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| Management Tools |
| Recommended Reading: The Five Temptations of a CEO |
Here’s a little light reading for your next vacation that should send you back to work with a renewed sense of direction. Patrick Lencioni, president of The Table Group, a management consulting firm, has written a “leadership fable” which clarifies some of the five career-crushing mistakes CEO’s make. It also includes real-life advice for how to avoid them.
Temptation #1: Making career status more important than achieving results
What was the best day of your career? If you answer that question with something like the statement, “The day I became head of my division,” you’ve probably already given in to temptation #1. Being the big-shot in your company has nothing to do with making your company successful.
“. . .A nonprofit agency shouldn’t feel good about getting funding unless they did something meaningful with the money. And there isn’t a great coach alive who would say that his best day was getting hired. Winning games and championships is what great coaching is all about,” writes Lencioni.
Are you guilty of giving in to any of the remaining CEO temptations?:
Temptation #2: Valuing your personal popularity with employees more than your ability to hold them responsible for making progress
Temptation #3: Putting off making decisions because you’re afraid to be wrong
Temptation #4: Preferring “harmony” (everybody getting along) to productive conflict
Temptation #5: Failing to trust your employees
Superb leaders, according to Lencioni, “put their weaknesses on the table and invite people to help them minimize those weaknesses.” A good leader has to be willing to “tolerate some pain.”
If you lack the courage to take the blame personally when your company is not doing well, The Five Temptations may give you some needed direction. Published by Jossey-Bass, it is available in most bookstores, or you can visit Jossey-Bass Publishers at www.josseybass.com.
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