“The Motive: A Leadership Fable” by Patrick Lencioni

Leadership Training Programs

The Motive is Pat Lencioni’s latest leadership fable, and we at StarQuest highly recommend this book for your library. Lencioni is a best-selling author who has written a dozen books that focus on how leaders can build teams and create healthier organizations. His latest will not disappoint!

This fable is a leadership story about two companies who are led very differently under two CEOs — with each leader having a vastly different motive behind their leadership. The story gets at the importance of why leaders lead – and explores the importance of leading for the right reason. Lencioni also presents action steps for changing your approach in five key areas. And in so doing, he helps leaders avoid the pitfalls that stifle their organizations and even hurt the people they are meant to serve.

The Motive is a fairly quick read with an engaging story line. The message is powerful and should be a must-read for leaders wanting to increase their effectiveness.

 

Publisher’s Notes

Shay was still angry but shrugged nonchalantly as if to say, it’s not that big of a deal. “So, what am I wrong about?”

“You’re not going to want to hear this, but I have to tell you anyway.” Liam paused before finishing. “You might be working hard, but you’re not doing it for the company.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Shay wanted to know.

Knowing that his adversary might punch him for what he was about to say, Liam responded. “You’re doing it for yourself.”

New York Times best-selling author Patrick Lencioni has written a dozen books that focus on how leaders can build teams and lead organizations. In The Motive, he shifts his attention toward helping them understand the importance of why they’re leading in the first place.

In what may be his edgiest page-turner to date, Lencioni thrusts his readers into a day-long conversation between rival CEOs. Shay Davis is the CEO of Golden Gate Alarm, who, after just a year in his role, is beginning to worry about his job and is desperate to figure out how to turn things around. With nowhere else to turn, Shay receives some hard-to-swallow advice from the most unlikely and unwanted source―Liam Alcott, CEO of a more successful security company and his most hated opponent.

Lencioni uses unexpected plot twists and crisp dialogue to take us on a journey that culminates in a resolution that is as unexpected as it is enlightening. As he does in his other books, he then provides a straightforward summary of the lessons from the fable, combining a clear explanation of his theory with practical advice to help executives examine their true motivation for leading. In addition to provoking readers to honestly assess themselves, Lencioni presents action steps for changing their approach in five key areas. In doing so, he helps leaders avoid the pitfalls that stifle their organizations and even hurt the people they are meant to serve.