Derailed – Five Lessons Learned from Catastrophic Failures of Leadership by Tim Irwin, Ph.D.

December 24, 2009 by Dennis Amith

Well-written and well-sourced, “Derailed” is a book that is worth reading for those who are in the position of power and I’m sure there are some who probably will have a hard time reading it because they are no different from the six people featured but sometimes, people need to be reminded or we need that gut-check (personally, more of the words of – a swift kick in the ass) at times and that awakening call that is needed to make things right. Definitely recommended!

TITLE: Derailed – Five Lessons Learned from Catastrophic Failures

BY: Tim Irwn, Ph.D.

PUBLISHER: Thomas Nelson

PAGE COUNT: 226

Their stories have become a cultural fixture – train wrecks of unchecked power and arrogance. The mighty continue to fall. They seem to demonstrate the traits of true leaders, but headlines still blaze. A compromised character often destroys corporate executives and occasionally even the organizations they lead. These figures shrug off warning signs and dismiss advice, guided by a malfunctioning moral compass, “Derailed” chronicles the collapse of six CEO’s and the factors that drove them to their demise. While many of them dazzled with earnings results or branding campaigns, they failed at the primary task for which they were hired: leadership.

Tim Irwin documents the missteps of these executives who fell. In each case, Irwin observes a failure of authenticity, humility, self-management and courage. We learn that derailment really happens long before the crash.

Well-written, well-researched and author Tim Irwin, Ph.D., does a remarkable job in trying to show how sometimes certain people who are looked at as the best in the business, sometimes fail. For those who are in the position of power, sometimes you need a book that reminds you that you may be competent for the position but one must make wise decisions and know their surroundings in order to lead.

For Tim Irwin’s latest book, he focuses on six executives and shows us how these people who have achieved success in their careers, somehow didn’t do well in their next position of leadership. The subjects are:

Robert Nardelli, known for his work at General Electrics who became the CEO of Home Depot and how his character flaws was too much of a dramatic shift from the company and best said in a sentence: He was a dictator who demanded compliance.
Carly Fiorina, the savvy businesswoman who transformed Lucent to a major player and named Hewlett Packard’s chief executive. In her tenure, it is shown how the environment which once encouraged people to belong changed to an environment of distrust and fear. And also her failure to take responsibility for her own failures and pin the blame on others.
Durk Jager, the CEO of Proctor & Gamble who many believed had the skills and personality to change P&G for the best. But unfortunately, with style of going against the norm and bringing change, it was too much change all at one time. Proctor & Gamble is known for their family and culture and Jager went against them with his mindset of out with the old and in with the new.
Steven Heyer, the former president and COO of Coca-Cola and COO of Turner Broadcasting System, who seemed like a perfect fit to run Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. A very interesting profile because on paper, Heyer grew the company and boosted their stock but he was hardly at the office and he seemed detached from the company. His failure to become a leader for the company.
Frank Raines, the Harvard law school graduate, the Rhodes scholar who was known for achieving results and became the first African American CEO of a Fortune 500 corporation as CEO of Fannie Mae. During his tenure, Raines brought Fannie’s stock into prominence and earning $90 million in salary and bonuses. Everything was good until a report revealed Fannie Mae used illegal accounting methods and misstated their earnings.
Dick Fuld, a successful career at Lehman Brothers and in 2006 was named America’s top chief executive and known as the man who turned a $102 million loss in 1993 to a $4.2 billion profit in 2007 and received $70 million in salary in stock options and other compensation. But was exposed after the credit crisis and Lehman Brothers crashed and burned in 2008. A man full of pride but it was his refused to quit when he was down was part of his detriment as a leader and not seeing the signs of weakness in the market.

Tim Irwin does a wonderful job in portraying these individuals and using sources from other publications to show us perception before these individuals were put into the leadership position for these companies and also what took place afterward.

The remaining chapters focus on evaluating oneself as a leader and also a test is included to assess one’s risk. But if anything, it’s about learning what these five individuals did wrong in their job. Again, these people come from respected backgrounds, some from ivy league schools and are well-educated but somehow…being put into a position of power, ego and pride somehow gets in a way of leadership (for these individuals) and led to their resignation or termination.

Overall, there are important lessons learned in the book. And this is not just a book just meant for high level executives, it’s a book for those who hold a leadership position. Well-written and well-sourced, it’s a book that is worth reading for those who are in the position of power and I’m sure there are some who probably will have a hard time reading it because they are no different from the six people featured but sometimes, people need to be reminded or we need that gut-check (personally, more of the words of – a swift kick in the ass) at times and that awakening call that is needed to make things right.

I really enjoyed this book and definitely give it my highest recommendation!