Why CEOs Fail: The 11 Behaviors That Can Derail Your ...

Amazon.com Review:
Take a walk on the dark side of leadership with executive coaches David Dotlich and Peter Cairo. Why CEOs Failsucceeds in tracking the downfall of careers and companies by defining eleven "derailers"--the deeply ingrained personality traits that shape leadership behavior. Among them: melodrama, aloofness, volatility, perfectionism, eccentricity and eagerness to please. The authors alternate high profile cases (the arrogance of Enron CEO Jeff Skilling, the melodrama of Vivendi Universals’ Jean-Marie Messier, Rick Thoman’s aloofness at Xerox) with compelling case examples from their coaching practice. Each chapter is a gem, illuminating one derailer in concrete and nuanced terms with red warning flags and strategies for damage control. One exceptional chapter explores "mischievousness" in rule breaking leaders including Bill Clinton and Mattel’s Barbie Maven, Jill Barad. Derailing behaviors can’t be eliminated, the authors warn, because they are the shadow of our strengths. Consider, for example, how charisma can cross the line to melodrama or how decisiveness becomes arrogance. CEOs and leaders-in-waiting must map the stress that triggers derailers and engage in unflinching self-reflection by asking, "What would my worst critics say about my behavior?" Because they counsel leaders to ask these tough and essential questions, Dotlich and Cairo suggest that we approach our leadership failures as research. It’s a brilliant idea. --Barbara Mackoff

Solid advice, but a bit shallow:
Why CEOs Fail identifies 11 traits that all have one thing in commen. These traits, in moderation, can help managers be successful. But, taken to an extreme, can destroy a career. The authors provide examples of people suffering from each derailer and then provide diagnostic tools to help you identify whether you suffer from the derailer and advice to help you manage the derailers that you do have. The descriptions and the advice are excellent, but the treatment is a little shallow. So, if your derailer manifests itself in some way other than the 'classic' pattern you may not recognize it from the information in the text. And, if you decide you have a derailer, you may need to look elsewhere for more detailed advice about how to work through it. Overall though, the book was a fun, thought-provoking read. It caused me to think a bit about my weaknesses as a manager and I had a chance to see what derailers I could recognize in others!

Highly Recommended!:
If you wonder why all those superstar CEOs suddenly veered off course, executive coaches David L. Dotlich and Peter C. Cairo offer an engaging work of psychoanalysis to answer your question. Leadership failures can result from 11 character traits, either deep-seated personality faults or qualities that once were beneficial but became problematic. The authors offer recognizable case studies and specific advice to bolster their case that these flaws derail leaders. The culprit characteristics can seem a bit general, an inevitable concern in a book seeking simple explanations for human folly. We recommend this easy-to-digest volume to leaders and those who endure them. This is just the ticket for bosses who want to address their possible personality pitfalls before they commit career suicide.

Solid ideas and good food for thought:
As experienced CEO coaches, Dotlich and Cairo have distilled their experience into an interesting premise: Business leaders fail primarily from internal factors, not external ones. Using a combination of high profile cases and examples from their own practice, they front the theory that 11 personality traits (referred to as "derailers") are primarily responsible for the demise of promising or previously successful leaders. Virtually all of these traits have a positive aspect, and often are initially responsible for a leader's upward progression. It is when they are overplayed that they tend to extend into weakness - with potentially drastic effect. The primary culprits seem to be reaction to stressful situations, loss of situational awareness, or an unwillingness to participate in meaningful self-appraisal. Chapter format is consistent, with one derailer covered in each and a final chapter on why CEOs succeed. Interspersed with the case studies are questions and example behaviors to determine "Have you crossed the line?" signs and symptoms, and recommended courses of action. I found the book to be a sound primer, but written at a superficial level. The case studies are thin and there is a constant undertone that suggests the reader will benefit from personal coaching. Still, for anyone in a leadership capacity with an interest in examining his or her behavioral tendencies, it can be a powerful first step in the process. The book is a fast first read and contains enough meat to hold attention on a more detailed second pass.

Not just for CEOs!!:
We used this in a leadership training course sponsored by my company -- we started with a "derailer survey" where we answered questions and the consultant/coaches provided us with degrees of risk that we could exhibit any of these derailers. When reading the book, it was powerful to know what my actual derailers are and be able to get strategies for how to manage them. I also found that those of us in the class became more aware of what the others' derailers are and how it is great to pair someone with one set of derailers with someone with complimentary derailers to best manage them at the organizational level. Fundamentally, derailers are generally wonderful traits until they "go bad" (example: self confidence is great and can take you far, but if it goes beyond into arrogance it becomes a derailer). I highly recommend this to anyone in management -- the better you know and understand yourself, the more effective you can be. I KNEW what my derailers were, I just was not managing them. Now I get why they are such a problem and am finding it easier to temper them.

Not just CEO's:
This book details negative traits exhibited by top tier CEO's, traits that undermined them and often lead to their downfall. But these traits also exist in ordinary citizens charged with any type of responsibility. From housewives, parents, sales personnel, managers, teachers, literally, anyone in a position of authority can exhibit these behaviors. Abstracting the fundamental ideas and applying them to ourselves and others can easily increase our awareness and broaden our understanding of of a very specific type of human behavior: the use and abuse of power.