I have always been a fan of Patrick Lencioni. He has written countless books that I, and many members of my team have read. As a matter of fact years ago I took my team out to San Francisco for an intimate one day workshop that he lead on building a cohesive leadership team. He has sold over 3mm copies of his books, so I am not the only one who thinks he has got something to say.
His newest book brilliantly titled…The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else In Business. focuses on the theme of organizational health. And as the title suggest, he goes as far to say organizational health trumps EVERYTHING else.
Recently he was interviewed in Inc. Magazine by Leigh Buchanan. My favorite part of the interview was the following:
Leigh: Ask an entrepreneur what she wants for her business, and she’ll talk about financial success, a fabulous culture, irresistible products. Ask a new parent what she wants for her child, and she’ll say, “I want her to be healthy.” Should founders think more like parents?
Pat: Let me make the analogy a little tighter. The real job of parents is to give their children an environment in which they can thrive. Ultimately, parents can neither predict nor control how their kids turn out, but they can give them a life free of unnecessary dysfunction and stress—and clarity about boundaries. Similarly, the head of an organization has to make it healthy. The key is to create an environment where people can thrive, without unnecessary dysfunction, confusion, and politics. This requires a cohesive team at the top, clarity, communication, and reinforcement through human systems. By doing this, founders can provide their people with the opportunity to succeed in ways that even they couldn’t have anticipated.
To dig in deeper, the key line in this excerpt was “Ultimately, parents can neither predict nor control how their kids turn out, but they can give them a life free of unnecessary dysfunction and stress—and clarity about boundaries.”
What unnecessary dysfunction and stress are we giving to our children, friends, family, and co-workers? I also love the fact that he used the word “boundaries.” More on this coming soon 
