The Five Temptations of a CEO.

Patrick Lencioni

Raincoast Books

8680 Cambie Street

Vancouver, B.C. V6P 6M9

ISBN: 0-7879-4433-5

134 pages - $31.00

Believe it or not, one of the most common causes of executive failure is the need to be popular. That's one of the lessons conveyed in author Patrick Lencioni's new book, The Five Temptations of a CEO, a new and intriguing leadership fable.

According to Lencioni, popularity is a problem because it prevents executives from holding people in their organization accountable for performance. "It is unbelievable how many intelligent, experienced senior executives put their organizations at risk by refusing to confront their staff members and peers about their behaviour or performance. And when you scratch beneath the surface, you find that they're just afraid to put their personal relationships at risk -- to be unpopular."

As common as it is, popularity is just one of the five natural but dangerous tendencies that can sink many leaders. Other temptations like the need for status, certainty, harmony and invulnerability are no less harmful.

Through all the temptations in his book, Lencioni has a clear message for leaders, "Don't overcomplicate your jobs!" He encourages leaders to stop looking for silver bullets in the latest marketing, finance and management trends, and get back to basics. Those basics are explored in The Five Temptations of a CEO.