All of the companies that are annually ranked as the most highly admired and best to work for have a workplace culture within which collaboration thrives.

In his latest business fable, The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate the Three Essential Virtues, Pat Lencioni asserts that the best collaborators possess three underlying virtues that enable them to be ideal team players. They are “humble, hungry, and smart. As simple as these words may appear, none of them is exactly what they seem. Understanding the nuances of these virtues is critical for apply them.”

He then cites several nuances of these basic virtues.

So what?

“Leaders who can identify, hire, and cultivate employees who are humble, hungry, and smart will have a serious advantage over those who cannot. They’ll be able to build stronger teams much more quickly and with much less difficulty, and they’ll significantly reduce the painful and tangible costs associated with politics, turnover, and morale problems. And employees woken embody these virtues will make themselves more valuable and marketable to any organization that values teamwork.”

For these and countless other reasons, I urge you to check out The Ideal Team Player.