The Enemies of Excellence: 7 Reasons Why We Sabotage Success

by Greg Salciccioli, Patrick Lencioni (Foreword)

A handbook that addresses the moral failures and corruption of political and corporate officials, this reference suggests that, regardless of how morally strong a leader, all face seven core risks, but by identifying and learning to recognize each risk, leaders can stop creating misery for themselves and the people who rely on them emotionally and financially and deliver the sustainable success people count on them for. Following the story of “Rob,” this story begins with the demise of a fallen hero—revisiting the choices Rob made as he first took a leadership role and began growing in stature and power. At every step in Rob’s ascent, the author demonstrates how each of the seven fatal risk factors build upon one another, creating an inevitable downward spiral. The author then offers practical ways to avoid Rob’s fate with the marshalling of diagnostic tools, questions, and quizzes as well as big-picture solutions and practical tasks that aim to reinforce leadership abilities, retain confidence, and earn and keep the trust of others.

Genres: Leadership, Business

112 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2011

Reviews

[Cyril Danthi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blindness is widespread today as disgraced leaders sit in the wreckage of their own actions, stunned at their own capacity for deviance. Leadership Excellence is a journey and in the journey there will be hurdles. Some of the failures are due to unforeseen conditions and few due to personal conditions. The world is beautiful when you are successful and the world is more meaningful when there is a purpose attached to living. Everyone is susceptible to self-sabotage—especially in the presence of success. This book is on about being a morally strong a leader, has to overcome seven core risks which one needs checked and worked on in order to excel. By identifying and learning to recognize each risk, leaders can stop creating misery for themselves and the people who rely on them emotionally and financially. The Enemies of Excellence can affect anyone—from the corner office to the conference room, and from the classroom to the living room.

Managing personal life is a struggle for every leader. We all have flaws that blind us. If left unattended and unexamined, they will eventually destroy us. One of my own tragic flaws was anger, which affected everything in my life. The book narrates the seven core enemies classified into common and disastrous for excellence. The first three Egotism, Life Mismanagement, Bad Habits are commonly found in most of the leaders. Timely feedback, due-diligence and awareness on these can be controlled through willpower. Indulgence, Broken relationships, Isolation and Self-sabotage are the lethal for excellence. All these seven core risks occurs when being successful or enjoying success is at top of the mind resulting in mismanagement. Therefore it is needed to be grounded and do a self-check to ensure that success is not captured in mind and body

[Jason Heinritz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on saving yourself from yourself. This is the book that inspired my Energizing Lunch