Beware of The Skillful Politician!
Patrick Lencioni in his book The Ideal Team Player [affiliate link] issues this warning and I strongly agree with his concern.
Teammates who fit this pattern can cause serious damage to you and others on the team.
Unfortunately, I happen to be too familiar with this type of person.
I’ll explain why as I continue this series on The Ideal Team Player and talk about the third virtue, Smart, as I promised to do in my last post, 5 Words Can Make You a More Valuable Teammate.
Have you ever been fooled?
Have you ever had someone on your team who is charming? Always interested in your well being?
You followed their lead. Trusted them. They seemed genuinely humble and you were convinced they were looking out for you.
Sadly, though, when they got what they really wanted, the truth came out. They were really only interested in themselves and their own interests.
You were crushed, betrayed, and deeply hurt.
Your teammate was basking in the glory and you were feeling like a fool.
Lencioni describes a team member who would do something like that as The Skillful Politician. (You can hear him explain this at the 9:30 mark in this short video.)
The Skillful Politician is Hungry and Smart but not Humble. This dangerous 2 out of 3 combination can wreak havoc in teams and hurt people. And, this person is hard to spot until it’s too late.
I’ve been personally involved in situations like this. You probably have too.
Thankfully, I’ve learned how to avoid some of the damage and I want to share my tips with you.
Before I do that, let’s first consider the definition of Smart.
People Smart
Lencioni uses the term Smart not as a measure of intellect.
He uses the term to describe a person who is wise in how to deal with people. In other words, People Smart.
Ideal team players are smart. They have common sense about people. Smart people tend to know what is happening in a group situation and how to deal with others in the most effective way. They have good judgment and intuition around the subtleties of group dynamics and the impact of their words and actions.
Patrick Lencioni
This is a skill that I expect many of you have.
You may not be the best at it yet, but you have a desire to take into account the impact of what you say and do on your teammates.
Or you may have advanced skills in this area.
You may have a natural ability to read people. To understand their position. You know exactly what to say to motivate each of your teammates.
You select just the right words and deliver them in a way that makes each individual feel a certain way or take a desired action.
Clearly, you are Smart.
That’s a good thing. Right? That’s what leaders do. They influence and motivate people to do what needs to be done.
So what’s the problem?
Power and responsibility
There’s a quote I’m sure you’ve heard. Some variation of it is found in the Bible’s parable of the faithful servant, the writings of Voltaire, and the Spiderman comic books of Stan Lee.
With great power comes great responsibility.
If you are Hungry and Smart, you are very powerful and have the great responsibility that comes with that power.
But if you lack humility, you are also very dangerous.
A list of infamous world leaders comes to mind. They had the personality and charisma that made others follow them and an insatiable appetite for power but no concern for the people they destroyed.
The reality is, though, that this doesn’t just apply to world leaders.
It applies to us, especially if we’re on a team.
Being Smart brings opportunities
Consider this scenario.
You’re with your full team having a group discussion. The authority figure, maybe the boss, the principal, or the coach, is there.
No one wants to mess up. Everyone wants to put their best foot forward and make it obvious they add value.
As a Smart team player, you know your teammates and you’ve read the group dynamics well.
You’ve detected the subtle clues in people’s body language and their tone of voice. You see who is having a great day and who is down.
Because you asked the right questions earlier, you know who didn’t get enough sleep last night and is struggling to even stay awake.
It’s obvious to you some of your teammates are irritated and could lose their cool any minute.
You can tell who is confident and who is discouraged. Who is prepared and who is not quite ready for this moment.
Think of the incredible power you have.
You have so many opportunities to do good for the team as well as opportunities to take care of only yourself.
I’ve been in situations like this. I’ve had hard choices to make about what to say or do. You probably have too and you will be again.
I want to give you some tips to help you.
A confession
Before I share them though, I have a confession to make.
Remember the description earlier of The Skillful Politician?
That’s me.
