I recently enjoyed reading The Motive, in which Lencioni stresses that mission must be a leader’s greatest motivation. He notes there are two kinds of executives – those who see the job as a personal reward and those who want to help others. Are you clear on your own motivation? Are you CEO material? 

Here are four indicators that you’re not ready to be a CEO:

  1. You don’t enjoy personally developing or managing people – Do you delegate this responsibility? Do you feel your energy drained at the thought of patiently coaching and individually investing in people? 
  2. You avoid difficult or uncomfortable conversations- No one likes to confront others, but do you lean into resolving conflict and enabling others to resolve conflict? Do you embrace developing and maintaining relationships with a broad spectrum of personalities?
  3. You avoid any meeting you can get out of – Many people hate meetings, but do you see the value in quality meetings that drive important decisions and handle pressing issues? Do you take personal responsibility to set clear agenda and recap outcomes to keep everyone on track?
  4. You’re exhausted, constantly repeating yourself –  Leaders must let their employees know what they require, so do you patiently and supportively emphasize a message as many times and in as many ways as needed to help the organization understand what needs to happen?  

The author emphasizes a key tenet that I personally value, that of “servant leadership”. To approach leadership effectively, executives must understand that their job is all about serving others. Do you agree?