21 Key Signs of a Reward Centred Leader Lencioni

A reward centred leader is someone who pursues a leadership role primarily for the personal benefits it provides: status, power, compensation, and control. In The Motive, Patrick Lencioni argues that the reason a person becomes a leader is the most important and most overlooked factor in determining their effectiveness. Leaders who are motivated by rewards rather than responsibility create organisations that suffer from the five omissions of a reward centred leader.

Lencioni contrasts reward centred leadership with responsibility centred leadership. A responsibility centred leader sees leadership as a duty to serve others, not a prize to be enjoyed. They embrace the difficult, uncomfortable, and often thankless work that effective leadership requires. They manage people, have difficult conversations, run effective meetings, and repeat themselves constantly because they understand that this work is the job, not a distraction from it.

The distinction matters because most leadership failures are not caused by a lack of intelligence, experience, or strategy. They are caused by leaders who are unwilling to do the hard, unglamorous work that leadership demands. Reward centred leaders avoid this work because it does not feel like a reward. Responsibility centred leaders embrace it because they understand it is the essence of their role.

Below are 21 key signs of reward centred leadership and how to shift toward responsibility centred leadership instead. For a complete overview of Lencioni's argument, see our Motive summary. To discuss how Jonno can facilitate a leadership conversation about motive with your team, reach out at jonno@consultclarity.org.

1. They Avoid Managing People Directly

The first and most telling sign of a reward centred leader is their avoidance of people management. They delegate nearly all direct management to others, preferring to focus on strategy, finance, or external relationships. They see managing people as beneath them or as someone else's job. Lencioni calls this the first of the five omissions: the failure to develop the leadership team.

A responsibility centred leader understands that managing people is the primary job of a leader, not a task to be minimised. They invest time in one-on-ones, provide regular feedback, and actively develop their direct reports. They see people management not as a burden but as the highest-leverage activity available to them.

2. They Avoid Difficult Conversations

Reward centred leaders avoid difficult conversations because those conversations are uncomfortable and unrewarding. They tolerate underperformance, sidestep interpersonal conflicts, and delay delivering bad news. They rationalise this avoidance as being kind or diplomatic, but the real reason is self-protection. Having hard conversations risks being disliked, and being liked is part of the reward they seek.

Responsibility centred leaders have difficult conversations promptly and directly because they understand that avoiding them causes far more damage than having them. They see these conversations as an act of care, not aggression. For practical strategies on having these conversations, Jonno White's book Step Up or Step Out provides a complete framework.

3. They Run Ineffective Meetings

Reward centred leaders either avoid meetings altogether or run them poorly. They see meetings as tedious obligations rather than the most important venue for leadership work. Their meetings lack structure, purpose, and follow-through. They fail to distinguish between different types of meetings and combine tactical and strategic discussions into confused, unproductive sessions.

Responsibility centred leaders invest heavily in meetings because they understand that meetings are where alignment, accountability, and decisions happen. They run structured meetings with clear agendas, honest debate, and specific commitments. For Lencioni's complete meeting framework, see our Death by Meeting summary.

4. They Refuse to Repeat Themselves

Reward centred leaders announce decisions once and assume the message has landed. They find repetition tedious and beneath them. They believe that intelligent employees should not need to hear something more than once. This refusal to overcommunicate is the fourth omission Lencioni identifies, and it leaves employees confused about priorities, values, and direction.

Responsibility centred leaders embrace repetition as one of their most important functions. They understand that employees need to hear a message multiple times through multiple channels before it truly registers. They become what Lencioni calls Chief Reminding Officers, consistently reinforcing the organisation's clarity. For more on this discipline, see our overcommunicate clarity guide.

5. They Avoid Holding People Accountable

Accountability requires confrontation, and confrontation is uncomfortable. Reward centred leaders avoid it because it threatens the comfortable relationships they have cultivated. They allow missed deadlines, broken commitments, and substandard work to pass without consequence. Over time, this erodes the team's standards and the morale of high performers who see others getting away with mediocrity.

