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Business Management Book Store > Business Management books beginning with F
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The Five Temptations of a CEO: A Leadership Fable |
Author: Patrick M. Lencioni
Published: 1998-09-28 |
List price: $22.95
Our price: $22.95
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As of: November 20th, 2008 01:39:07 PM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 Excellent advice for business leaders, now if only they would take it
Given the large number of such books that I have seen recently, it appears that the latest trend is to package business advice in the form of a parable. While sound and accurate advice is something we all need, the CEO needs it in a different form than others. Given their position as head of the company and the ultimate decision maker, the CEO must never consider themselves above the others in terms of unassailability.
Andrew has been CEO for approximately one year and when named to the position it was the fulfillment of his ambition. However, the performance of the company over that year is "less than ideal" and he is scheduled to meet with the board of directors to explain the situation. Due to a bridge closure, he takes the mass transit train and while there, he encounters an elderly man named Charlie.
In keeping with the structure of the parable, Charlie is very wise and he begins discussing the company problems with Andrew. In the course of this discussion, Charlie exposes Andrew's faults in the form of what he calls the five temptations of a CEO. They are:
*) Choosing status over results - in Andrew's case, he was more interested in his personal success than that of his company.
*) Choosing popularity over accountability - rather than giving his reports appropriate feedback on their performance, Andrew just assumed they knew things in order to avoid conflict.
*) Choosing certainty over clarity - Andrew avoided making major decisions until all the facts were in. However, the problem was that once the facts were in, the window of opportunity had largely disappeared.
*) Choosing harmony over productive conflict - only the simple decisions are obvious, the complex ones that drive a company to success or failure require thought and analysis. Unless people are free to argue through the points on both sides, which leads to conflicts and disagreements, making the right decision is more a factor of luck rather than knowledge.
*) Choosing invulnerability over trust - the leader that refuses to admit a mistake in order to preserve the appearance of infallibility ends up being neither invulnerable nor trusted.
While the advice in this book is good, my fear is that most who read it will end up like Andrew. The book closes with another board meeting three years later and Andrew is mentioned only as an afterthought. Even though he was the recipient of this sound advice, it appears that he lacked the ability to implement it and so was removed from his position.
 Getting clear on a few things . . .
Lencioni spins a fable to explain why so many CEOs fall into the "Peter Principle," meaning they fail at being CEO when they were outstanding and focused on the way up.
The five temptations he outlines in a very readable fable are: 1. Choosing status over results, 2. Choosing popularity over accountability, 3. Choosing certainty over clarity, 4. Choosing harmony over productive conflict, and 5. Choosing invulnerability over trust. He weaves these temptations into a story that makes his points while keeping the reader's interests. In a clear and thoughtful manner, Lencioni explains why these temptations are the root of leadership evil and failure.
The advice that seems most pertinent is that executives always want to make things difficult. They lean on "it's more complex than that" when addressing an issue such as why sales aren't increasing, or production is lagging, or the market share is going down. Instead, they need to keep it simple and look at things such as "is the company's vision clear?" "Does everyone understand the vision?" And importantly, if the vision is not clear, then what is keeping the executive team from executing on such a fundamental issue as establishing a vision?
Lencioni provides a rather subjective self-assessment at the end of the book. If you are one of those folks who is honest with themselves and is as objective about your own performance as possible, then the assessment may well give you some insight. Also, there is a summary of the five temptations and a model of how to overcome the temptations. They are essentially stated as the opposite of the temptations, so the first would be; Choose accountability over popularity, etc.
This is one of those books that will go on my bookshelf rather than be passed along to friends of the library or some other used book organization. A quick but provocative read. So if you haven't read it, now's the time!
Straightforward Framework for Managerial Decision Making
Another well-crafted Lencioni "lesson as fable" book, "The Five Temptations of a CEO" provides an interesting framework for identifying...and making...important managerial decisions. This book is designed to be read in a single sitting and offers both a fable and an overview of the "Five Temptations of a CEO" framework.
The five temptations outlined by Lencioni are simple, but hard to actualize. While these temptations may be considered counterintuitive to some readers, the context of the fable and the detailed explanation of the Model lay out a solid logical framework for why the trade-offs implied by the temptations make sense.
Good Book, Save Your Money
Overall, this book is worth reading. I have read many, many management books and this one is not the best, but it is worth your time. However, I suggest that you borrow it from your library and save your money for books that you will use for future reference. Take a few notes about the key points, and that's all you will need to retain. Some of the key points caused me to reflect on my management style.
The book starts out OK, but as I finished it up, I said to myself "the author had to really stretch to make his ideas into a book instead of a magazine article". The old trick of using large fonts, generous spacing, and a small page format to add bulk to a book is well applied here. In other words, this book is wearing elevator shoes.
thought-provoking
a good, quick read to illustrate some important principles to consider in leading an organization. would recommend to any leader or aspiring leader.
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