The Five Temptations of a Rescue

Mission Director

AGRM Convention 2004

Fresno, Califorina
Chasz. Parker
This workshop is derived from
The Five Temptations of A
CEO
by
Patrick Lencioni

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Purpose of Presentation
{ To make Rescue Mission leaders aware of
the temptations that will derail their
Missions, professional careers and wreck
their personal lives and thus avoid them.
{ This presentation will examine those
temptations from a biblical and
organizational framework using The Five
Temptations of a CEO by Patrick
Lencioni for the outline.

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Take Aways
{ Identify the temptations associated
with leadership
{ Offer strategies to overcome these
temptations
{ Give insights into why we are
tempted
{ Offer resources to further overcome
temptations tied to power and
leadership

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Model of Temptation

{ Temptation is personal
{ Personal moral failure then becomes
a contagion and can have
devastating ripple effects
z Enron
{ Started in individuals
{ Spread to company

{ Destroyed not only Enron, but Arthur

Andersen
z Human Sin
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Leaders are Going to be tempted

{ Business News and Literature

z Historical—the robber barons
z Recent
{ Wall Street—Den of Thieves
z Current
{ Enron
{ Worldcom

{ Tyco

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Leaders are Going to Be Tempted

{ Christian Scandals
z National
{ Jim Bakker
{ Jimmy Swaggart

{ Arizona Baptist Foundation

z Personal
{ Pastors
{ RM Directors

{ Staff

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Leadership Exercise

{ I have incredibly good news for

you…

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Leaders are Going to Be Tempted

{ Biblical Case
z The Fall of Humanity is about failure to
handle temptation.
z Old Testament is filled with examples
of leaders who did not respond properly
{ Personal Moral Failure
{ Organizational Failure

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Bible’s List of Temptations

{ Jesus in the wilderness

z Physical desires (bread)
z Riches (all the kingdoms of the world
z Power (toss yourself off the precipice)
{ Old and New Testament
z Money, Sex, and Power

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Leaders are Going to Be Tempted

{ Jesus as our Model of Leadership

z He was tempted
{ He started His Ministry by taking
temptation head on
z Remember the name of our enemy is “The
Tempter”
{ Matthew 4:3

{ I Thess 3:5

{ He taught His disciples to pray against

temptation
z Matthew 6:13
z Luke 11:4
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Leaders are Going to Be Tempted

{ Jesus as our Model of Leadership

z He taught His disciples to pray when
tempted
{ Mt 26:41 “Watch and pray so that you will
not fall into temptation. The spirit is
willing, but the body is weak.”
{ Lk 22:40 On reaching the place, he said
to them, “Pray that you will not fall into
temptation.”
{ Lk 22:46 “Why are you sleeping?” he
asked them. “Get up and pray so that you
will not fall into temptation.”
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Leadership Failure Model
Psychology Today, A High Price to Pay
{ CEO/Leadership job is stressful
{ CEOs face crippling isolation
{ Success itself is a letdown
{ Hard-Charging Success typically comes at
the cost of intimate relationships
{ Those at the top have the power, the
resources, and the temptation to mask
their problems
{ Seeking help is hard for CEOs and their
counselors.

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The Five Temptations of A CEO
Story:
CEO named Andrew is facing a critical board
meeting it's his 1 year anniversary & is
forced to take a train home where he
meets Charlie, who Andrew perceives to
be some type of maintenance man or one
of the cleaning crew. The train appears
to be developing problems & Charlie
invites Andrew to sit near him & that's
where there discussion begins regarding
the 5 Temptations

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TEMPTATION 1

Choosing Status
over
Results

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TEMPTATION 1
Choosing status over results

{ Charlie’s first question:

z What was the best day of your career?
{ Charlie’s points
z Seeking the position is often more exciting than
the position itself
z Once in leadership what do I get, I am a leader
and deserve some perks

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TEMPTATION 1
Choosing status over results

{ Do you personally consider it a professional

failure when the Mission fails to meet its
objectives?
{ Do you often wonder, What’s next? What
will I do to top this in my career?
{ Would it bother you greatly if your Mission
exceeded its objectives but you remained
somewhat anonymous relative to the AGRM?

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TEMPTATION 1
Choosing status over results

{ Gordon MacDonald, “Executive benefits and

percs without executive pay”
z We get to know celebrities
z We get special opportunities
z We can even get invited to the “A” list socially
{ Good To Great, Jim Collins
z When the leader became celebrity the stock price
falls.

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OVERCOMING TEMPTATION 1
Choosing status over results

{ Focusing on results will ultimately achieve

greater status and ego satisfaction.
{ Advice for Rescue Mission leaders: Make
results the most important measure of
personal success or step down from the job.
Christ’s work is too important to be held back
by your ego for status.

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TEMPTATION 2

Choosing Popularity
over
Accountability

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TEMPTATION 2
Choosing popularity over accountability

{ Do you consider yourself to be a close friend of your

direct reports?
{ Does it bother you to the point of distraction if they
are unhappy with you?
{ Do you often find yourself reluctant to give negative
feedback to your direct reports? Do you water down
negative feedback to make it more palatable?
{ Do you often vent to them about issues in the
organization? For example, do you refer your staff
as “we” and other employees as “they”?