Responsibility centred leaders hold people accountable because they understand that accountability is an act of care. Allowing someone to underperform without addressing it is not kindness. It is neglect. For more on building accountability culture, see our peer accountability guide.

6. They Seek Status Over Impact

Reward centred leaders are drawn to the trappings of leadership: the title, the corner office, the speaking invitations, the board seats. They measure their success by their status in the industry or community rather than by the health and performance of their organisation. When forced to choose between an activity that enhances their status and one that improves their team, they choose status.

Responsibility centred leaders derive satisfaction from the success of their team and organisation, not from personal recognition. They are willing to do invisible, unglamorous work because they understand that leadership is about serving others, not being served.

7. They Delegate the Work They Should Own

There is a critical difference between delegation that develops others and delegation that avoids responsibility. Reward centred leaders delegate the difficult, uncomfortable aspects of leadership: managing underperformers, running meetings, having values conversations, communicating bad news. They keep the enjoyable parts for themselves: strategy sessions, client dinners, speaking engagements.

Responsibility centred leaders delegate operational tasks so they can focus on the leadership work that only they can do. They understand that their most important responsibilities, building team cohesion, creating clarity, communicating, and holding people accountable, cannot be delegated without undermining their effectiveness.

8. They Prioritise Personal Comfort Over Team Health

The underlying pattern in all reward centred behaviour is the prioritisation of personal comfort. Every omission Lencioni identifies is rooted in the leader's desire to avoid discomfort: the discomfort of difficult conversations, the tedium of meetings, the boredom of repetition, the vulnerability of accountability. Reward centred leaders optimise their experience of leadership. Responsibility centred leaders optimise outcomes.

This distinction is not about martyrdom. Responsibility centred leaders can still enjoy aspects of their role. The difference is that they do not avoid essential leadership work because it is uncomfortable. They do it precisely because it is necessary, even when it is unpleasant.

9. The Five Omissions Reveal the Pattern

Lencioni identifies five specific omissions that reward centred leaders consistently make. They fail to develop the leadership team. They fail to manage subordinates and hold them accountable. They fail to have difficult and uncomfortable conversations. They fail to run productive meetings. And they fail to communicate constantly and repetitively to employees.

These five omissions are not random failures. They form a coherent pattern: every one of them involves doing work that is uncomfortable, tedious, or unrewarding in the short term but essential for organisational health in the long term. The omissions are a diagnostic tool. If a leader consistently avoids all five, reward centred motivation is almost certainly the cause.

10. They Confuse Strategy with Leadership

Reward centred leaders often believe that their primary contribution is strategic thinking. They spend disproportionate time on market analysis, competitive positioning, and long-term planning while neglecting the people and culture work that determines whether any strategy can be executed. They equate intelligence with leadership and mistake strategic output for organisational health.

Lencioni's central argument in The Advantage is that organisational health trumps everything else in business. A healthy organisation with a decent strategy will outperform a brilliant organisation that is dysfunctional. Strategy matters, but it is not the leader's primary job. Building the team and creating the health that enables strategy execution is the primary job.

11. They Struggle to Build a Cohesive Team

Building a cohesive leadership team requires vulnerability, honest conflict, and genuine commitment, all of which are uncomfortable for reward centred leaders. They prefer teams that defer to them, avoid difficult topics, and maintain the appearance of harmony. The result is a team that looks functional on the surface but lacks the trust, candour, and accountability that high performance requires.

Responsibility centred leaders invest in team cohesion because they understand it is the foundation of everything else. They facilitate trust-building conversations, encourage productive conflict, and hold the team to high standards of accountability. For more on building cohesive teams, see our Five Dysfunctions summary.

12. The Motive Determines Everything

Lencioni's central insight is that the reason someone wants to lead matters more than their skills, experience, or intelligence. Two leaders with identical abilities will produce vastly different results depending on whether they are motivated by reward or responsibility. The reward centred leader will avoid the hard work. The responsibility centred leader will embrace it.

This insight applies at every level of leadership, from CEOs to middle managers to team leads. The motive question is universal: are you leading because you want the benefits of the role or because you feel a responsibility to serve the people and organisation in your care?

