Leadership - Robin Sharma - 1 of 3

1. Most people come to the end of their lives regretting that only a small part of their lives have really been lived with their full potential.

2. The real meaning of ‘Guru’ is ‘Dispeller of Darkness’.

3. Every dream starts small. Wal-Mart the largest company in the world started with just one store. Fedex carried just 15 packages on its very first day of business. Today it carries 1.1 million packages per day.

4. One needs to take one day at a time. Individuals become extraordinary by taking one day at a time.

5. ‘The Monk who sold his Ferrari’ was self-published. Robin’s father and Robin sold copies out of the back of their car. For Robin’s first seminar only 23 people turned up of which most were family members.

6. Leaders need to be philosophical. They need to take time to think and reflect.

7. Pain has been the greatest teacher.

8. Fears are life’s way to help you grow. If you are a human being you must have fears. Need to run towards things that continuously frighten you.

9. Whenever one attends a seminar take copious notes. Through this more parts of the brain get used, retention increases and one becomes an active learner. Beethoven used to say that by writing down everything, he didn’t feel the need to read it again.

10. At seminars one needs to show up 1000%. The Echo Effect - Life returns what you give to it.

11. The competitive advantage of an organization should be an ability to grow leaders faster than competition.

12. In a leadership culture people behave like leaders. People take responsibility for results. Everybody shows leadership behaviour but knows his/her role in the organization. Everyone feels empowered.

13. One could look at each department as a small business within the organization. For instance the man in the Mail Room can consider himself the chief of the Mail room business where every other department and employee in the company invests and therefore the Mail room becomes accountable for delivering results to the whole organisation.

14. Most people need to feel appreciated. They need to feel great. They need to buy-in to the leader’s dream. They need to see how they can contribute to it.

15. People need to be themselves at work. They need to celebrate. They need to be proud of what they are doing. They need to have fun. Only when work becomes fun can an organization become a great place to work in and people will start giving off their best.

16. The whole of life will be defined by the small contributions one makes.

17. The choices one makes today will determine one’s tomorrows.

18. Your days are your life in miniature.

19. A lady who used to earn her living through washing clothes used to collect the coins she earned and deposit some of them in the nearby bank on a regular basis. These would be her small contributions. Nearing the end of her life the bank informed her that she had nearly a quarter of a million dollars. And wanted to know what she intended to do with the money. Besides wanting to give money to her family, she decided to set up a scholarship for ‘poor children who can still dream’. One needs to dream. She dreamt of seeing the first child who had used that scholarship pass out before she died. Her dream was fulfilled. She died at the age of 90 years.

20. Leadership is inspirational. No matter what your role is, one can make an impact and achieve something of significance.