The Goal of This Post

In this post, I share some of my favorite passages from the book The Five Temptations of a CEO, by Patrick Lencioni.

—

Temptation 1. Status

The most important principle that an executive must embrace is a desire to produce results.

Make results the most important measure of personal success, or step down from the job. The future of the company you lead is too important for customers, employees, and stockholders to hold it hostage to your ego.

—

Temptation 2. Popularity

Hold direct reports accountable for delivering on the commitments that drive results.

Work for the long-term respect of your direct reports, not for their affection. Don’t view them as a support group, but as key employees who must deliver on their commitments if the company is to produce predictable results. And remember, your people aren’t going to like you anyway if they ultimately fail.

—

Temptation 3. Certainty

Make it clear to direct reports on what they are accountable for doing.

Make clarity more important than accuracy. Remember that your people will learn more if you take decisive action than if you always wait for more information. And if the decisions you make in the spirit of creating clarity turn out to be wrong when more information becomes available, change plans and explain why. It is your job to risk being wrong. The only real cost to you of being wrong is loss of pride. The cost to your company of not taking the risk of being wrong is paralysis.

—

Temptation 4. Harmony

The best sources of information that are always available to you: your direct reports.

Tolerate discord. Encourage your direct reports to air their ideological differences, and with passion. Tumultuous meetings are often signs of progress. Tame ones are often signs of leaving important issues off the table. Guard against personal attacks, but not to the point of stifling important interchanges of ideas.

—

Temptation 5. Invulnerability

Make people feel safe enough to engage in conflict.

Actively encourage your people to challenge your ideas. Trust them with your reputation and your ego. As a CEO, this is the greatest level of trust that you can give. They will return it with respect and honesty, and with a desire to be vulnerable among their peers.

---

One Last Takeaway. Sum it Up.

“Instilling trust gives executives the confidence to have productive conflict. Fostering conflict gives executives 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.

---

All content credit goes to the author. I have shared the bits I enjoyed the most and found most useful.

Cheers ’till next time! Saludos!
Alberto