“If we can restore the collective attitude that leadership is meant to
be a joyfully difficult and selfless responsibility, I am convinced that
we will see companies become more successful." (p. 170)

Patrick Lencioni believes this may be his best book to date (2020) and makes a good argument in his favor. Lencioni gets right to the central point: There are only two motives that drive people to become a leader. First, they want to serve others. The second basic reason to be a leader -- the all-too-common but invalid one -- is that they want to be rewarded (p. 131). Lencioni's goal then is to expose reward-centered leadership for what it is and help leaders overcome it, for their own good and the good of the people and organizations they are supposed to be serving (p. 133).

The Motive is a fable with the following primary cast members:

• Shay Davis, recently promoted CEO of Golden Gate Security.
• Liam Alcott, CEO of Del Mar Alarm.
• Amy, of Lighthouse Partners, a consulting firm with a successful reputation.

We may think of Liam as an Academy Leadership Excellence Course (LEC) graduate, Shay Davis as the underperforming CEO who is beginning to realize something needs to change, and Amy from Lighthouse as the facilitator of Shay's prior LEC. The storyline is essentially Liam serving as a Leader as Coach, genuinely sharing with Shay what he has learned from Amy and successfully implemented at Golden Gate Security since.

Day One | Know Yourself

Day One of an LEC focuses on self-knowledge, and Liam gives it straight up to Shay: "You're the CEO of Golden Gate because you see your job as a reward." (p. 105). Liam has also done his due diligence: "You seem to have more employees generating less revenue. Your turnover, among both customers and employees, is considerably higher than ours." (p. 23) Of course, Liam is simply sharing what Amy taught him. "Everything that Amy and the other consultants at Lighthouse focused on started with me." (p. 25)

Liam continues: "You are doing the things you like to do. You aren't doing the things your company needs you to do." (p. 87) Anyone promoted to CEO has experienced this, having been highly competent in multiple areas. Shay shares that he really enjoys marketing and time with customers, not so much managing and leading (p. 30). Liam shares one of his key findings from his LEC: "I learned that I am supposed to have the most painful job in the company." (p. 58)

In his own way, Liam describes what serving others means to him: "I have the worst and best, loneliest and most social, most appreciated and most thankless job in the company." (p. 106) His question for Shay: "Don't you realize that your job is to do things that no one else in the company can do?" (p. 84)

Liam reveals what we learn on Day Two of an LEC: "You also have to be the primary communication tool." (p. 99)

Day Two | Know Others

Jolted with these revelations, Shay asks Liam: "So, you're telling me that you spend almost all of your time leading and managing your team?" (p. 36). Liam responds with regard to meetings: "It's without a doubt my favorite part of my job." (p. 40) This is one of the best parts of The Motive. If a CEO hates meetings, who's fault is it that they are crummy? Liam shared a huge learning: "Bad meetings, boring meetings, ineffective meetings were my fault and were lethal to the company." (p. 65) Upon visiting Golden Gate Security, Liam found the atmosphere to be largely stale (p. 43). Uh oh.

Liam realizes Shay has not learned what energizes, or inspires others, and has no idea how to create a motivational environment. Liam describes it this way: "Making sure they work together and aren't getting bogged down by politics and confusion." (p. 67)

Shay is also avoiding internal conflicts, rather than becoming a leader as coach. Karl and Jackie are brought up as two who don't seem to get along.

"How about interpersonal skills and attitude?" (p. 47) Liam drives the bigger point home: "But you're ignoring the impact she's (Jackie) having on others." (p. 71) Now we're learning why performance is suffering.

Day Three | Know Your Stuff | Leader as Coach

On day three of an LEC, most participants score relatively low on the Setting Leadership Priorities self-evaluation. Liam verbally explores the same with Shay: "What is the most important part of what you do?" (p. 27) Think of the Pareto Principle, or the 80/20 rule. Liam wants to know what Shay believes are his High Payoff Activities (HPAs). "I'm more curious about what you think you really do to help the business." (p. 28)

This exercise reveals the most significant difference between Liam and Shay, or what Liam is doing differently after his sessions with Amy. Shay is reluctant to delegate functional business responsibilities, and Liam shares what he has learned: "Because I have a CIO and a CTO who focus on those things. I have to be the CEO." (p. 60)

Shay unfortunately mixes up evaluation and coaching: "If I have to coach them all the time and get them to change the way they behave, then I shouldn't have hired them in the first place." (p 49) Liam counters: "The best golfers and tennis players and other athletes pay people lots of money to coach them." (p. 94). The ultimate role of a leader is to develop more leaders.

Summary | The 5 Omissions

Lencioni shares what we may consider five frequently omitted HPAs for CEOs:

1. Developing the leadership team.
2. Managing subordinates (and making them manage theirs).
3. Having difficult and uncomfortable conversations.
4. Running great team meetings.
5. Communicating constantly and repetitively to employees.

By the end of The Motive, and after demoting himself, Shay realizes: "But I'm starting to think that in a few years I might be ready to do what a CEO does." (p. 125). Maybe next time for the right reason, to serve.

"This is why it is so important for leaders to surround themselves
with people who will be honest with them." (p. 166)

JE | March 2026