Why CEO's Fail: The 11 Behaviors That Can Derail Your Climb to the Top and How to Manage Them - Hardcover

Dotlich, David L.; Cairo, Peter C.; Dotlich, PhD, David L.; Cairo, PhD, Peter C.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0787967637 ISBN 13: 9780787967635

Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 2003

Synopsis

If any of the following behaviors sound like you or someone you work with, beware! In Why CEOs Fail, David L. Dotlich and Peter C. Cairo describe the most common characteristics of derailed top executives and how you can avoid them:

• Arrogance―you think that you're right, and everyone else is wrong.
• Melodrama―you need to be the center of attention.
• Volatility―you're subject to mood swings.
• Excessive Caution―you're afraid to make decisions.
• Habitual Distrust―you focus on the negatives.
• Aloofness ―you're disengaged and disconnected.
• Mischievousness―you believe that rules are made to be broken.
• Eccentricity―you try to be different just for the sake of it.
• Passive Resistance―what you say is not what you really believe.
• Perfectionism―you get the little things right and the big things wrong.
• Eagerness to Please―you try to win the popularity contest.

About this title

About the Author

THE AUTHORS

David L. Dotlich, former Executive Vice President of Honeywell International and Groupe Bull, is a partner of CDR International (www.cdr-intl.com) and coauthor of Action Learning (Jossey-Bass, l998), Action Coaching (Jossey-Bass, l999), and the breakthrough best-selling book Unnatural Leadership: Going Against Intuition and Experience to Develop Ten New Leadership Instincts (Jossey-Bass, 2002). He is a business adviser, educator, and coach to top executives in many global corporations.

Peter C. Cairo is a partner of CDR International and member of the faculty of Columbia University Business School Executive Education. He has worked with many companies in the areas of leadership development, executive coaching, and organizational effectiveness. He is coauthor with David Dotlich of Action Coaching and Unnatural Leadership, both from Jossey-Bass.

From the Back Cover

AVOID THE BEHAVIORS THAT CAUSE A LEADER’S DOWNFALL

If any of the following behaviors sound like you or someone you work with, beware! In Why CEOs Fail, David L. Dotlich and Peter C. Cairo describe the most common characteristics of derailed top executives and how you can avoid them:

• Arrogance – you think that you’re right, and everyone else is wrong.
• Melodrama – you need to be the center of attention.
• Volatility – you’re subject to mood swings.
• Excessive Caution – you’re afraid to make decisions.
• Habitual Distrust – you focus on the negatives.
• Aloofness – you’re disengaged and disconnected.
• Mischievousness – you believe that rules are made to be broken.
• Eccentricity – you try to be different just for the sake of it.
• Passive Resistance – what you say is not what you really believe.
• Perfectionism – you get the little things right and the big things wrong.
• Eagerness to Please – you try to win the popularity contest.

From the Inside Flap

WHY CEOS FAIL

IT IS RISKY TO BE CEO OF A CORPORATION TODAY. The average tenure of CEOs in major companies is growing increasingly short. The news media is filled with stories of “fallen idols.” CEOs have gone from the lists of “most admired” to those of “least trusted.” What happens when such clearly talented leaders also make poor decisions, alienate key people, miss opportunities, and ignore obvious trends and developments? What lessons can everyday leaders who aspire to be effective and move up within an organization learn from the failures of those at the top?

Written by David L. Dotlich and Peter C. Cairo, two of the country’s top executive coaches, educators, and authors, Why CEOs Fail shows that even the best leaders can sabotage their own success by succumbing to certain flawed behaviors that are often closely tied to the factors that make for success. More important, the authors reveal how leaders at every level can become aware of their own negative behaviors and take steps to control them.

Drawing on research and real stories based on their experience in educating and coaching thousands of leaders around the world, Dotlich and Cairo describe eleven derailers that can impact judgment and lead to business and career problems, even failure. The authors show how leaders who aspire to be successful can learn to identify the “shadow side” of their personality and take steps to control their impulses and increase their effectiveness and impact. Using a variety of tools and techniques based on their experience in coaching CEOs and senior executives, the authors provide specific steps to help individuals identify their own derailers and simple, practical methods that leaders can use to manage themselves effectively.

Reviews

Businesses are often defined by the personalities at the top. Enron's Jeff Skilling and Tyco's Dennis Kozlowski rose through the ranks with their single-minded determination and abrasive styles, but also saw their careers-and companies-fail spectacularly because of those same traits. Management consultants Dotlich and Cairo diagnose the behaviors that can sink even the most talented businesspeople. Whether it's arrogance, aloofness, volatility or any of the other personality flaws they've singled out, the authors encourage CEOs to throttle back on Type A brashness and focus more on team-building that will create a loyal and honest staff. It's an original melange of business smarts and accessible psychology, and the authors' able storytelling brings their diagnoses to life. Unfortunately, after pointing out everything CEOs are doing wrong, they don't spend much time on what they should do instead; a quick wrap-up chapter on successful managing techniques is all that's offered. But as a dissection of the leadership flaws that saw so many executives crash and burn over the last couple of years, this is a book without peer.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0787967637
• ISBN 13: 9780787967635
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 200