AFTERWORD:

After all the temptations, the author has conveyed the about leadership and new kinds of stuff.

Those are absolute factual and realistic. As I said these lines will drive every struggling and aspiring CEOs.

Quite frankly, I would love to write all the lines in the Afterword. But I had chosen the most prioritized one. It’s absolutely phenomenal.

Leaders fail because they are unwilling to put their temptations on the table for others to see. For it is only by bringing their temptations into open that leaders can enlist the support of coordinates who are in a unique position to help.

When I work with executive teams, I explain that if the CEOs behaviour is ninety-five per cent healthy while the rest of the organization is just fifty per cent sound. I will choose to focus on crucial and leveraged five per cent that makes up the remainder of the CEOs behaviour.

Although every leader agrees in theory with this line of thinking, few are willing to put it into practice and endure the painful self-examination required to “fix” that final five per cent. And yet, willingness to do this is exactly what separates the leader who succeeds from those who fail.

The key to success, then, is not to avoid the susceptibility to the five temptations. While that would be desirable, it is an impossibility. The key to embracing the self-examination that reveals the temptations and to keep them opened where they can be addressed.

Of course, this cannot be accomplished; it cannot be wrapped in a tidy, happy ending in which our heroic CEO realizes his temptation and suddenly becomes the most effective leader. Like so much of life, it is a messy, constant, and unavoidable process, but one that great leaders welcome.

 

With respect.

THE FINAL AND FIFTH TEMPTATION.

I gonna convey straight-forward to all the readers. I had observed.

“IT’S ALL ABOUT TRUST. IT’S ABOUT RISKING AND BUILDING INTEREST. BEFORE THEY TRUST YOU. YOU HAVE TO TRUST THEM. YOU HAVE TO BE VULNERABLE” said Charlie.

People who trust one another aren’t worried about holding back their opinions or their passions. They say what they think and know that they aren’t going to be vulnerable if they do.

I don’t know, Charlie. I think little between people is good. If you trust one and another too much, you get soft. You lose your edge. I don’t want my people feeling too comfortable.

Why heaven’s name not?

Because people slack off when they are too comfortable.

Charlie becomes a little impatient with Andrew now.

Come on, Andy. There is little difference between people being complacent and being trustworthy. You’re smarter than that.

Maybe I’m just not a trusting person.

Do you know why people don’t trust other people?

No. why?

Because they are afraid of getting burned. That’s what I’m mean by the vulnerability.

Andrew slowly nodded his head. Yeah, that’s probably right.

And you know that what’s the best cure is?

Andrew shook his head.

Opening yourself up to be burned. Sometimes it’s even an okay to get burned because you realize it’s not fatal.

Charlie nodded. Being vulnerable. Being wrong. Being unpopular. Losing your status.

And you are telling me that great CEOs like your father go around leaving themselves open to people stabbing them in back?

As crazy as it sounds, they do. My father never worried about being vulnerable to his people. He trusted them. That’s what allowed them to feel comfortable. Having a healthy, productive conflict. No one worried about getting hurt.

In the Board Meeting, during the next ten minutes, Andrew delivered a speech of his life. He talked about the results. He talked about accountability. He talked about clarity and conflict.

The author has delivered a chapter on Three years later on Trinity Systems. The company is healthier than it has been in a long time, our marketing is more assertive. Our turnover is down, and our revenue is growing again. The stock price is high enough that we can even consider a midyear split.

The final life-changing line I had noticed is something in the mid of the paragraph. “I THINK THE EXECUTIVE TEAM DESERVES A LOT OF CREDIT. THE DECISIVENESS AND DISCIPLINE OF LEADERSHIP HERE HAVE BEEN AMAZING” said by Kathryn (Just before the Board Meeting, Kathryn was introduced by Chairman. Andrew, this is Kathryn Petersen from B&L Securities. She is taking Carl’s spot on the board.

Upcoming chapters are only two, the Afterword and A Summary of Why Executives Fail and Self-Assessment.

This is the most important one. The author reminded all the temptations with certain questions and Simple advice for CEO.

 

With respect.

 

THE FOURTH TEMPTATION.

In the same train, Charlie has also surrounded by, tall man, bald man, and stylish man.

The desire for harmony said by a tall man.

Without knowing why Andrew suddenly comfortable with these men. “I don’t understand. What does harmony have to do with clarity and good decisions?”

The bald man spoke for the first time. “From the perspective of a person who doesn’t have the problem with temptation number four”– others laughed- let me explain.

All attention shifted towards the Bald man.

“Answer a question for me, Andy. What is the opposite of harmony?

Andrew thought for a moment. I don’t know; discord?

