The Five Temptations of a CEO
The Five Temptations of a CEO book cover

The Five Temptations of a CEO

1st Edition

by
Price
$8.50
Format
Hardcover
Pages
160
Publisher
Jossey-Bass
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0787944339
Dimensions
6 x 0.5 x 8.75 inches
Weight
11.2 ounces

Description

Imagine running into the ultimate management mentor late one night on an otherwise deserted commuter train, and walking away from the strange encounter with an encapsulated guide to success in the corporate world. That's exactly what screenwriter and business coach Patrick Lencioni has done in The Five Temptations of a CEO: A Leadership Fable , placing his tale in an easy-reading and thought- provoking kind of self-help novel. Designed to be read in a single sitting, this book uses the unexpected meeting between troubled high-tech honcho Andrew O'Brien and a mysterious old man named Charlie to explore a series of common traps that can unwittingly ensnare any hard-driven executive. Lencioni hones in on the five "temptations" of the workplace: desires to jealously guard career status, consistently remain popular with subordinates, unfailingly make correct decisions, constantly strive for an atmosphere of total harmony, and always appear invulnerable. A discussion of the story's events and their real-world implications follows, as Lencioni shifts from screenwriter mode to business coach to help answer some of the questions he raises. --Howard Rothman From Booklist San Francisco CEO coach Lencioni has used his consulting experience to weave a novel based on business precepts. Here the five common faults of CEOs are relayed through a thinly disguised fictional scenario: rapid transit janitor Charlie teaches lessons to Trinity Systems leader Andrew. The prose is primarily dialogue--and fairly easy to follow. In fact, the afterwords seem somewhat superfluous, justified by the author in terms of further clarity and readers' probable need for self-assessment. From valuing ego overachievement to an unwillingness to trust, each of the five faults is applicable to any rising manager, young or old. Barbara Jacobs "A must read for all leaders, not just CEOs. Take it from someone whohas been tempted. Better than a personal coach." (Boyd Clark, president and CEO, The Tom Peters Group) "Pat Lencioni delivers a provocative message: CEOs mainly havethemselves to blame when things go wrong. If you're a CEO (or any manager for that matter), do you have the courage to face the blame? Doing so could change your future-for the better." (Dr. Jerry Porras, co-author, Built To Last; professor, Stanford School of Business) "A truly enjoyable story. I found myself immediately trying to decidewhether I had fallen victim to the temptations. I think most executiveswill be able to recognize parts of themselves in this well-written,enlightened book!" (Ellyn McColgan, president, Fidelity Investments Tax Exempt Services Co.) "This book provides extraordinary insight into the pitfalls that leadersface when they lose sight of the true measure of success-results. Thismodel is required reading for my staff." (Dr. Eric Schmidt, chairman and CEO, Novell Corporation) From the Inside Flap As he stared out the picture window from his office, Andrew O'Brien wondered how it had come to this.Tomorrow would be the one-year anniversary of his promotion to CEO. It would also be the first board meeting where he would be accountable for the results of an entire fiscal year. Those results, as he had grown accustomed to saying, were "unspectacular at best."Andrew could not deny that he was at a low point in his brief tenure as CEO, a point he never expected to reach so soon.Then things got worse.In this stunning business fiction debut, Patrick Lencioni delivers a powerful wake-up call to all of us who dare to lead.Young, ambitious, and overwhelmed Andrew O'Brien personifies a part of every leader as he wanders in search of the elusive silver bullet that will propel him to success. He happens upon an unlikely guide who distills the seemingly infinite list of leadership perils into the five temptations of a CEO. In an intense and often combative exchange, the two debate fundamental issues faced by all leaders-issues involving personal integrity and effectiveness in the ongoing struggle for success. While some of these topics have been bandied about in the leadership literature for years, here they actually begin to make sense.Refreshingly original and utterly compelling, Andrew's story (written to be read in one sitting) will be enjoyed, remembered, and reread for years to come. It serves as a timeless and potent reminder that success as a leader can come down to practicing a few simple behaviors-behaviors that are painfully difficult for each of us to master. As he stared out the picture window from his office, Andrew O'Brien wondered how it had come to this. Tomorrow would be the one-year anniversary of his promotion to CEO. It would also be the first board meeting where he would be accountable for the results of an entire fiscal year. Those results, as he had grown accustomed to saying, were "unspectacular at best." Andrew could not deny that he was at a low point in his brief tenure as CEO, a point he never expected to reach so soon. Then things got worse. In this stunning business fiction debut, Patrick Lencioni delivers a powerful wake-up call to all of us who dare to lead. Young, ambitious, and overwhelmed Andrew O'Brien personifies a part of every leader as he wanders in search of the elusive silver bullet that will propel him to success. He happens upon an unlikely guide who distills the seemingly infinite list of leadership perils into the five temptations of a CEO. In an intense and often combative exchange, the two debate fundamental issues faced by all leaders-issues involving personal integrity and effectiveness in the ongoing struggle for success. While some of these topics have been bandied about in the leadership literature for years, here they actually begin to make sense. Refreshingly original and utterly compelling, Andrew's story (written to be read in one sitting) will be enjoyed, remembered, and reread for years to come. It serves as a timeless and potent reminder that success as a leader can come down to practicing a few simple behaviors-behaviors that are painfully difficult for each of us to master. PATRICK LENCIONI is president of The Table Group, a San Francisco Bay Area management consulting firm. In addition to his work as an executive coach and consultant, Pat has also written a number of screenplays. Previously he held key positions at Sybase and Oracle. He began his career at Bain & Company. Over the years, Pat has worked with hundreds of executive teams and CEOs-all victims, at one time or another, of the five temptations. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Introduction Being the chief executive of an organization is one of the most difficult challenges a person can face in a career. But it is not a complicated one. Some CEOs, especially the struggling ones, might disagree with this statement. They'll tell you their jobs are riddled with complexities and subtleties that make success impossible to predict. If their organizations fail, they may point to a tired list of causes like strategic errors, marketing inadequacies, competitive threats, and technology failures. But these are only symptoms of their troubles. All chief executives who fail -- and most of them do at one time or another -- make the same basic mistakes; they succumb to one (or more!) of the Five Temptations of a CEO. If this is true, if a CEO's success hinges on just a few behaviors, then why don't more of them succeed? Why do they keep looking at the same financial statements, product development schedules, and marketing reports in search of a silver bullet? I think Lucille Ball answers this question best. In an old episode of the I Love Lucy show, Ricky comes home to find Lucy crawling around the living room on all fours. When he asks her what she+s doing she explains that she has lost her earrings. "You lost your earrings in the living room?" Ricky asks. Lucy replies, "No, I lost them in the bedroom-but the light is so much better out here." For many CEOs the light is best in places like marketing, strategic planning, and finance, safe havens from the painful darkness of behavioral self-examination. Unfortunately, they find little opportunity for meaningful improvement in these areas. Even relatively progressive executives often stay in the comfort of their - living rooms,+ sampling management fads and leadership trends in search of relatively painless remedies for their ills. While some of those remedies appear to work for a while, they eventually leave executives exposed to the same basic issues that caused their problems in the first place, the ones explored in this book. The tragedy here is that most executives are intuitive enough to understand all this-but many of them struggle to do anything about it. Instead, they unconsciously distract themselves and others from their personal leadership issues by getting overly involved in the details of their businesses, often to the point of creating complexity where it shouldn't exist. Essentially, what they are doing is putting the success of their organizations in jeopardy because they are unwilling to face -- and overcome -- the Five Temptations of a CEO. Read more

