So are there recent examples of CEOs who have failed (and are failing) at these 7 habits? Or who do do we recognize in South African company's?? 

And keep in mind that the worst CEOs always start by exhibiting one of these habits and then see them snowball into other habits over time.

Habit # 1: They see themselves and their companies as dominating their environment

Some people asked: Isn’t it a good thing that the CEOs think they and their companies can “dominate” their competitors? Isn’t self-confidence and the desire to run through walls — like an excited football team before a game — a good thing?

Well, Finkelstein’s research showed that – in small doses – all of these 7 habits were positive things. However, they all become negatives when taken to extremes. You never want self-confidence to cross the rubicon and become self-delusion. .

The CEOs who fail at Habit 1 have a ‘King Midas Complex.’ They think that anything they touch will turn to go. They believe they can succeed in any business that they enter – no matter if they or the company have any relevant experience in it. They believe that they’ve been successful before and can do it again – no matter the industry. Signs of this habit are when a company over-expands – usually through doing too many acquisitions that they can’t digest. 

(From the day eBay bought Skype until today, eBay’s stock is down 15% while the Nasdaq is up 33%.)

Habit #2: They identify so completely with the company that there is no clear boundary between their personal interests and their corporation?s interests

CEOs sometimes get the lines blurred between what’s good for them personally and what’s good for their companies. If they are successful, they conclude that’s good for the company. However, a lot of times, CEOs can  spend an extraordinary amount of time or company money on things that they are interested in but which lack a clear benefit to the company itself. They assume that pursuing something that’s good for them will be good for the company — or at least do their company no harm. Here are some egregious examples:

Jim Balsillie focused on just prior to and after the iPhone was introduced? Buying a hockey team. (was the co-CEO for Research In Motion (RIMM) 

Habit #3: They think they have all the answers

As  said before, it’s good to be confident. It’s not good to be arrogant.

CEOs who think they have all the answers — and are always quick to assert that they know what to do at all times — are usually too quick pulling the trigger finger and end up shooting themselves and their companies in the foot. This habit is all about over-estimating your own abilities and saying you have the answers to a problem when you clearly don’t — or even don’t understand what the problem is in the first place. A great recent example of this was Carol Bartz at Yahoo!

Carol Bartz:

The fiery Bartz always believed she knew exactly what to do to turn the company around — even though she had no prior experience working in the consumer Internet space. Yet, the media immediately embraced Bartz for her self-confidence after her first conference call:”

Habit #4: They ruthlessly eliminate anyone who isn’t completely behind them

The best CEOs encourage open debate among the senior management team and employees. It’s all about finding the best ideas that serve the customers which is important. The spectacularly unsuccessful CEOs don’t like to have their opinions challenged. They also look out for junior executives who could one day be seen by the board of directors as a potential replacement CEO. Rather than let them stick around, the spectacularly unsuccessful CEOs seek to remove those potentially threatening executives — leaving only “yes men” and other executives who likely don’t have the right skills to be CEO one day.