13. They Treat Leadership as a Destination

Reward centred leaders treat their leadership role as an achievement, something they have earned and deserve to enjoy. They have arrived. Responsibility centred leaders treat leadership as an ongoing commitment, something that demands more of them every day. For reward centred leaders, getting the role was the hard part. For responsibility centred leaders, fulfilling the role is the hard part, and it never stops.

This mindset difference shows up in how leaders spend their discretionary time. Reward centred leaders fill that time with activities they enjoy. Responsibility centred leaders fill it with activities the organisation needs, whether they enjoy them or not.

14. They Resist Vulnerability

Vulnerability is the foundation of trust in Lencioni's model, and it requires leaders to admit mistakes, acknowledge weaknesses, and ask for help. Reward centred leaders resist this because vulnerability threatens the image of competence and control that is part of the reward they seek. They maintain a facade of strength that prevents genuine connection with their team.

Responsibility centred leaders model vulnerability because they understand it is necessary for building the trust that enables everything else. They go first, sharing their own mistakes and limitations, creating the safety that allows others to do the same. For more on this concept, see our vulnerability based trust guide.

15. They Create Political Environments

When leaders avoid difficult conversations, refuse to hold people accountable, and run ineffective meetings, the resulting vacuum is filled by politics. Employees learn that the way to get ahead is not through honest performance but through political manoeuvring. Reward centred leaders create political environments not by intention but by omission, by failing to do the work that would make politics unnecessary.

Responsibility centred leaders eliminate politics by creating clarity, building trust, and addressing issues directly. When the leader models transparency and accountability, political behaviour becomes both unnecessary and unsustainable.

16. Most Leaders Are a Mix of Both Motives

Lencioni acknowledges that very few leaders are purely reward centred or purely responsibility centred. Most are a mix of both motives, and the balance shifts depending on the situation. The goal is not to eliminate all reward motivation but to ensure that responsibility is the dominant driver, that when the two motives conflict, responsibility wins.

Self-awareness is the starting point. Leaders who honestly examine their own motives can identify the situations where reward centred thinking takes over and deliberately choose the responsibility centred path. This examination is uncomfortable, which is itself a sign of whether the leader is willing to do the hard work of leadership.

17. They Avoid the CEO's Most Important Work

Lencioni argues that the CEO's most important work is not strategy, finance, or innovation. It is building and maintaining a healthy organisation. This includes building a cohesive leadership team, creating clarity, overcommunicating that clarity, and reinforcing it through human systems. Reward centred CEOs avoid this work because it does not feel like the exciting, high-level work they signed up for.

Responsibility centred CEOs understand that organisational health is the multiplier that makes everything else work. They relinquish their more technical responsibilities to focus on the leadership work that only they can do. This requires letting go of the activities they enjoy in favour of the activities the organisation needs.

18. The Cost of Reward Centred Leadership Is Invisible

The damage caused by reward centred leadership is rarely dramatic. It is the slow erosion of trust, accountability, and alignment that accumulates over months and years. The team gradually becomes less cohesive. Communication breaks down. High performers leave. Politics fill the vacuum. By the time the damage is visible, it is deeply embedded and difficult to reverse.

This invisibility is what makes reward centred leadership so dangerous. The leader can maintain the appearance of competence while the organisation deteriorates beneath them. The financial results may lag the cultural decline by months or years, allowing the reward centred leader to claim success long after the seeds of failure have been planted.

19. Responsibility Centred Leadership Is a Choice

Lencioni frames the motive as a choice, not a personality trait. Any leader can choose to lead from responsibility rather than reward. It requires acknowledging the uncomfortable truth about one's own motivations, committing to the difficult work of leadership, and holding oneself accountable to that commitment day after day.

This framing is hopeful. It means that reward centred leaders are not hopeless cases. They can change. The change requires humility, self-awareness, and a willingness to embrace discomfort, but it is available to anyone who chooses it.

