Leadership Wisdom From The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: The 8 Rituals of Visionary Leaders by Robin Sharma
Authors: Robin Sharma
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other events for the difficulties GlobalView faced. It was time for me to clean up my act. It was time for me to “be the change.”
“The imperfections of your character empower the imperfections of all those you lead,” continued Julian. “When you are rude to an employee, you implicitly give him permission to be rude to someone else. When you lie to someone, you condone her lying to someone else. When you are late for a meeting, you silently say that punctuality is not important. And all these messages powerfully shape the corporate culture that serves as the framework for everything you and your followers do.”
“How do I begin to be the model, Julian? I’ve practiced my current style of leadership for so long, I’m not sure where to start the change.”
“First I suggest you do a Leadership Audit. Go deep within your heart and reflect on your strengths, and even more importantly on your weaknesses, as a leader. Get to know yourself. As I said earlier,
awareness precedes change.
Then, as with all change initiatives, whether personal or organizational, start off small. I recently read about a local company that was experiencing challenges similar to those of GlobalView. Morale was low, productivity had plummeted, creativity had dried up and profits were nonexistent.
“The leader came up with a simple idea Realizing the fact that her frontline people rarely saw her was contributing to the company’s poor performance, she began the simple discipline of taking regular walks around the shop floor. While doing so, she noticed that unlike her impeccable executive office upstairs, the factory was absolutely filthy. Garbage was strewn along the walkways, graffiti lined thewalls and a thick coat of dirt clung to everything. Clearly, no one cared about the place where they worked.
“As the leader performed this regular walkabout, walking and talking with the workers, she would quietly pick up garbage, hoping that this symbolic gesture might somehow influence their thinking. Soon, the workers followed her example. While walking with her, they too would pick up the rubbish that had littered the floors and put it into the nearest trash can. Then, noticing how much better the place started to look, they asked the leader if they could paint the walls in the colors they wanted. She quickly agreed. Next came a wholesale clean-up effort, spearheaded by the factory workers, who now began to take great pride in their workplace. This, in turn, led to improved morale, improved productivity and a sense of ownership in the minds of all of the employees. They had come to take a genuine interest in their work and in the organization they served. This positive force of change spread through the entire company and it quickly returned to good health.”
“And it all started by a simple act of the leader.”
“Small acts can lead to great results, Peter. Never forget that your people are watching you. They are looking to you to see what is acceptable behavior and what isn’t. So be the ideal of what you want your people to be. And borrow the strategy of that enlightened leader in the story. Get out of that palatial office suite you have barricaded yourself into and go talk to the people that really count — the men and women who look to you for leadership. Listen to them. Find out what makes them tick. Listen to their hopes and their dreams and their frustrations. Get a clear sense of what the environment is really like within your company. Most leaders haven’t a clue. As Yogi Raman once told me, ‘The fish is often the last to notice the water in which it swims.’”
With that sage advice, Julian shook my hand and began to head off into the darkness. Then he stopped and turned around.
“Oh, there’s something I forgot to give you. It will provide you with something to think about until we meet again next week.” He reached into the long robe that he had refused to remove all evening, despite the intense heat. He pulled
“The imperfections of your character empower the imperfections of all those you lead,” continued Julian. “When you are rude to an employee, you implicitly give him permission to be rude to someone else. When you lie to someone, you condone her lying to someone else. When you are late for a meeting, you silently say that punctuality is not important. And all these messages powerfully shape the corporate culture that serves as the framework for everything you and your followers do.”
“How do I begin to be the model, Julian? I’ve practiced my current style of leadership for so long, I’m not sure where to start the change.”
“First I suggest you do a Leadership Audit. Go deep within your heart and reflect on your strengths, and even more importantly on your weaknesses, as a leader. Get to know yourself. As I said earlier,
awareness precedes change.
Then, as with all change initiatives, whether personal or organizational, start off small. I recently read about a local company that was experiencing challenges similar to those of GlobalView. Morale was low, productivity had plummeted, creativity had dried up and profits were nonexistent.
“The leader came up with a simple idea Realizing the fact that her frontline people rarely saw her was contributing to the company’s poor performance, she began the simple discipline of taking regular walks around the shop floor. While doing so, she noticed that unlike her impeccable executive office upstairs, the factory was absolutely filthy. Garbage was strewn along the walkways, graffiti lined thewalls and a thick coat of dirt clung to everything. Clearly, no one cared about the place where they worked.
“As the leader performed this regular walkabout, walking and talking with the workers, she would quietly pick up garbage, hoping that this symbolic gesture might somehow influence their thinking. Soon, the workers followed her example. While walking with her, they too would pick up the rubbish that had littered the floors and put it into the nearest trash can. Then, noticing how much better the place started to look, they asked the leader if they could paint the walls in the colors they wanted. She quickly agreed. Next came a wholesale clean-up effort, spearheaded by the factory workers, who now began to take great pride in their workplace. This, in turn, led to improved morale, improved productivity and a sense of ownership in the minds of all of the employees. They had come to take a genuine interest in their work and in the organization they served. This positive force of change spread through the entire company and it quickly returned to good health.”
“And it all started by a simple act of the leader.”
“Small acts can lead to great results, Peter. Never forget that your people are watching you. They are looking to you to see what is acceptable behavior and what isn’t. So be the ideal of what you want your people to be. And borrow the strategy of that enlightened leader in the story. Get out of that palatial office suite you have barricaded yourself into and go talk to the people that really count — the men and women who look to you for leadership. Listen to them. Find out what makes them tick. Listen to their hopes and their dreams and their frustrations. Get a clear sense of what the environment is really like within your company. Most leaders haven’t a clue. As Yogi Raman once told me, ‘The fish is often the last to notice the water in which it swims.’”
With that sage advice, Julian shook my hand and began to head off into the darkness. Then he stopped and turned around.
“Oh, there’s something I forgot to give you. It will provide you with something to think about until we meet again next week.” He reached into the long robe that he had refused to remove all evening, despite the intense heat. He pulled
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