The Five Temptations of a CEO

In Romans 12:3 the Apostle Paul writes “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”

In Patrick Lencioni’s The 5 Temptations of a CEO I find Paul’s words shining truth into my life.  The book comes to me on a day where “sober judgement” was handed to me by a mentor in a not so gentle way.  As I think about the next stage of my career it’s no secret that I desire to be a CEO.  I want to be the head coach – the guy who is responsible for leading the team to battle and to victory.

As I read through the temptations and think about recent events in my life it’s clear that I need to take the next step in leadership development by employing the solutions to the temptations.

Temptation 1:  Putting my status and ego before the company’s achievements.

Charlie, the wise janitor, asked Andrew, the CEO of a major tech company, a simple question:  “What is the greatest day in your career?”  Andrew responds by saying “The day I became CEO.”  Charlie knows a lot about Andrew’s heart from this response.  He knows that Andrew’s entire working life has building towards the moment he became CEO.  He also know that is the zenith of Andrew’s career.  For Andrew this is fantastic, but for the company it’s downhill from here.

While I’ve not experienced this yet in my short career, I take solace in the fact that I’m a growth orientated person and not a goal orientated person.  Dr. John C. Maxwell talks often of the fact that goal orientated people peak and then are unsure what to do with themselves, whereas, growth orientated people simply keep on growing as they cross milestones (goals) off their list.  The list never ends though because the pursuit is the reward, not the destination.

Temptation 2: The desire to be popular with direct reports rather than holding them accountable

Charlie asks Andrew about a man he fired recently, Terry.  Andrew tells of Terry’s underperformance, unpreparedness and the shear sense that Terry is in over his head.  Charlie drives his point home through a series of questions about why Andrew chose to spring the firing on Terry.  Andrew slinks into his chair recognizing that he is the reason Terry failed.  Terry failed because he did not have a clear vision from Andrew on what he was shooting at and why.  Terry could’ve never performed up to the standards of “savior of the company” which is what Andrew silently held him out as.

The need to be liked at all times is something we can laugh at in Michael Scott, but it’s sad to see in real life.  This is a deep character flaw rooted in a misunderstanding of who you really are.  In my case I find it easy to hold other men accountable in church world, but I find it challenging to do in the business world.  I’m not sure if it’s because ego’s are involved, or because there is money on the line, but the desire to “play nice” is a plague I’m working on ridding my heart of.  It’s not about me and my needs, it’s about the company and it’s objectives.  Not being able to hold direct reports accountable hurts me, it hurts the individuals, and it hurts the company.  Accountability is the currency by which we achieve milestones as a team.  You make deposits by exercising it, not withholding it.

Temptation 3:  The need to know my decisions are correct before I share them

Charlie talked about this almost like group-think.  A leader surrounds himself with men who affirm him and reinforce the idea that he is great.  They don’t pursue meaningful dialogue leading to the best solution, they simply gather info, and gather info, and gather info, and then when the decision has passed them by, they make the decision.

One of the interesting things Charlie said about his father is the fact that he learned three simple words that he was almost proud to say “I was wrong.”  He was proud in the sense that it pushed the team to be better, it made the other player stronger, and it fostered an environment of trust because someone had to step out and dissent from the groups opinion, and they were right.  In the moment Charlie’s father had been proven wrong, but the business was benefiting from that fact.

Dr. Maxwell often talks about having 60% of the information about a given decision being enough to move forward in today’s fast paced world.  I think about the months I have spent agonizing over a decision I know to be right only being afraid to step out and dissent from the team.  Not doing this has the opposite affect.  It breeds distrust, makes other question my motives, and ultimately is a character probably stemming back from the need to be liked by everyone.

My mentor today was very clear.  You have some tough decisions to make, then make them and move on.

Temptation 4:  The desire for harmony

The two men were interrupted by three others at this point.  The new men had spent a lot of time with Charlie learning his leadership temptations and were aware of them.  They were not perfect in their execution, but the awareness lead to greater leading.

Unity is something we often talk about in our management team.  The more I have thought about it tonight, the more I’m realizing that it has become a cover for sweeping major issues under the rug.  Unity is not unified thinking, unity is the agreement that at the end of the day I’m not going to let a minor become a major.  The problem with that is that majors are still majors and sometimes unity needs to be decreed, not just sought.

I have found myself personally guilty of this over the last few months.  Hard truths needed to be shared with members of my team and I too often was a coward to outright say them.  I thought about what to say, I journaled about what to say, but I never outright said them.  More recently I have found the strength to say what has needed to be said, but this needs to be done far more frequently if I’m going to be able to avoid this CEO temptation.

Temptation 5:  Invulnerability, not trusting the other members of my team

Charlie and Andrew left the train by this point and are waiting at a bus stop.  Charlie asks Andrew if his career is in the hands of his direct reports.  And then he asks if their career is in his hands.  Andrew did not make the connection at first; however, he understood that a focused team is far more productive that a bunch of individual superstars.  He also understood that he must lead that team and that he must go first.

This is something I do well at.  I find there is more strength in transparency than their is in holding my cards close to the vest.  It may be because I’m a bad poker player, or because I’m a simpleton, but I find this approach to be less exhausting because people tend to reciprocate.  From time to time I run across people who do not and I do find them very difficult to deal with, but as long as expectations are clear, then the transparency remains a strength.  When I get psycho-analytical on people, their issues, and their motives, that’s typically where I will be tripped up.  Going first and putting my desired outcome in the hands of other people while I lead them towards their desired outcome is something comes very naturally.  We agree on the shared outcome and then can run like hell after it!

Conclusions:

This book hit me at the right moment.  As I prepare for the day when I wear the polo that says Head Coach, I know that I’m not preparing for the day, rather I’m preparing for the growth the team, organization, and individuals are going to experience because I’ve moved into the leading position.  That’s not to say leading isn’t happening today.  God has been very gracious in opening my eyes tonight to the deficiencies of my leadership and is allowing me the opportunity to make course corrections today before my name is called for that head coaching job.