamics, personality tests, and leadership skills. (37:03)

Leadership roles and personalities in a tech company. (41:57)

Scheduling conflicts and priorities at a company. (47:15)

Leadership and teamwork in a business setting. (51:51)

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