Discord. Disagreement. Conflict. Any of those will do. The point is, “it’s natural for human beings to want harmony. But harmony is like cancer to good decision making.

You see, the only way to come to a good decision quickly is to suck all the honest opinions out of people effectively.

There are two ways to do it.

“One, you can put nice processes in place to massage opinions out of people-focus groups, brainstorming sessions, democratic voting.”

“Two, you can do it in a messy way”.

Messy mean using conflict. But not bad conflict. We are talking about productive ideological conflict. From the outside, they look the same, but they are very different.

“For instance, I don’t have a problem holding people accountable for things, as long as we all agree with what those things are. But sometimes I have a hard time deciding what to hold them accountable for because we make decisions that don’t feel right.”

Andrew turned Charlie, “You said your father almost made good decisions.”

That’s right. Because he almost never made decisions without having the full benefit of everyone’s ideas.

The final and last temptation is……

 

With respect.

 

TEMPTATION NUMBER THREE:

It is the temptations to ensure that your decisions are correct.

Andrew looked confused, so Charlie clarified.

“It’s the temptation to choose certainty over clarity. Some executives fear to be wrong so much that they wait until they’re absolutely certain about something before they make a decision. That makes it impossible to hold people accountable.

“I’m not sure I’m following you.”

It’s simple. You can’t hold people accountable for things that aren’t clear. If you’re unwilling to make decisions with limited information. You can’t achieve clarity.

“Okay. I get it. But what kind of things you are talking about?”

“Simple things. Important things. Like why the company is in business. It’s goals. The roles and responsibility of people in organizations to meet those goals. The consequence of success and failure. All that stuff.”

Andrew nodded. “Vision, mission values, goals, business school stuff. Don’t take this wrong Charlie, but none of this is new.

“So then, what is your mission of the future for Trinity?”

Andrew frowned and scratched his shoulder like a kid trying to avoid a scolding.

Charlie was surprised. “Don’t you know?”

“Yeah, it’s just we are having a hard time settling on the right way to explain it. In fact, we will probably discuss it again tomorrow at the board meeting.”

“How long you have been working on this?”

Andrew squirmed a little, a month? Two?”

Andrew finally admitted for eight months.

Charlie was genuinely surprised. Eight months?! What in god’s name is taking so long?”

Well, it’s just the market is changing and we’re trying to try to figure out whether our current business is going to be able to sustain.

Charlie interrupted. “I’m sorry, Andy, but this is ridiculous. And please excuse me for saying this, because I haven’t known you very long, but not having a vision is no one’s fault but your own.

Charlie leans forward. “Stay with me here, Andy. I’m going to ask you some tough questions.

“Okay. What is preventing you from coming to some conclusions on something as big and important as your company’s vision?

“I wish I knew/”

“You do know, Andy. It’s just that you have to admit to yourself. Face your fears. You must have some idea about what the future of your company looks like.”

“Sure I do.”

“So why haven’t you put it on paper, announced it to be the company, and used it to guide the decisions you make?”

After a long pause. Andrew slowly quietly responded. “Because I’m not sure it’s right yet.

Charlie asked, were you ever in the military?

He shook his head.

Well, in the military, they teach you that any decision is better than no decision.

Andrew struggled for relief, I’ll tell you what, Charlie. I think the whole vision; mission thing is overrated.

“I agree. I think I think that having a great vision and mission is only important if you know how to execute a company over a visionary one day.”

For the first time, Charlie became emotional. There aren’t supposed to be easy answers. Andy. That’s why you get paid so much. But you have to come up with the answers. Otherwise, there is no accountability. And without accountability, the results are a matter of luck.

“Then where is your vision, Andy? Where are your goals?

Make darn call on something. What are you waiting for?”

Andrew calmly spoke, what’s my problem here Charlie?

Let me tell you something. From what I can tell, many CEOs have the same problems. They finally get the job they’ve always wanted, and they become afraid to lose their status. Or they don’t want to hold people accountable because they are afraid to be unpopular, they don’t hold people accountable because they are haven’t bothered to be clear about what they expect from people because-

Andrew finished the rest of the lesson. “Because they are afraid to be wrong.”

“Exactly.” Charlie let Andrew digest this message: Then: My father used to say that there three words which were the most powerful thing a CEO could say. Do you know what are those?

Andrew shook his head.

“I WAS WRONG.”

Andrew was now ready to help. So must have made a lot of bad decisions.

“Sure he did. And he owned those decisions. But he never felt guilty about them because he knew that he can’t move forward in the face of uncertainty if you aren’t willing to make mistakes. And gradually he made fewer and fewer mistakes. In fact, people said he developed an amazing ability to make a good decision without enough information. They thought he was really smart.