Features & Highlights

  • Absorbing, compelling, and utterly memorable,
  • The Five Temptations of a CEO
  • is like no other business book that's come before. Author Patrick Lencioni—noted screenplay writer and sought-after executive coach -- deftly tells the tale of a young CEO who, facing his first annual board review, knows he is failing, but doesn't know why.
  • "This book provides extraordinary insight into the pitfalls that leaders face when they lose sight of the true measure of success: results. This model is required reading for my staff." —Eric Schmidt, chairman of the board and CEO, Novell
  • Any executive can learn how to:
  • recognize the mistakes that leaders can make
  • recognize the mistakes that leaders can make
  • avoid errors before they occur
  • avoid errors before they occur
  • and much more!
  • and much more!
  • Refreshingly original and utterly compelling, the story of this executive (written to be read in one sitting) will be enjoyed, remembered, and reread for years to come. It serves a timeless and potent reminder that success as a leader can come down to practicing a few simple behaviors—behaviors that are painfully difficult for each of us to master.
  • "Lencioni delivers a provocative message: CEOs mainly have themselves to blame when things go wrong. If you're a CEO (or any manager for that matter), do you have the courage to face the blame? Doing so could change your future-for the better." —Dr. Jerry Porras, coauthor,
  • Built to Last
  • ; professor, Stanford School of Business
  • You won't find any dry management rhetoric in this razor-sharp novelette. Apply these riveting lessons in leadership with the self-assessment at the end of the book. It will change your career!