20. Boards and Peers Must Hold Leaders Accountable

Reward centred leaders will not hold themselves accountable to the difficult work of leadership. They need external accountability from boards, peers, coaches, or trusted advisors who are willing to ask uncomfortable questions: Are you having the hard conversations? Are you running effective meetings? Are you developing your team? Are you overcommunicating clarity?

This external accountability is especially important because reward centred leaders are often skilled at rationalising their avoidance. They can make compelling arguments for why they should focus on strategy rather than people, or why the team does not need another meeting. An outside perspective cuts through these rationalisations.

21. The Motive Is Lencioni's Most Personal Challenge

The Motive is arguably Lencioni's most confrontational book because it asks leaders to examine their own motivations honestly. The other frameworks address team dynamics, meeting structures, and organisational clarity. The Motive addresses the leader's heart. It asks: why do you want this job? And it demands an honest answer.

For leaders willing to engage with this question honestly, the book provides both the diagnosis and the prescription. The five omissions become a practical checklist: am I developing my team, managing my people, having difficult conversations, running great meetings, and communicating constantly? If the answer to any of these is no, the motive question deserves examination.

What to Do Next

Ask yourself the five omission questions honestly. Are you avoiding any of them? If so, commit to addressing one omission this week. Have one difficult conversation you have been putting off. Run one meeting with genuine structure and accountability. The shift from reward centred to responsibility centred leadership happens one decision at a time.

If you want help facilitating a leadership motive conversation with your executive team, email jonno@consultclarity.org.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a reward centred leader?

A reward centred leader is someone who pursues leadership primarily for the personal benefits it provides: status, compensation, power, and control. They avoid the difficult, uncomfortable work that effective leadership requires because that work does not feel like a reward. Lencioni contrasts this with responsibility centred leadership.

What are the five omissions of a reward centred leader?

The five omissions are: failing to develop the leadership team, failing to manage subordinates, failing to have difficult conversations, failing to run productive meetings, and failing to communicate constantly. Each omission involves avoiding work that is uncomfortable but essential for organisational health.

What is a responsibility centred leader?

A responsibility centred leader sees leadership as a duty to serve others. They embrace difficult conversations, invest in meetings, develop their people, hold them accountable, and communicate constantly. They find satisfaction in the success of their team and organisation rather than in personal status or comfort.

Can a reward centred leader change?

Yes. Lencioni frames the motive as a choice, not a fixed personality trait. Any leader can choose to shift from reward centred to responsibility centred leadership. The change requires self-awareness, humility, and a willingness to embrace the uncomfortable work that effective leadership demands.

Which Lencioni book covers the motive concept?

The Motive: Why So Many Leaders Abdicate Their Most Important Responsibilities is the book that introduces and develops this concept. It was published in 2020 and is written as a leadership fable followed by a practical model describing the five omissions.

How does reward centred leadership affect teams?

It creates teams with low trust, poor accountability, political environments, and unclear direction. Because the leader avoids the difficult work of managing people, having honest conversations, and communicating clarity, the team suffers from confusion, frustration, and gradual disengagement.

About the Author

Jonno White is a Brisbane-based leadership consultant, bestselling author, and Certified Working Genius Facilitator specialising in organisational health. His book, Step Up or Step Out, has sold over 10,000 copies globally and equips leaders with practical strategies for difficult conversations and conflict resolution.

Jonno hosts The Leadership Conversations Podcast, reaching listeners in over 150 countries across 230+ episodes. He works with CEOs, school principals, and executive teams across Australia, the USA, UK, Singapore, Canada, and India, delivering keynotes, workshops, executive team offsites, and facilitated strategic planning sessions.

To discuss how Jonno can help your leadership team examine motive and build responsibility centred leadership, email jonno@consultclarity.org.

35 Vital Lessons from The Motive Summary

The reward centred leadership concept is central to Lencioni's argument in The Motive. Where this article focuses specifically on the signs and patterns of reward centred leadership, our comprehensive Motive summary covers 35 vital lessons across the full book, including the responsibility centred alternative and the practical model for change.

If these insights challenged your thinking about leadership motivation, the full Motive summary will give you the complete framework.

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