Anonymous
Posted February 1, 2008
This is over-written tripe in the form of a fable. The author ought not to have ventured into 'fiction'. Stick with what he knows, which is summed up in a few pages at the end of the book. This was written for readers with ADD. Hype without substance.
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Posted April 6, 2001
Every new CEO should read this book, in order to avoid becoming misfocused away from the task at hand. In essence, this book teaches how complacency can undermine leadership. My main quibble with the book is that you are given the sense that avoiding the 5 temptations is all that you have to do to get great results. From the perspective of creating outstanding success, I found BUILT TO LAST to be a much more helpful book on the key lessons of organizational success for CEOs. .... I personally also think that CEOs have to overcome the 7 most common organizational stalls -- tradition, bureaucracy, disbelief, unattractiveness, communication, procrastination, and misconception that provide the 'Leaning Tower of Complacency' that really harms organizations. You also need better management processes. .... I do hope you will enjoy this book, and use it to help you overcome your misconceptions about the necessary elements of leadership. Donald Mitchell, co-author of The Irresistible Growth Enterprise
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Posted August 22, 2000
This is a fast, easy read that provides great insight into the skills required to be a great executive.
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Posted December 8, 1999
This book is written in the style of 'the one minute CEO', with the idea that if the CEO falls to these temptations, he or she will not be CEO for long? The fable brings out many interesting insights. In fact, I thought the fable was a better learning tool than the summary at the end because the complexity of many CEO responsibilities came through during the fable. The idea that CEOs get weighed down in minutia is accurate. A large and well-respected chemical company hired a statistician about four years ago to follow the executive team around to watch how they spent their time. The result was that 85% of what they did was react to blips rather than important trends. THE FIVE TEMPTATIONS OF A CEO reminds me of the stalls that all managers face because of the inherent culture of so many of our companies. In fact, being tempted by accuracy over clarity was the problem for our chemical friends. This is the Communications Stall. Make sure people know and understand what they should be doing. Being tempted by status rather than pursuing results (Temptation 1) is related to The Disbelief Stall (How can I not succeed!). And the Bureaucratic Stall fosters the temptation of harmony rather than healthy disagreement, because it is easier to hide behind policies and practices. Eliminating stalls and ensuring good communication lead to alternatives the discussions, which are requirements for a better future. You can learn more about how to overcome these stalls by reading an excellent companion book, The 2,000 Percent Solution.
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