Leadership Business Management

The Five Temptations of a CEO: A Leadership Fable (Summary)

by Patrick Lencioni

Imagine a CEO on the brink of failure, not because of a bad strategy or a market crash, but because he desperately wanted his direct reports to like him. He chose harmony over conflict, popularity over accountability, and in doing so, he put his entire company at risk. This is the first and most dangerous trap that even the smartest leaders fall into—and it's rooted not in business acumen, but in basic human nature.

Choose Results Over Status

The ultimate temptation for a leader is to protect their own career and ego (status) rather than focusing on achieving collective, measurable results for the organization. When results are fuzzy, ego can thrive.

In the fable, the struggling CEO, Andrew, is initially more concerned with preserving his title and the perks of his job than with the company's declining performance. He's protecting his identity as a CEO instead of driving the hard outcomes the company needs to survive.

Demand Accountability, Not Popularity

Many leaders avoid holding their direct reports accountable because they have an innate need to be liked. This desire for popularity leads them to shy away from uncomfortable conversations about performance.

Andrew hesitates to confront a well-liked but underperforming executive about a missed deadline. He avoids the difficult conversation because he wants the executive to like him, even though the executive's failure is hurting the entire team's results.

Make Decisions with Clarity, Not Certainty

Leaders often wait for perfect information before making a decision, fearing they might be wrong. This desire for certainty leads to paralysis, when what a team really needs is a clear direction to move forward, even if it has to be corrected later.

Andrew's team is stuck because he won't make a key strategic decision without more data. His team doesn't need him to be right 100% of the time; they need him to make a call and create a clear path forward so they can finally take action.

Embrace Productive Conflict, Not Artificial Harmony

The desire for artificial harmony causes leaders to shut down healthy, ideological conflict. However, the best decisions and ideas only emerge after passionate, unfiltered debate among team members.

During a tense meeting, two of Andrew's executives begin to disagree. Instead of encouraging them to debate the issue openly to find the best solution, he quickly steps in to find a weak compromise just to end the tension, robbing the team of a chance to resolve a critical issue.

Cultivate Trust Through Vulnerability

Leaders often feel they must project an image of being perfect and having all the answers. This invulnerability prevents their team from trusting them enough to be open, honest, and vulnerable in return.

Andrew never admits his mistakes or asks for help from his team. As a result, his executives don't feel safe admitting their own weaknesses or challenging his ideas, which creates a culture of superficiality instead of genuine, trust-based teamwork.

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