This is not a treatise on the CEO as the biggest jerk in the world, or about the simple ways to be a good leader—that’s all been done many times. Nor is it about etiquette or hygiene or how to succeed in your first 100 days. It is a book about the CEO you might know and see as he tries to do his job. And it’s about what you can learn from his efforts, whether he succeeds or fails.

Nor is this a missive about the crimes of senior executives and how they have wrecked the economy or the environment or both. Far from it. I will not delve into the miasma of executive pay or those guys who are now in orange jumpsuits. Although some people are determined to perform in ways that make us scratch our heads and wonder, “What were they thinking?”, most CEOs want to perform better and upgrade their organization or company. My hope is this book contributes to better behavior, better performance, and an understanding that we all commit sins.

Includes a Foreword by John Hofmeister, Founder and CEO of Citizens for Affordable Energy
and former CEO of Shell Oil

“The stories in Sins and CEOs are like parables. And like parables, there are important lessons here for everyone — including politicians. Pay attention people.”

—Tom McEnery, former Mayor of San Jose, California

“Good leadership in the workplace is more important now than ever. If every CEO and manager took Rich Moran’s timely book to heart, we’d all enjoy our jobs more and over time, even see a stronger economy emerge.”

—Betsy Bernard, former President of AT&T

“In typical Moran fashion, he nails another one with his insightful, tongue in cheek observations about life at the top of the business food chain. A must read for any manager at any level to ensure one is not crossing the easy line into arrogance or ineffectiveness.”

—Scott Etzler, President, InterCall

“Meeting with the CEO is always interesting and so is this book. After reading it, I still can’t understand why I am not a CEO: I make all the same mistakes. Rich Moran proceeds from the absurd notion that CEOs are fallible, funny and surprisingly frail, but there is hope if they see the sins. Very entertaining, but can these stories really be true?”

—George Bailey, SVP, Chief Transformation Officer, Sony Corporation

“It’s easy to see the sins of leaders. It’s more difficult to steer clear of them. Moran creates that roadmap in a funny and insightful way that’s helpful for anyone from recent college graduates to experienced CEOs.”

—Keith Belling, Founder and CEO of Popchips