“So how did he learn to make such a great decision.”

“Well, he avoided temptations number four.”

 

With respect.

 

THE SECOND TEMPTATION:

“Okay let’s assume that you are not overly focused on your career, but that you are completely driven by the results of your company. You can still fail if you give in to temptation number two.

Which is?

“Wanting to be popular with your direct reports instead of holding them accountable”.

Andrew is waiting to see if Charlie has anything else to say. When he didn’t, Andrew remarked, “That’s it?

What do you mean, That’s it?

I mean, accountability is the most overused buzzword in business today. Every time something goes wrong, people say that there should be more accountability.

Andrew interrupted, “You know something, Charlie? As horrible as it sounds, I know plenty of CEOs who do the same thing. It’s not as cut and dry as you make it sound. There are kinds of several dynamics and context to deal with.

Calmly, Charlie responded. “Yes, it’s very common. But that’s because they don’t understand the difference between holding someone accountable and deciding to fire them.

Andrew shrugged as though as he were giving up, so Charlie tries a new approach.

Charlie shifted in his chair and leaned forward. “So, let me get this straight. It’s not fair to hold a guy accountable for something specific because you aren’t an expert in his field. But it’s fair to fire him without warning when he doesn’t meet your expectations?

Do I have that right?

Andrew didn’t know what to say. “it isn’t that simple.”

It is that simple. That’s the point. It’s not supposed to be complicated. You make it complicated because you’re not facing your own issues.”

At this point, Andrew felt challenged by the old man. “Okay, Charlie. Why do you think an intelligent person with an MBA would want to be popular rather than holding someone accountable for their job?”

“Ah, that brings us to temptations number three.”

 

With respect.

 

THE FIRST TEMPTATION:

Charlie started with, tell me this Andy, what was the best day of your career?

“Try not to make it complicated. Just tell me what your best day was.”

I’d have to say the day I was promoted as a CEO. One year ago, tomorrow.

Charlie seemed disappointed by the answer. Not judgmental. Just disappointed. “Why?”

Again Charlie, “Okay then what about the second-best day?”

Andrew took a deep breath and described his first promotion to vice president, and about how it was the first time his salary “cracked six figures.”

Charlie was slowly nodding his head as though he had figured something out. “Okay, Andy. I don’t want to be too critical, but-”

With less humour now, Andrew asked: “Okay, what makes you think I’ve into temptation number one?

What temptation number one, anyway?”

“Well, I can’t be certain, but it seems to me that you may be more interested in protecting the career status that you are in making sure your company achieve results.”

“Let’s use an example.” “Think about a politician, maybe even the president of the United States. Imagine that I was asked him the same question I just asked you. ‘Mr. President, what was the biggest day of your career?’ What would a great president say?”

Or think about ahead of a nonprofit agency. Or even the coach of the professional basketball team.”

“Well, imagine the president of the United States saying that the greatest day of his career was election day. Or inauguration day.”

“Or imagine the head of the nonprofit agency saying that her proudest moment was when she received a grant from the government.”

“Or imagine the basketball coach team his greatest day was signing a big contract for him.

Andrew frowned. “To tell you the truth, those sound like pretty realistic answers to me.”

They are extremely realistic that’s the problem.”

“You know what my father said when I asked him about the best day of his career?”

Andrew shook his head.

“He said it was the toss-up between the day the railroad opened its first passenger line west of Mississippi and the day the company first turned a profit.”

“You see, a great president of the United States wouldn’t be as proud of being elected as he would of actually accomplishing something. And 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 coach is all about.”

“So, Charlie you are saying that people shouldn’t be proud to reach personal milestones in their careers?”

Charlie smiled. “Of course, they can proud of milestones. But not as proud as they are of actually doing something with their status.

In fact, great CEOs should be almost overwhelmed by the need to achieve something. That is driven them. Achievement. Not ego.

Andrew asked, why couldn’t a person be so motivated by his ego that he could drive for results?

Lots of CEOs have a big ego.

Charlie seemed stumped. That’s true, I suppose a CEO could be driven by ego.”

“But it wouldn’t last for long.”

“Why not”

“Because once a person’s ego is initially satisfied, they turn their efforts toward enjoying the fruits of their status. They work fewer hours. They worry less about the company’s performance than they do about their own level of comfort and status.”

When the company shows the sign of failures and CEOs status is in jeopardy, then he might work hard again, but not because he is concerned about the company. He is really concerned about his image.

And even if you are able to resist the first temptation, there are still four more that can sink you.”

 

With respect.

