By Ken Ogorek
Patrick Lencioni’s book The Ideal Team Player identifies three traits -- humble, hungry and smart -- as very helpful for leadership team members, including the leader, to have and to cultivate.
In my retreat work with Catholic leadership teams (e.g. parish staffs) I’ve found it very fruitful to focus first on how these traits make us better disciples of Jesus, then move on to their role in helping us serve God’s people more effectively by His grace and mercy.
Here are a few thoughts I tend to share on retreats and days of reflection with various Catholic audiences.
Humility
It’s often helpful to know what a thing is not, as well as what it is. Humility is not humiliation.
Neither is humility the same as false modesty. False modesty can be a tool of the devil. Satan wants us to deny the gifts and charisms God gives us. The evil one wants us to bury our talents, to hide our lamp under a basket.
A humble person, then, has two traits (among others).
- Humble people are comfortable knowing they’re creatures, not the Creator.
- Humble folks are also aware of their woundedness.
We’re all wounded by original sin. We all struggle at times to behave as we should. A humble person knows that createdness and woundedness are among the great equalizers. No disciple of Jesus is greater than her or his Master -- or superior in dignity to any other human person.
Hunger
Zealots are no fun to be around; they suck the joy out of many situations. Zeal, though—properly understood—is essential for disciples of Jesus and valuable on a Catholic leadership team.
Lencioni might say that hunger shows itself in strong work ethic, coupled with a healthy work/life balance. I like pointing out that zeal for doing God’s work in our life enhances our disciple relationship with Jesus as well as how we serve in roles of Catholic leadership.
Zeal for souls is no old-fashioned term, no so-called pre-Vatican II notion.
To be zealous without being a zealot helps us function effectively as leaders and teammates. Hunger so described is one of a few ideal traits for fruitful Catholic leadership.
Smarts
Common sense and empathy go a long way toward successful careers and relationships.
A people-smart person has a high degree of common sense about how communication is likely to be received by the intended audience -- whether the recipient of what’s said/how it’s said is an individual or a group.
Emotional intelligence like this is among the most precious transferable life skills a person can possess and cultivate. As one highly successful Catholic leader puts it, it’s one thing to call a spade a spade; but you don’t have to call it a damn shovel.
Humble, Hungry & Smart in Sacred Scripture & Sacred Tradition
In retreat settings I share with participants a handout featuring several quotes from the Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church as well as prayers from the Mass itself. I encourage and offer time for prayerful reflection on these ways God speaks to us about humility, hunger and people-smarts.
Individually, and then with others, participants share thoughts and feelings on these and related questions:
- Who is a person you know who exemplifies humility and/or hunger and/or smartness? What is it about this person that makes you think, “She (or he) is really humble? Hungry? Smart?”
- Call to mind a life event or experience that showed you the importance of humility and/or hunger and/or smartness. Describe the experience briefly including what about it impressed on you how important it is to be humble. Hungry. Smart.
Connecting the Dots
Patrick Lencioni masterfully articulates how being humble, hungry and smart helps leadership teams acquire and retain the key trait of cohesiveness -- defined as enjoying trust, conflict, commitment, accountability and a focus on team results. (While beyond the scope of this article, details about these concepts are readily available on the website of his consulting firm: www.tablegroup.com/topics-and-resources.)
Succinctly put…
- Humility helps teammates trust each other, even to the point of team members (including the leader) displaying vulnerability;
- People-smartness is invaluable when it comes to engaging in the healthy kind of conflict that’s essential for Catholic leadership teams to discern God’s will for their organization, ministry, apostolate etc.;
- Hunger keeps folks on task regarding commitments the leadership team makes together;
- In making peer accountability a reality, it helps a lot to be people-smart; and,
- Focusing on team results no matter what office, department, ministry etc. one leads requires a good degree of humility.
Putting a Bow on It
Lencioni has a gift for identifying and naming traits and behaviors that help leaders and their teams function effectively, as well as in ways that tend to be joyful and lifegiving rather than a gut-wrenching stress-fest.
Applying Patrick’s concepts to our disciple relationship with Jesus first, then pointing out their benefits regarding our role as Catholic leaders and leadership team members, has proven to be a powerful way of enhancing both the faith and work lives of parish staff members as well as various players on a variety of Catholic leadership teams.
Beyond humble, hungry and smart, it’s fruitful to encourage Catholic leadership team members to consider what additional traits make for ideal coworker in the vineyard. I encourage you, then, to acquaint yourself with Pat Lencioni’s excellent work, applying it to yourself as a Catholic leader and challenging your team members to do the same.
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Ken Ogorek has served on the Advisory Board of the Yeshua Catholic International Leadership Institute since 2019. He is currently on staff at the Archdiocese of Indianapolis as catechetical director, a role encompassing evangelization and discipleship initiatives. Details about Ken’s retreat offerings, including contact information, are available at www.kenogorek.com.