Assortment of top titles. Discover top titles, podcasts, and more on Audible. Try 30 days free.
To share your reaction on this item, open the Amazon app from the App Store or Google Play on your phone.
$16.00 with 41 percent savings
Print List Price: $27.00

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Audiobook Price: $11.18

Save: $3.69 (33%)

You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive: A Leadership Fable (J-B Lencioni Series Book 31) Kindle Edition

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 1,539 ratings

A gripping tale that reveals what occupies the minds of the world’s best business leaders

As CEO, most everything that Rich O'Connor did had something to do with at least one of the four disciplines on his famed "yellow sheet." Some of the firm's executives joked that he was obsessed with it.

Interestingly, only a handful of people knew what was on that sheet, and so it remained something of a mystery. Which was okay with Rich, because no one really needed to understand it, other than him. He certainly never suspected that it would become the blueprint of an employee's plan to destroy the firm.

In this stunning follow-up to his best-selling book, The Five Temptations of a CEO, Patrick Lencioni offers up another leadership fable that's every bit as compelling and illuminating as its predecessor.

This time, Lencioni's focus is on a leader's crucial role in building a healthy organization - an often overlooked but essential element of business life that is the linchpin of sustained success.

Readers are treated to a story of corporate intrigue as Rich O'Connor, fictional CEO of technology consulting company Telegraph Partners, faces a leadership challenge so great that it threatens to topple his company, his career and everything he holds true about what makes a leader truly exceptional.

In the story's telling, Lencioni deftly helps his readers understand the disarming simplicity and power of creating a healthy organization and reveals four key disciplines that they can follow to achieve it.

In The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive, Lencioni delivers an utterly gripping tale with a powerful and memorable message for all who strive to be remarkable leaders.


From the brand


From the Publisher

four obsessions of extraordinary executive book, patrick lencioni, management, leadership

THE FOUR DISCIPLINES OF A HEALTHY ORGANIZATION

four obsessions of extraordinary executive book, patrick lencioni, management, leadership

DISCIPLINE #1: BUILD AND MAINTAIN A COHESIVE LEADERSHIP TEAM

The first and most critical step in a healthy organization is creating a cohesive leadership team that is committed to do the ongoing work of developing and maintaining a high-performing team and mastering the five behaviors outlined in The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.

four obsessions of extraordinary executive book, patrick lencioni, management, leadership

DISCIPLINE #2: CREATE ORGANIZATIONAL CLARITY

Creating clarity at the executive level is essential to building and maintaining a healthy organization. There are six simple but critical questions that need to be answered, eliminating all discrepancies among team members.

four obsessions of extraordinary executive book, patrick lencioni, management, leadership

DISCIPLINE #3: OVERCOMMUNICATE ORGANIZATIONAL CLARITY

Once a leadership team has become cohesive and established clarity around the six critical questions, they need to communicate the answers to employees over and over again. There are specific communication strategies the leadership team can employ to ensure that messaging is consistent and absorbed by employees.

four obsessions of extraordinary executive book, patrick lencioni, management, leadership

DISCIPLINE #4: REINFORCE ORGANIZATIONAL CLARITY THROUGH HUMAN SYSTEMS

For an organization to be healthy, organizational clarity (the six critical questions) must become embedded into the fabric of the organization. Systems in the following areas need to tie to the six questions: Recruiting and hiring, managing performance, compensation and rewards and real-time recognition.

four obsessions of extraordinary executive book, patrick lencioni, management, leadership

four obsessions of extraordinary executive book, patrick lencioni, management, leadership

four obsessions of extraordinary executive book, patrick lencioni, management, leadership