The damage I’ve done to people was not always as severe as I described. Nevertheless, I have negatively impacted my teams too many times by being Hungry and Smart but not Humble.
The temptations of The Skillful Politician are always within me.
I have to continually fight to be more concerned with the success of the team than with being recognized for my personal contribution.
I often want to ask a carefully crafted question to look good in front of others. Or to make a teammate who has irritated me look bad.
That’s awful I know, but it’s true.
With the increased power of the Smart virtue, I have to constantly improve my ability to be responsible with that power.
If that describes you, try out this technique that I’ve used to avoid being a Skillful Politician.
It’s pretty simple. I just pause before I speak or act and ask myself some questions.
Questions help me filter
The somewhat embarrassing truth is I need to filter my initial thoughts about what I am going to do or say. My first responses usually sound more like a Skillful Politician than an Ideal Team Player.
Thankfully, these questions usually provide the filter I need.
They often cause me to change what I say or do to be more kind and gracious and beneficial for the team. Sometimes they remind me that it is best to just stay silent until I can stop focusing on myself.
Here are six questions I’ve found useful.
1. What’s my motive?
This is obviously the first question I need to ask myself.
If what I’m about to do or say is only for my personal benefit and not the good of the team, I should not proceed.
I recommend Patrick Lencioni’s book The Motive: Why So Many Leaders Abdicate Their Most Important Responsibilities [affiliate link] for more on how motive is the key factor in leading well.
2. Would I tell my mom what I did?
Imagine this conversation.
Mom: What did you do at work today?
Me: I got my teammate fired because he made me mad last week and I knew exactly what to say today to set him off in front of the boss.
If I can’t tell my mom what I did and be proud of it, I probably want to rethink it.
3. Who is this person outside of this setting?
When I’m about to do something potentially hurtful toward another person, I remind myself this person isn’t just my teammate. They are someone’s son or daughter, mom or dad, wife or husband.
Would I want someone to say what I’m about to say to my son or my wife?
Sadly, I have to admit I’ve changed my choice of words and my attitude more than once because of this question.
4. Is it really worth it?
Whatever I think I’m going to gain by putting my own interests ahead of the team’s, the payoff, the reward. Is it worth doing what I’m about to do?
Am I really willing to sacrifice my character and my integrity for that?
5. How will this really turn out?
It’s easy to speculate about how my planned words and actions will turn out great for me.
The truth is I have no way of knowing whether my selfish acts will bring about my success or my demise.
What I think will make me look good may actually lead to my embarrassment and humiliation.
6. What term would I use to describe me?
If I later replayed what I’m about to do, how would I label myself? Would I use “ideal team player” or something like “weasel”, “jerk”, or any of a multitude of options represented by “&$*%#!”?
Others will likely see right through my self-seeking behavior and use those terms as well.
Is this really how I want to be known as a teammate?
No team player is ideal
I have another confession to make. Writing this post was a bit uncomfortable for me.
I was reminded how prone I am to being “The Skilled Politician”. I have the potential to be a real danger to myself and my teammates.
If you feel the same way, you now realize you are not alone. At least two of us have to work to put the best interests of our teams ahead of our own. I don’t think there are only two of us in this world though. Many people struggle with this.
No one is a perfect teammate. I discuss this more in my post, “You Don’t Have To Be Perfect To Be Ideal.” which wraps up this series on the book The Ideal Team Player [affiliate link].
I encourage you to keep striving to improve and share your challenges and your successes with others.
We’re on this journey to being a better teammate together. Keep at it. You can do it.
Let’s lead with kindness and confidence.
Greg
Discussion Questions
- What techniques have you found useful in controlling yourself when you’re tempted to act in a way that doesn’t help your teams?
- Have you observed a The Skillful Politician at work? We’re they successful or did their lack of humility hurt them in the end?
I’m interested to know how you put this post into practice. Please share your experiences in the comments section so we can learn together.
