Hungry people almost never have to be pushed by a manager to work harder, because they are self-motivated and diligent. They are constantly thinking about the next step and the next opportunity. And they loathe the idea that they might be perceived as slackers.
Interpretation
Self-motivated individuals work harder out of their own drive rather than needing external push.
In this quote, Patrick Lencioni emphasizes the intrinsic motivation of individuals who are eager to improve their circumstances. When people are hungry for success or advancement, they don't require external encouragement to strive harder; instead, their ambition and fear of being seen as unproductive drive them to put in extra effort and continually seek new opportunities.
In practice
In a motivational speech, emphasizing how self-motivation can lead to success.
I know that any group of people can become a team if they do the right things, but I came to realize over time that if you acquire or develop the right kind of people, that process of building a team is going to be much more effective and easier.
The truth is that intelligence, knowledge, and domain expertise are vastly overrated as the driving forces behind competitive advantage and sustainable success.
The kind of people that all teams need are people who are humble, hungry, and smart: humble being little ego, focusing more on their teammates than on themselves. Hungry, meaning they have a strong work ethic, are determined to get things done, and contribute any way they can. Smart, meaning not intellectually smart but inner personally smart.
Team members have to be focused on the collective good of the team. Too often, they focus their attention on their department, their budget, their career aspirations, their egos.
Teamwork remains a sustainable competitive advantage that has been largely untapped because it is hard to measure (teamwork impacts the outcome of an organization in such comprehensive and invasive ways that it's virtually impossible to isolate it as a single variable) and because it is extremely hard to achieve (it requires levels of courage and discipline that few executives possess) - ironically, building a strong team is very simple (it doesn't require masterful insights or tactics).
Clients don't expect perfection from the service providers they hire, but they do expect honesty and transparency. There is no better way to demonstrate this than by acknowledging when a mistake has been made and humbly apologizing for it.
Even when you're 50, you can make the effort to improve your standards.
Going to the Olympics as a Maasai I want to make them proud because, after the warm welcome they gave me when I went back and being their leader, I want to also be the warrior in the Olympics. That will be something good because that will be the first Olympic gold medal for the Maasai.
There's no pleasure in working if you don't do the things you want to do.
Take the job or the project that scares you a little. It's the one with the most to teach you.
If some people are so hungry for a feeling of importance that they actually go insane to get it, imagine what miracle you and I can achieve by giving people honest appreciation this side of insanity.
Stopping before you reach the goal does not make the discouragement go away. All it does is make the discouragement permanent. Instead, keep going, keep making the attempt, until you make that last, fulfilling attempt that brings the success you desire.
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