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Allegories and parables have long been effective ways to impart serious bits of knowledge and wisdom without getting too pedantic, and business readers seem increasingly receptive to sensible management theory that employs this lively age-old literary technique. Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive, a "leadership fable" by Patrick Lencioni, continues the trend with a solid prescription for organizational health--aiming for less politics, lower turnover, more productivity, and higher morale. Presented as a fictional tale of two technical consultants and their competing companies, the story is structured in a fashion that recalls his previous book (The Five Temptations of a CEO, whose main character and firm are even slipped into this narrative). Lencioni uses this hypothetical setting to show how his concepts might look and work in the real world. In this case, his "four disciplines at the heart of making any organization world class" are revealed and explained through the philosophy and behavior of Rich O'Connor of Telegraph Partners. Build and maintain a cohesive leadership team, create organizational clarity, communicate organizational clarity, and reinforce organizational clarity through human systems. Through his tale of Telegraph and its rival Greenwich Consulting, Lencioni illustrates how these principles can be beneficially employed--and how an organization can be stymied when they're missing. The story moves quickly and is followed by a comprehensive analytical summary, which includes self-assessment tools and suggestions for putting the ideas into practice. --Howard Rothman

From Booklist

This fictional tale by a screenwriter and head of a consulting firm that specializes in organizational development is billed not as a novel but as a "leadership fable." Just like Lencioni's earlier The Five Temptations of a CEO (1998), this new "fable" serves as a vehicle to illustrate the author's philosophy of management. The story is short and simple, but its lesson is large. Organizations must not only be smart; they must be healthy. For one thing, healthy companies can make themselves smarter, but unhealthy organizations squander intellectual advantage through infighting and cross-purposes. To drive home his moral, Lencioni follows his story with a discussion that explicitly sets down his four "actionable steps," or disciplines, that are the hallmark of a healthy organization--build a leadership team, create organizational clarity, communicate that clarity, and then reinforce it through human systems. Lencioni offers concrete examples of steps to take to establish these disciplines and suggests ways to assess whether they have been effective. David Rouse
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B003WUYQOQ
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Jossey-Bass; 1st edition (February 7, 2008)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 7, 2008
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 981 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 199 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 1,539 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Patrick M. Lencioni
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Patrick Lencioni is founder and president of The Table Group, a firm dedicated to helping leaders improve their organizations’ health since 1997. His principles have been embraced by leaders around the world and adopted by organizations of virtually every kind including multinational corporations, entrepreneurial ventures, professional sports teams, the military, nonprofits, schools, and churches.

Lencioni is the author of ten business books with over three million copies sold worldwide. His work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Fortune, Bloomberg Businessweek, and USA Today.

Prior to founding The Table Group, Lencioni served on the executive team at Sybase, Inc. He started his career at Bain & Company and later worked at Oracle Corporation.

Lencioni lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and their four sons.

To learn more about Patrick and The Table Group, please visit www.tablegroup.com.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
1,539 global ratings

Review this product

Share your thoughts with other customers

Customers say

Customers find the book insightful and easy to read. They describe it as an enjoyable, well-written read that explains essential principles. The content is valuable for leaders of teams and helps identify priorities. However, opinions differ on the story quality - some find it relatable and informative, while others feel it's contrived and not true.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

90 customers mention "Insight"90 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's insights valuable. It explains the importance of organizational health and provides compelling stories to illustrate topics. The author sums up the four obsessions in an engaging way, making the heart of the message clear. The lessons are true and the potential outcomes are demonstrated. Overall, readers appreciate the actionable content and stories.

"...out of the KISS realms and as things from this realm are they are potent reminders to not complicate the art of leadership...." Read more

"Great, quick read with real-world applicability...." Read more

"...or "magic pill" related in this book, there is a huge opportunity for the leader to evaluate his/her own organizational health, persona leadership..." Read more

"...it clearly state and explain each discipline, but it also gave clear examples and samples of how to implement these values and strategies within..." Read more

84 customers mention "Readability"84 positive0 negative

Customers find the book easy to read and enjoyable. They appreciate the good storyline and leadership principles. The author's works are entertaining and well-presented. Overall, readers consider it a great quality book that is a must-read for both seasoned and new managers.