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(806)
★★★★
25%
(336)
★★★
15%
(202)
★★
7%
(94)
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(-94)

Most Helpful Reviews

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A Summary Review of all fables written by Patrick

The 2 stars is the average I give to all the fable books written by Patrick.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: 5 stars

Obviously, it is the best one. (you can see it from the sales record in Amazon). It was the first Patrick's book I read. I have finished reading the whole book in one setting and couldn't wait and jump to look for his other books. The book has a reasonable length, setting up a bit simplified, but not over-simplified, and still reasonable fable-like setting to illustrate all important team dysfunctions and team building skills. The whole book is tight and coherent and an easy but enlightening read. Highly recommended!

Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable 4 stars

It is a good one but not as great as the five team dysfunctions. A very good explanation of all kinds of meetings and how to use each of them. I recommend you buy one, read it and keep it as a reference. One drawback is the author tried to spicy up the book so one of the main characters will occassionally scream out some rude comments if he didn't take his pills. I never work with such an unusual person and I prefer less dramatic in a management fable. (not something like in "Desperate Housewife", the neighbor besides you was a serial killer and the housewife across the street did her gardener and used her Chinese maid to bear her baby.)

I should have stopped here and never rush to read his other books..

The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive: 2 stars

This is the one made me begin to feel betrayed. If the five dysfunctions have been crafted for months, this one seems to be done within weeks. The fable setting needs more polishing works. Although the four obsessions have been presented with reasonable clariy, reading this book makes you feel that the author thinks you are an idiot. Scenarios like how the VP HR plots to damage the trust seem to be more suitable for a toddler fable rather than something for teenagers, not mentioning for managers. The rough plot affects the whole four points--though four very good points. I will recommend you to skim the whole book in less than 20 minutes by standing in a bookstore.

Five temptations of CEO 1 star?

It is the one makes me begin to feel angry. Again, if the five dysfunctions have been crafted for months, this one seems to be done within hours. The major story (95% of the book) happened in a dark train, where a poor CEO was taught about these five temptations by some ghost-like old men, who turned out later to be the previous CEOs in the SAME company! Again the five temptations are all great and worthwhile points. It is the plot that made me sick. If you have a chance, skim the whole book in less than FIVE minutes.

Silos, Politics and Turf Wars NEGATIVE 1 star

The worst one. Negative 1 star is because it wasted my time. I thought the five temptation one was the worst until I read this one. Patrick spends most of the book to illustrate the silo problems rather than provide any solution. And he even spends many pages about the main character's struggle in balancing his work and his wife's pregnancy, which I believe, should belong to another fable about personal life balance, given how many pages the author devoted to this. From other fables, more or less, you can at least learn something. But not from this one. Forget it!
64 people found this helpful
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Temptations are common sense

This book outlines, in a fable mode, the five temptations of a CEO. The temptations are : - choosing status over results (i.e. wanting to protect own status instead of focusing on bottom-line results) - choosing popularity over accountability - choosing certainty over clarity (i.e. analysis paralysis - always delaying to make key decisions until all facts are gathered) - choosing harmony over healthy conflict (in meetings) - choosing invulnerability ("I am never wrong") over trust ("I too can make mistakes) in the face of subordinates
Although these temptations are valid, they are pretty much common sense. Moreover, I think there are more than 5 temptations; you may add others, e.g. not wanting to delegate, selecting the wrong people, making intuitive decisions not based on any facts, not willing to learn from setbacks, back down in the face of setbacks (instead of facing it with courage) etc.
Overall, I think this book is ok; easy to read and quite interesting. However, I believe it is too expensive for its content.
If you want to find out about key insights from an 'actual', successful CEO, I suggest you read Michael Dell's "Direct From Dell". Here he described his temptations and how he had coped with them.
34 people found this helpful
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Good first book, but not his best

Patrick Lencioni has a talent for cutting through the complexities of leadership and teamwork to highlight core principles then presenting them in easily digestible fictional form. In this book (in the UK going by the title of Five Temptations of a Manager) technology company CEO Andrew O'Brien has a mysterious encounter with an unlikely mentor on a deserted commuter train the night before the annual meeting of the board of directors. He's in trouble but doesn't understand why. The enigmatic Charlie leads him through an exploration of five "temptations" that often trip up ambitious executives: Choosing status over results; choosing popularity over accountability; choosing certainty over clarity; choosing harmony over productive conflict; choosing invulnerability over trust. Easily read in a single sitting, this book conveys the temptations effectively in fable form, followed by a summary and discussion by Lencioni. This may not be a comfortable book for some leaders to read. It doesn't let them off the hook for any of a company's problems. The message is timely as CEOs exit failing companies with massive severance packages. If you read only one of Lencioni's books, you will probably find his style further developed and even more effective in his second book, The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive, or his third, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.
19 people found this helpful
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Intriguing, Instructive

