The five temptations of a CEO

The book explores the pitfalls and challenges that leaders, particularly CEOs, face through a narrative centered around Andrew O’Brien, the CEO of a fictional company.

Andrew meets Charlie, a wise former CEO, who introduces him to five temptations: prioritizing personal status over organizational results, valuing popularity over accountability, choosing certainty over clarity in decision-making, preferring harmony over productive conflict, and avoiding vulnerability to maintain an aura of invulnerability.

Lencioni emphasizes the importance of humility, accountability, decisiveness, healthy conflict, and trust in leadership.