 

THE FIVE TEMPTATIONS OF A CEO:

                     -By PATRICK LENCIONI.

It was a leadership fable. Mr Patrick, the author is of best-selling books. THE FIVE DYSFUNCTIONS OF A TEAM and THE FOUR OBSESSIONS OF AN EXTRAORDINARY EXECUTIVE. In addition to his work as an author, Mr Pat consults and speaks to thousands of people each year on topics relating to leadership, teamwork, management, and organization development. Mr Pat currently serves on the National Board of Directors for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America.

Mr Pat is also the president of the Table Group, a San Francisco Bay Area management consulting firm that specializes in executive team development and organizational health. The Table Group offers the following professional services:

1. Executive Team Workshops.
2. Consulting Services.
3. On-Line Assessments.
4. Speaking Services.

Mr Pat lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, Laura, and their three sons, Matthew, Connor, and Casey.

Such a great book for aspiring CEOs and struggling CEOs. I would love to share with you all. I’m lucky and deserved to be a CEO.

We are the CEO of our own life. Adding to one more point, we would love to grab the position. Whether you are a startup CEO or you got the position from any organization as a CEO.

Here the author has rightly pointed out the temptations. There are enough rules and strategies to become CEO. Also, these temptations give a wider approach to all the CEOs.

These are neither simple nor complicated. But if you analyze, if you approach keenly to every temptation. You could able to know.

What does it take to be a CEO?

CEO is not a bureaucrat. He/she is the leader and took his/her organization into the right path. That right path leads to successive journey and leaves a rich legacy.

THE FIRST TEMPTATION:

Before going into the first one, the author has conveyed a story with the temptations.

I would like to deliver the facts wrote by the author. Then, you the reader can understand. Easily.

Andrew O’Brien is the CEO of Trinity Systems for the past five years. Well, tomorrow would be the one-year anniversary of Andrew promotion. It was his first board meeting. For an entire fiscal year, the results show “unspectacular”.

Finally, things getting worse.

As Andrew get into the train, he saw an elderly man wearing some sort of uniform. He appeared to be as a janitor of some kind the name “Charlie” was patched into the pocket of his grey shirt.

Suddenly Andrew felt uncomfortable.

Should I talk to this man? He thought. Certainly, he’ll expect me to acknowledge him; there is no else on the train. But what do I say?

In the next moment, Andrew looked at the seat next to him as though he were searching for the advice.

The old man said matter of fact, “The heat in this car is the best on the train. On cool nights like this, I prefer coming here to talk.”

To talk about what? Andrew asked, realizing immediately what a ridiculous question it was. “To talk to whom?” would have made more sense.

But the old man answered without a pause. “Whatever you want to talk about.”

Again asked, “So then, you work on the train?”

“Sometimes I do. If that’s where I’m needed.” The old man said without a hint of pretention. What do you do for a living?

Andrew seemed at a loss. “Well, I guess I’m in technology.”

What kind of technology?” Charlie asked again.

Calculators to commercial computer systems. I work for a company called Trinity Systems. Andrew replied.

“Oh yes, I’ve heard of that.” Charlie. So you are a technical guy, then?

Andrew paused, he suddenly felt the need to tell the old man who he was. “Actually, I’m the CEO. My name is Andrew.

“Well, I’m Charlie nice to meet you.

As they shook hands, Andrew noticed that the old man hadn’t flinched at the mention of his title. Does he even know the C-E-O stands for? Andrew wondered.

The old man said, “It looks like we might be here for a while. Why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you?”

But Andrew couldn’t believe the word came out of his mouth.

Am I really going to tell this old man, this janitor, my problems?

Am I desperate?

Apparently so, because here I go.

After clearing his throat, “I don’t know how much you know about a business, but being a CEO is pretty complicated.”

It is? Charlie surprised. “Tell me about it.”

Andrew starts with I don’t wanna be rude to you. But I’m not sure it would be interesting for you.

Charlie frowned.

Charlie started with I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging. But when I was a boy, my father ran a company, and I learned a thing or two from him.

My father said that it wasn’t complicated-running a company, I mean. He used to say that ‘people make it complicated because they are afraid to look at simple issues.’

But I can say being a CEO is conceptually simple.

He paused for effect.

“Unless, of course, you’re failing.”

“I mean that if you were failing-and it sounds like you don’t think you are, but if you were-then you would have to be given in it to one of the five temptations that all CEO’s face.

“Could you just quickly tell me what the five temptations are?”

Charlie paused, “Sit back for a few minutes. I’ve got some questions to ask you.”

Andrew took a deep breath, looked at his watch, and then leaned on back.

The First Temptation starts.

With respect.