The Ideal Team Player

The Introduction is presented in Lencioni’s voice and serves as a rhetorical framing for the rest of the book. Lencioni first establishes the justification for the book’s primary argument. He says,

If someone were to ask me to make a list of the most valuable qualities a person should develop in order to thrive in the world of work—and for that matter, life—I would put being a team player at the top. The ability to work effectively with others, to add value within the dynamics of a group endeavor, is more critical in today’s fluid world than it has ever been. Few people succeed at work, in the family, or in any social context without it (ix).

The book’s justification is apparent here: To successfully navigate an increasingly interconnected world, one needs to learn the value of teamwork and how to become a good team player. Lencioni’s purpose, therefore, is to present a model for readers to follow in which they can cultivate their own abilities to be a team player. It also is intended to instruct companies on how best to implement and codify teamwork as an essential value in their cultures. Lencioni states that “[l]eaders who can identify, hire, and cultivate employees who are humble, hungry, and smart will have a serious advantage over those who cannot” (x). Here, the theme of The Impact of Teamwork on Overall Performance is first implied in the book. Lencioni suggests that companies that prioritize teamwork have a higher likelihood of improved performance.

Lencioni points out that great team players are not simply born that way. He says of these people, “[E]ither through life experiences, work history, or a real commitment to personal development, they come to possess the three underlying virtues that enable them to be ideal team players” (x). This indicates that becoming a team player is a learned behavior. This trait is therefore within reach of anyone willing to value its importance as it relates to their own professional performance.

Lencioni also establishes his own credibility in the Introduction. He mentions his previous book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, and also says, “During the past twenty years […] I’ve seen time and again that when a team member lacks one or more of these three virtues […] building a cohesive team is much more difficult than it should be” (x). Lencioni is not writing the book from a solely theoretical perspective; instead, he has years of experience in the subject area, and the book is predominantly informed by these experiences.