245. Dissecting a GOAT

At The Table with Patrick Lencioni

Patrick Lencioni

Pat, Business, Success, Work, Entrepreneurship, Companyculture, Patricklencioni, Teamwork, Leadership, Organizationalhealth, Culture, Management

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 24 June 2025

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What are some universal traits of successful leaders that any leader in any field can emulate?

In episode 245 of At The Table, Patrick Lencioni and Cody Thompson reflect on a remarkable leader they consider one of the greatest CEOs they’ve encountered—Tony Mazzella of Mazzella Companies. Tony’s approach to leadership is rooted in humility, deep responsibility, and a relentless desire to learn, all without seeking fame or recognition. This conversation breaks down the traits that make a truly great CEO, far beyond what the public eye ever sees.

Topics explored in this episode:

(2:42) Humility in Action

* Tony’s humility is evident in how he shares credit and doesn’t perform for attention.

(5:50) Identity & Integrity

* Tony’s peace stems from knowing his identity isn’t tied to performance.

(8:06) Responsibility and Motive

* Tony makes tough calls because he cares deeply for people; there’s no entitlement—just ownership of his role.

(10:28) Curiosity & Continued Growth

* Tony proactively pursued his Working Genius certification.

(13:41) Organizational Health

* True heroes of organizational health are the leaders who consistently put in the hard work of implementation.

This episode of At The Table with Patrick Lencioni is brought to you by The Table Group: https://www.tablegroup.com. We teach leaders how to make work more effective and less dysfunctional. We also help their employees be more fulfilled and less miserable.

At The Table is a podcast that lives at the connection between work life, leadership, organizational health, and culture. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts (https://apple.co/4hJKKSL), Spotify (https://spoti.fi/4l1aop0), and YouTube (https://bit.ly/At-The-Table-YouTube).

Follow Pat Lencioni on https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-lencioni-orghealth and http://www.youtube.com/@PatrickLencioniOfficial.

Connect with Cody Thompson https://www.linkedin.com/in/cody-thompson-a5918850.

Be sure to check out our other podcast, The Working Genius Podcast with Patrick Lencioni, on Apple Podcasts (https://apple.co/4iNz6Yn), Spotify (https://spoti.fi/4iGGm8u), and YouTube (https://bit.ly/Working-Genius-YouTube).

Let us know your feedback via [email protected].

This episode was produced by Story On Media: https://www.storyon.co.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	When you see people that are like that, that are really not interested in the performance,
0:06.0	but just in communicating the message, it's so attractive.
0:09.0	And Tony was one of these guys.
0:10.8	Everybody in that room just wanted to hug him.
0:13.9	It was like, no, this is what I got.
0:15.3	This is who I am.
0:16.1	That's it.
0:20.7	Welcome to At the Table, the podcast that lives at the intersection between leadership,
0:24.4	culture, organizational health, and teamwork. My name is Pat Lanchone. I'm your host, joined by my
0:30.0	trusty co-host, Cody Thompson. How are you doing today, Cody? Good, Pat. They tell you to dress for
0:36.1	the job you want, not the job you have, so I'm here in a
0:38.5	golf polo. That's right. And if you don't do a good job today, I might make it easier for you to
0:43.5	become a golfer. I don't think it would make me any better, but it will make me have to innovate
0:48.1	right away, you know. I love it. All righty, Cody, what's our topic today? I love our title. It is dissecting a goat.
0:57.9	That's right. Like dissecting a frog in our sophomore year in high school, that's when it was for me.
1:05.2	You know, when we're talking about the goat, we're talking about the greatest of all time. And people often ask, like, who's the best CEO you've ever worked with or that you've ever heard of?
1:14.4	And everybody's fascinated by this in sports and entertainment and everything.
1:19.3	The truth of the matter is, I always say, the best CEO is somebody you've never heard of.
1:23.8	And they're running an organization and they're doing a great job, but there's no reason that
1:28.1	you know about them. And they're doing exactly what they need to do. And they're probably in an
1:32.0	industry that you don't know about that's not all that sexy. Because it's not fame that we're
1:36.4	talking about here. And we recently, Cody, had a chance to hear from a CEO who's been a client of
	...

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