"...I enjoyed the story and the reminders; it's a quick and easy read, probably something one could cover on a day trip to a clients office on a plane..." Read more

"Great, quick read with real-world applicability...." Read more

"...The book was enjoyable to read because the message wasn't hindered by overcomplicated words and ideas...." Read more

"Amazing book, must read" Read more

56 customers mention "Ease of reading"56 positive0 negative

Customers find the book easy to read and understand. They appreciate the simple points and tools that can be applied easily. The book is well-written and summarized at the end. Readers also like the story format and the four principles.

"...I enjoyed the story and the reminders; it's a quick and easy read, probably something one could cover on a day trip to a clients office on a plane..." Read more

"Great, quick read with real-world applicability...." Read more

"...read nearly everything in the series and really enjoy the format, ease of reading, and the writer's style...." Read more

"...i have ever seen, i felt fairly relaxed as i relished the jolly welcoming font he used in this book, i liked how he broke up the paragraphs so that..." Read more

17 customers mention "Book content"17 positive0 negative

Customers find the book helpful for leaders and managers. It provides valuable insights into building healthy, productive teams that ensure organizational success. The stories are relatable and easy to read, providing valuable insights that inspire people at all levels. Overall, it helps them drive business more effectively.

"...The four disciplines are: Build and Maintain a Cohesive Leadership Team; Create Organizational Clarity; Over-Communicate Organizational Clarity; and..." Read more

"...Easy, quick read with salient points so people can drive business more effectively." Read more

"...at all levels in the organization because it has good pieces for everyone at all levels...." Read more

"...of the interpersonal communication and executive team building to ensure organizational success...." Read more

8 customers mention "Story quality"4 positive4 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the story. Some find it a good example of what it takes to be an effective leader, while others feel it's contrived and lacking realism. They also mention there is too much detail and superfluous information in the story.

"This book is a fairly decent fable on running a business...." Read more

"...was the fact that this was a "leadership fable," so the story was not actually true...." Read more

"The book is basically a fictional story of two kinds of organizations; one being healthy and the other unhealthy...." Read more

"...At times, I struggle d following the fable. However, it all started to make sense towards the end of the book." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2025
    Great, quick read with real-world applicability. I’d suggest reading with a notebook close by to jot down ideas and ways you can adapt your leadership today! I’ll be referring back to this as often as I look back on 5 Dysfunctions of a Team!
  • Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2012
    I was caught up with the genre of this series of books for the "5 Dysfunctions of a Team." I have read nearly everything in the series and really enjoy the format, ease of reading, and the writer's style.

    As a leader of a church, I am always looking to improve my effectiveness to oversee an organization. Not all lessons from the "business world" apply perfectly, but I have found that even in the cases where there is no direct correlation, it is good to understand how those in the business world think. Beyond that, the principles that Lencioni communicates can usually be adapted to my particular context.

    What drew me to this book was the emphasis on the role of the senior leader in a company. The fable involves how the CEO interacts with his management team and how, in the most successful companies, there is a dogged determination to remain committed to the "most" important things. A CEO could become involved in a number of aspects of company operations; however, he is most effective in developing his senior leadership team, bringing clarity of purpose (vision) in every decision and direction, communicating that vision/direction "ad nauseum," and reinforcing the clarity through the human systems of the organization.

    Now I did not just share any new insights or upend some popular "B School" teaching; rather, I just shared what Lencioni reinforced throughout the book. A senior leader who focuses on these aspects of the organization can allow his senior leadership to carry out the task in the most effective way for their particular area of responsibility.

    While there is no "new" information or "magic pill" related in this book, there is a huge opportunity for the leader to evaluate his/her own organizational health, persona leadership effectiveness, and to make adjustments accordingly.

    I recommend the book highly to all leaders who are responsible for "shepherding" the vision and overseeing the direction of an organization. If you ever wanted "permission" to pull back from for the intricacies of the details and focus on what you do best...this is the book for you.
    11 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2011
    This book took me on an insightful exploration of the principle foundations of leadership that a company used towards its success. It highlighted and reinforced the core disciplines in establishing and maintaining a successful company from the perspective of the leader.

