Canter Bridge

Following his success with The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive and the The Five Temptations of a CEO, management consultant Pat Lencioni turns his observant eye to the team and its dynamic interrelationship. The results are outstanding.

This is the first of three Lencioni books I’ve read that qualifies as a page-turner. The reader follows the first days, weeks, and months of CEO Kathryn’s leadership of a troubled firm in an industry where she has no experience. This latter detail adds weight to Lencioni’s assumption that good leadership and good teamwork can be described somewhat generically, for the principles involved are common to very different endeavors.

I lead a non-profit organization-some would say as far from Silicon Valley’s entrepeneurial frenzy as a guy can get without crossing an ocean-yet I find Lencioni’s input profoundly helpful to my task and that of the organization entrusted to me.

As in prior Lencioni reads, I come away from these 230 pages believing that wisdom and courage are the two essential qualities of a CEO and team leader. That is, there is a profoundly moral rather than technical core to Lencioni’s understanding of how good leaders lead and how good companies escape mediocrity and distinguish themselves as the kind of place excellent individuals want to work.

Don’t let this title mislead you. It’s as much about how strong leadership transforms dysfunctional teams as it is about the teams themselves. Five Dysfunctions goes out to every member of my leadership team as a must-read pick for their professional and personal growth. And mine.