Every CEO understands that "it's lonely at the top." That loneliness contributes to temptations that can cause an otherwise dedicated executive to go down the wrong path. In this leadership fable, Lencioni, president of The Table consulting group in the San Francisco area, stimulates our thinking with an enjoyable story that captivates the reader's attention. Identifying with Andrew, a troubled CEO, isn't difficult at all . . . and may even be a bit uncomfortable. The discomfort dissolves with the learning that comes in page after page.
Working late on the night before an important board meeting, Andrew O'Brien finds himself on a commuter train. Alone. Except for Charlie, who appears to be a janitor. A conversation develops through which Charlie, an unexpected source of wisdom, shares valuable insight and perspectives with Andrew.
The lessons are built around the five temptations that lead CEOs astray. The fable is well-woven and thought-provoking. Following the story, Lencioni presents his model: a summary of why executives fail. A self-assessment concludes the book. Though I wasn't that excited about the self-assessment, the value of the balance of the book overcomes any deficiencies I might see in those few pages.
The Five Temptations are choosing status over results, choosing popularity over accountability, choosing certainty over clarity, choosing harmony over productive conflict, and choosing vulnerability over trust. Lest you think that you can now avoid reading this book because you know the secrets, let me admonish you that merely knowing the words is considerably different than understanding the concepts. That benefit will come with reading the book, then applying the learnings to strengthen your personal performance.
This quick read can make a significant difference in your effectiveness and happiness.
11 people found this helpful
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A bland overview of the basics

Nothing succeeds like success in this follow up fable by Patrick. His books work best when they're relevant to your specific situation. In this case if you're in a leadership role and need a little shot in the arm to do the right thing (although I don't imagine many CEO's reading this book). Recommend passing on this rather light fare and looking over Patrik's "5 Dysfunctions of a Team".

Summary - A CEO has just completed a year with very average results. Staying late for the annual meeting he travels home on the subway and meets a homeless man who asks a few pointed questions...

The Five Temptations of a CEO:

1. The desire to protect their career.

2. The desire to be popular.

3. The need to make "correct" decisions.

4. The belief that it is better for people to get along then have conflict.

5. The desire for invulnerability.

Some additional nice quips from the book:

* Overcoming the 5 temptations: Choose results over status, choose accountability over popularity, choose clarity over certainty, choose conflict over harmony, and choose trust over invulnerability.

* Some exec's fear being wrong so much that they only make a decision when absolutely certain of the results.

* The best way to come up with the right decision quickly is to get everyone together and suck all the honest opinions out and come to consensus.

* If no one feels a little pushed out of place then we probably didn't put all of our issues on the table.
9 people found this helpful
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I was not impressed.

The book does deliver a message, but one that should be delivered via a short magazine article. It's amazing how someone can stretch a thought so far and create an entire book. I've read countless numbers of books that try elaborate on a list of something...in reality, all you need is the list. If you read the reviews of this book, you've read the book.
8 people found this helpful
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Must Read for CEO's...this will change your life

I read this book and it changed my entire management approach. It forced me to ask myself MANY questions about how I manage and I wound up really changing my management approach on several critical dimensions. I'm convinced this book had more influence over my management skills than ANY other book I've read. If you are honest with yourself and have the courage to identify things you could be doing better, this book is a MUST read. Its like 10 years of management experience in 4 hours...but I'd wait until you've managed at LEAST a few people before you read this. Otherwise, I'm not sure you would get what you are supposed to out of this brilliant, life-changing book.
8 people found this helpful
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Why can't I give a 0 star ?

This is the crapiest anti-motivational book I ever got to read.
It is a story of Andrew who is a CEO and who meets with an old man one night in the train. The old man is a janitor and his father was a CEO (whatever)so the janitor, CEO's son (Gosh)starts
mentoring Andrew on how he should run his company.
If this janitor was smart enough to motivate a CEO how come he
ended up being a janitor in the first place?!?
I thought, to be a writer you have to be born as a writer but only now I realized that anyone can be a writer and Patrick
Lencioni is the worst one from the ones I've read.
Am I just being paranoid or is the today's literature following
today's music fate ?!?
5 people found this helpful
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This fable style is very useful in management science teaching

Just gone through Patrick Lencioni's first book The 5 Temptations of a CEO. It is a remarkable book on management issues written as a fiction. Thus it is quite enjoyable reading through the story. It is also easy reading. The setting was a bit scary, where the character met strange persons in a midnight train; sort of a twilight zone story. The day after, the CEO found out that these people were all past CEOs of his companies. I wonder why he didn't recognize them in the first instance. May be these CEOs are from ancient era. The fiction did not state whether they were ghosts, or returned from another time, or just old men still enjoying their retirement. From the lesson learnt on the midnight train, the CEO changed and performed differently at the board meeting the next day. But it was too late. The story took a turn and the leading character CEO turned into the phantom advisor himself.