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 OVERCOMING TEMPTATION 2
Choosing popularity over accountability

{ Work on the long term respect of your direct

reports.
{ Not a support group, but key individuals that must
deliver on their commitments
{ You will not be liked if you fail.
{ Find other places for your affirmation—family,
friends, outside activities
{ Realize people are not always going to like you
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TEMPTATION 3

Choosing Certainty
Over
Clarity

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TEMPTATION 3
Choosing certainty over clarity

{ Do you pride yourself on being intellectually

precise?
{ Do you prefer to wait for more information
rather than make a decision without all of the
facts?
{ Do you enjoy debating details with your
direct reports during meetings?

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OVERCOMING TEMPTATION 3
Choosing certainty over clarity

{ Make clarity more important than accuracy

{ Take decisive action when called for
{ If the decisions are wrong, when more
information becomes available, admit the
mistake and work on correcting it.
{ Be careful of decisions for activities sake.

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TEMPTATION 4

Choosing Harmony
over
Productive Conflict

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TEMPTATION 4
Choosing harmony over productive conflict

{ Do you prefer your meetings to be pleasant

and enjoyable?
{ Are your meeting often boring?
{ Do you get uncomfortable at meetings if your
direct reports argue?
{ Do you often make peace or try to reconcile
direct reports who are at odds with one
another?

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OVERCOMING TEMPTATION 4
Choosing harmony over productive conflict

{ Allow and cultivate HEALTHY conflict from

your staff and even your board.
{ Guard against personal attacks but do not
mistake heated discussion for it.
z Okay to see some passion over an issue.
z Don’t let emotion rule.
{ Know what drives you!

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TEMPTATION 5

Choosing Invulnerability
over
Trust

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TEMPTATION 5
Choosing invulnerability over trust

{ Do you have a hard time admitting when

you’re wrong?
{ Do you fear that your direct reports want your
job?
{ Do you try to keep your greatest weaknesses
secret from your direct reports?

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OVERCOMING TEMPTATION 5
Choosing invulnerability over trust

{ Actively encourage your staff to challenge

your ideas.
{ Trust your staff with your reputation.
{ If they see you model vulnerability and
openness, they will give the same in return.
z Open to feedback and input (safe ways to get it)

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Overcoming the Five Temptations

Choose trust over invulnerability

Choose conflict over harmony

Choose clarity over certainty

Choose accountability over popularity

Choose results over status

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Overcoming Temptation
{ End the denial, be ruthlessly brutal
confronting yourself.
z Learn what motivates you from your past
z Be reflective, and review your actions
{ Know how you have a tendency to act out
z Money, sex, or power
{ Place people around you, who can speak
to you honestly and with authority
z Beware the Destructive Confidant
z Help you find your blindspots

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Overcoming Temptation

{ Make the decision to not fall into

temptation or place yourself in
temptation—ahead of time.
{ Find outside healthy sources of
affirmation and work on being
successful apart from the Mission
z Spent time with family
z Develop non-donor friends

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Biblical Recommendations

{ Pray
z To not be led into temptation
z To pray for self control during the time
of temptation
{ Prepare
z Luke 4:1 Jesus led into the wilderness
z I Tim 3 Qualifications for Elders and
Deacons

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Biblical Recommendations
{ Respond with Scripture
z Jesus’ responded with Scripture, “It is written..”
{ Avoid
z 1Ti 6:9 People who want to get rich fall into
temptation and a trap and into many foolish and
harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and
destruction.
{ Resist
z Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the
devil, and he will flee from you.
{ Reflect
z Jesus took time away to prepare for ministry and
would seek time alone to recharge for ministry.

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Scripture Resources

{ Heb 2:18 Because he himself

suffered when he was tempted, he
is able to help those who are being
tempted.
{ Heb 4:15 For we do not have a high
priest who is unable to sympathize
with our weaknesses, but we have
one who has been tempted in every
way, just as we are—yet was
without sin.
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Kramer’s 5 Habits to Avoid Leadership
Failure

1. They simplify their lives, remaining

humble, and “awfully ordinary”.
2. They shine a light on their weaknesses
instead of covering them up.
3. They float trial balloons to uncover the
truth and prepare for the unexpected.
4. They sweat the small stuff.
5. They reflect more, not less.

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Overcoming
Leadership Temptation resources
{ “The Harder They Fall” by Roderick M. Kramer,
Harvard Business Review Oct 2003.
{ “The Depression Suite” by Hara Estroff Marano,
Psychology Today, May/June 2003
{ Inside the Mind of the Leader, Harvard Business
Review, January 2004
{ The Challenge of the Disciplined Life: Christian
Reflections on Money, Sex, and Power by Richard
Foster, HarperSanFrancisco 1985.
{ Leaders on Leadership: Wisdom, Advice, and
Encouragement on the The Art of Leading God’s
People by George Barna, Regal 1997.

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Patrick Lencioni’s books

{ The Five Temptations of a CEO

{ The Four Obsessions of
Extraordinary Executives
{ The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
{ Death by Meeting

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Comments or Questions??

Chasz. Parker
Executive Director
Rescue Mission Alliance
155 Gifford Street
Syracuse, NY 13202
chasz_parker@rmsyr.org
315.701.3850

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