Leadership - Robin Sharma - 2 of 3

21. The tragedy of life is not death but what we let die inside of us while we live - Norman Cousins.

22. Adults are children in grown up bodies. Leaders need to learn from little children. Children are passionate. If leaders are passionate then this feeling cascades through the entire organization. Children are fearless. The limits which leaders put on themselves are not the limits of the world. Children are curious. Children ask. Leaders must realize that success is a numbers game. One needs to continuously ‘ask’. “SW x 3” means “Some will, Some won’t, So What”. One needs to fail one’s way to success. The only real failure is the failure to try. And if one thinks about it there is no ‘trying’. Either one does it or does not do it.

23. Failure is the price of ambition. Through failure one gets to greatness. Most great businesses have failed more than the average ones. Failure is the highway to success.

24. If you are not failing at least once a week then possibly you are not reaching higher.

25. There are other things which leaders can learn from children. Children are open. They can connect. They find it easy to create relationships.

26. How do you self-remember ? All of us were children. We need to capture the qualities of the child we once were. What would the child you once were think of the adult you’ve become?

27. No matter how long you live it won’t be for very long.

28. Leadership is not a popularity game. It’s not about doing what’s easy. It’s about doing what’s right. We are too bothered about being judged. Or about what people are thinking. We are too afraid of conflicts.

29. Everyone is a leader. Everyone can show leadership behaviour and thinking no matter what one is doing in the organization. Even if one has a world-class strategy one needs people to implement it. Leadership is all about creating a culture of leadership.

30. Do good by your people and they will do good by your customers.

31. Business is relationships.

32. Show personal leadership. Organizational leadership needs personal leadership. Before one attempts to make others feel good one must feel good oneself. One needs to work on one’s insecurities.

33. Leadership is about success and significance. Leadership is about big ideas. Taking social responsibility. About leaving a legacy. About doing good by your people.

34. One needs to not only do one’s part but also make a difference. It’s about absolute, personal responsibility. Every time one blames one’s boss one is giving up one’s power.

35. Language shapes meaning. One can tell whether an organization’s culture is a victim culture or a leadership culture by examining the language used.

36. Problems reveal genius. They offer opportunities to evolve. Only those who are dead have no problems. Don’t play victim.

37. Practise small daily acts of greatness. Everyone wants to feel great and appreciated. Listen with empathy.

38. Leadership is flawless execution around the fundamentals. Leaders are consistent.

39. There are 4 reasons why people don’t change :

• They are afraid of failing.
• They experience fears. Fear of being laughed at, fear of losing etc.
• They do not have faith. Don’t believe it will work. People who are cynical are those who have been hurt. They don’t want to get up.
• They don’t think it is fun.

40. Transformation happens one step at a time. The 1% wins. The Power of a Start.

41. The Law of Diminishing Intent states that the more time elapses between commitment and action the less becomes the probability of doing something. Leaders act.

42. One needs to do something to move it forward today. Only 1%. One little change leads to a chain reaction. The Power of a Start.

43. The first step in Transformation is Awareness. Better awareness leads to better choices and better choices leads to better results.

44. Price of discipline is always less than the pain of regret.

45. The swan effect is when we see and admire the swans beautifully moving in the water. So smooth and graceful. What we do not see is their effort of paddling under the water.

46. What difference did you make ?

47. A mistake is a mistake only if it is made twice. One is expected to make mistakes as part of one’s learning. But one must learn from one’s mistakes. If one does not learn from one’s mistakes the first time then it really is a mistake if committed the second time around.

48. Leadership is about awareness.

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.