    The book was enjoyable to read because the message wasn't hindered by overcomplicated words and ideas. Each of the four disciplines was reiterated throughout the text in different ways. Because of this, people who learn through narrative, example and explanation, or definition will all be able to find this book useful and informative.

    The majority of the book is a narrative about two competing firms, Telegraph and Greenwich. The author does a good job of describing the culture of the companies and the roles of the employees so that readers are able to identify with the organizations and the people in them. There is a relatable employee or situation in this book for any reader. The latter part of the book is a more structured look at the principles. I found this to be very helpful because not only did it clearly state and explain each discipline, but it also gave clear examples and samples of how to implement these values and strategies within your own team. Implementation is only the first part of the process. Full integration and success takes some restructuring, time, cooperation, and effort on everyone's part. The book emphasizes this, but doesn't necessarily lay out the process for the reader. So, if you are looking for a start to finish example of the process of reevaluation and the restructuring of an organization's values, mission, strategies, and beliefs, this book won't have quite enough information for that.

    The only part of the book that I found to be a bit uninspiring was the fact that this was a "leadership fable," so the story was not actually true. Although I still learned of the disciplines and witnessed them in action, I feel that this book would have a little more power if this had been an example of real companies.

    I found this book to be an interesting approach to leadership. It definitely gets your mind thinking about the improvements that your company could benefit from, and it makes you proud of the things that you're already doing.
    2 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2020
    When I read through a good portion of the reviews of this book, something I always do prior to offering my own review, I see that many folks either directly or indirectly reference the 'story' offered in the beginning of the book; either because it was found distracting in some way or because it provided a landscape from which to mine or connect to the principles of the book's message. The book's message is most definitely one out of the KISS realms and as things from this realm are they are potent reminders to not complicate the art of leadership. I enjoyed the story and the reminders; it's a quick and easy read, probably something one could cover on a day trip to a clients office on a plane and through the airport. It's also worth the read, especially if you find a good story useful for connecting with a message as I know I do.
    4 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2024
    Amazing book, must read
  • Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2024
    The author’s use of story to illustrate key points creates so much clarity that I came away with a few powerful concepts I can implement immediately.
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2024
    The author does a good job summarizing the Four Obsessions. At times, I struggle d following the fable. However, it all started to make sense towards the end of the book.
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2024
    The lessons are true. Halfway through the book, I was yet to conceptualise the central theme and message. I kept turning the page, until about 50% into the read, when all fits together.
    One person found this helpful
    Report

Top reviews from other countries

  • cristina
    5.0 out of 5 stars Our culture and why it works- I LIKeD reading this tiny book
    Reviewed in Canada on July 14, 2022
    A very concise book with mise-en-scene scenarios that you can easily rely on and read in one night! Bottom line the atmosphere in an org comes through culture and the latter is built by drilling the reasons why the company exists in the first place; that’s how the acolytes become one (company).
  • ragu nathan
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book on management
    Reviewed in India on June 21, 2022
    Very good read on management goals and values . The model described here is useful for any executive who strives for improvement.
  • Dandroid
    5.0 out of 5 stars Pure Insight about success principles
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 13, 2014
    Lencioni tells a fictional story that is so realistic, anyone can relate to it. In fact, most of us will see characteristics of the people in the story in ourselves.This metaphoric prose, is one of the best ways to create personal motivation for change. Most of us have had more than one experience where our own zeal for a powerful concept has fallen on deaf ears as people resist our ideas. We also react this way when we feel others are forcing an idea for personal improvement on us as well. Lencioni avoids this human response by providing a journey through the eyes of others that makes change feel wholesome and beneficial.

    It is simple and compelling and should be required reading for all managers.
  • pt33
    5.0 out of 5 stars amazing !!
    Reviewed in India on April 23, 2022
    God’s grace that I came across this life changing book and the author, everyone in leadership role should read author’s books !!
  • Roland
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great learning for CEOs
    Reviewed in Canada on October 13, 2019
    Great for CEOs once again! All books tie together to make an easy guide on how to run a successful company!

Report an issue


Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?