The theme of the story is of course the temptations. They are all on behaviour and culture which are hard to change. There is nothing about strategic decision, competitive advantage and all sort of management theories. The main thrust is that if the CEO can get over the temptations, then the rest are just routine problems.

1st temptation: Choosing status over results - We've seen much of this in the government. CEOs put their concern on their own status at the expense of actual results. The temptation to preserve one's status is strong. An CEO will not like any damage to be done to his status. They choose the easy way out, deliver less, maintain status quo because less results won't hurt in government but mistakes will. To beat the temptation, one needs moral, ethic and real pride in his work achievement. Status will come this way.

2nd temptation: Choosing popularity over accountability - Everyone like to be popular with others. It is also in the Chinese culture, in particular when the subordinate is older, respectable and is an unchallenged expert in his field. Temptation to be popular kept the CEO from telling his staff the real problem and work expectation although dissatisfaction grew, in order not to hurt his feeling and be in confrontation. The staff did not realize the need to improve and was not given the accountability of his work. The irony is that the CEO would not hesitate to fire the subordinate when it got out of hand and inflicted permanent damage to other's career because the subordinate was gone for good and there was not more confrontation, while the timely honest advice did. Just look at our performance appraisals and you will know how hard to avoid this temptation.

3rd temptation: Choosing certainty over clarity - We learn about rational decision making. Right decisions are based on sufficient information, evaluation of alternatives, and the choice of the most advantageous, or least damaging action. In reality, certainty is unreachable. The maximizer will use up all his time choosing. The temptation to be certain in making the right decision is hard to beat, but it will be lead to no decision, wait-and-see decision, muddy decision or unclear decision. The CEO learned that any decision is better than no decision. Wrong decision is not that bad if it can get the organization working, and clarity in the decision enables early correction of any undesirable results. All roads are not straight.

4th temptation: Choosing harmony over positive conflict - Harmony is the ultimate goal in human spirit. It is also the essence of Zen and many religions. Any kind human being will try to maintain harmony around him. The CEO did not regard creating harmony a temptation. He maintained harmony in his organization, during meetings and at work. The phantom advisor reminded the good effect of productive ideological conflict, that hidden issues could only be revealed in conflict, and truth would come out of debate, and keep the organization lively. On the other hand, pure harmony could stifle creativity and hide grievances.

5th temptation: Choosing invulnerability over trust - It is natural survival instinct that one does not want to be weak, wrong or hurt. It is a great temptation that one should feel invulnerable, and in the process creating suspicion and defense. The CEO learned that in order to fight this temptation, he should know how to admit that he was wrong and trust his subordinates in challenging his ideas. Only then the mistake committed by the organization has a chance to be put right.

Lencioni showed that the sequential impact of the principles of the 5 temptations are in reverse order, starting from the 5th. Instilling trust gives executives the confidence to have productive conflict. Fostering conflict gives executive confidence to create clarity. Clarity gives executives the confidence to hold people accountable. Accountability gives executives confidence in expected results. And results are a CEO's ultimate measure of long-term success.
3 people found this helpful
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Insighful. Compelling. Valuable.

Of all of his books on leadership, this may be Lencioni's best. It is not just for CEO's. It is for all of today's leaders facing a tough environment of competing interests, hidden agendas, and uncertain futures. Lencioni uses the time-honored device of story-telling to make his points. The effect of the parables is hard-hitting, powerful, insightful and a little uncomfortable.

Andrew O'Brien is the CEO of a company in trouble. Results are less than promised, he is feeling more distant from the business and his team, and the board is getting restless with "less than spectacular" performance. Where in the organization or in the management team lies the blame? What needs to change? Andrew doesn't have to look very far to discover the five fatal temptations of leadership.

Lencioni has a unique way of stating what should be obvious truths that somehow are not so obvious. Even more interesting is his insight to identify not only the five dangerous weaknesses but also their five corresponding strengths.

A very quick read whose conclusions and insights may weigh heavily for a long time.
3 people found this helpful

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