Leadership Wisdom From The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari Part 2

Then something unbelievable happened. The ball seemed to speed up in the air, as if it had been blessed with the support of a convenient gust of wind. It now sped precisely toward its intended destination. A couple of groundskeepers, who had witnessed this display, had quickly taken off their hats so as not to miss seeing where the ball would land. Even a few of the golfers relaxing on the clubhouse verandah were leaning over the railing to see what would happen.

The ball then dropped down from the sky onto the green next to the first hole and began to roll slowly but directly toward it. No golfer had shot a hole in one on this course for quite some time, but perhaps my friend, adorned in the robe of a traditional monk and wearing nothing on his feet but his faithful sandals, would be the first to end this drought. The ball kept on inching toward the hole. Then it seemed to stop.

"Oh Julian," I said, in sincere disappointment. "So close and yet so far."

"Just wait, Peter. One of the leadership lessons I've learned is that immediately before a great victory, one will often experience some form of difficulty. The key is to maintain your focus and keep on believing."

Then, just when it appeared to all that the ball had come to rest, it rolled the remaining two inches and dropped into the hole.

"Hurrah!" one of the groundskeepers shouted at the top of his lungs after witnessing this extraordinary event. Julian threw his fists into the air and began to do a little dance, obviously delighted by his achievement.

I simply laughed and shook my head. "Wow, Julian. You never cease to amaze me! Congratulations!"

After regaining my composure, I asked Julian how he did it. "Did you actually intend to shoot a hole in one?"

"I did. But to be honest, I wasn't certain it would happen. I'd rehea.r.s.ed that very shot on this very course hundreds of times in my mind when I was up in the Himalayas. It began to be a game I would play, just to keep my imagination sharp. I had great fun doing it. I must admit that even I'm a little surprised that my mental training produced such a fabulous result. But the fact it worked proves the important point I brought you down here to make," offered Julian with a hint of mystery.

"Does it have something to do with the piece of the puzzle you gave me yesterday?"

"Yes, it does. Let me ask you this question, Peter. What do you think allowed me to shoot a hole in one the first time I stepped on a golf course after so many years?"

"Well, I think you answered the question yourself, Julian. It was because of your mental rehearsals during the time you were up in the Himalayas. You practiced doing what you just did so many times that you must have created something similar to a blueprint in your mind. Then you came down here today and, against the odds, translated that mental blueprint into reality."

"Very good, Peter. You always had a quick mind and clearly understand the process I followed. I'm impressed."

"You know I love the game of golf and will do anything to shave a couple of strokes off my game. So, over the past few months, I've been reading a lot of books on the lives and lessons of the world's greatest golfers. If there was one thing they all agreed on, it was that 'golf is a mental game.' Jack Nicklaus, for example, mentioned that after walking the course he was about to play, he would envision the shots he hoped to make hundreds of times in his mind's eye. This became his secret advantage. So when you told me you did the same thing, it really didn't come as such a surprise."

"And the greatest leaders in the world of business do the same thing," Julian stated.

"They all visualize their golf shots?" I replied with a grin.

"No, Peter. They clearly envision their future paths in the present moment. They manufacture a crystal-clear blueprint or picture of what their companies will look like in the coming years. They know intimately the exact nature of the success they and their people are striving for. And every step they take is designed to move them closer to their vividly imagined future. In a word, my friend, they have a vision that inspires them to reach for the stars. That is the ultimate secret of their greatness as leaders."

"It seems so simple. Just clearly envision my company's future and I'll become a great leader?" I queried.

"I didn't mean to suggest it was that simple. There are many more leadership practices and philosophies followed by enlightened, high-performing leaders that allow them to lead as they do. Yogi Raman taught them all to me and I a.s.sure you I will soon share them with you. But, for now, just remember that great organizations begin with great leaders. And every great leader has bold dreams. Effective leaders are visionaries who craft clear pictures of their companies' futures and then link them to the present activities of the people they are leading. In this way, all actions have a purpose: to bring the organizations closer to the result imagined by their leaders. It's just like Woodrow Wilson said, 'You are not here to merely make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget that errand.'"

"So well said."

"And remember, once you surrender to your vision, success begins to chase you. Ultimately, you really can't pursue success, success ensues. It flows as the unintended by-product of effective efforts concentrated in the direction of a worthy purpose."

"Yogi Raman, a monk living high in the Himalayas, taught you that?" I queried.

"Yogi Raman spent many years studying the fundamentals of leadership by studying the lives of history's greatest leaders. He shared with me a timeless system that anyone in a leadership position can use to inspire and energize his or her team into action and raise the organization to heights previously unimagined. Yogi Raman might not have known all the complexities of the modern world of business here in the West, but he didn't need to. The wisdom he shared with me is based on ancient leadership truths that have been pa.s.sed down through the centuries. These truths could also be characterized as immutable laws since, like the laws of nature, they have stood the test of time and will continue to do so. And while the world of business is drowning in a sea of change, these truths for leading people are not."

"So every great leader is a visionary. He or she has made a clear connection to the future by vividly imagining an end result. It's kind of like what Henry Kissinger was quoted as saying in the paper a few years back, 'The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have never been.' Is that an accurate way to summarize what you are telling me?"

"Yes it is, Peter. You seem to have grasped the concept well, perfectly actually. But I'll offer you another example anyway. Do you remember that famous eye surgeon we used to play golf with from time to time?"

"Sure. I really liked the guy. He had a wonderful sense of humor."

"That's him. He also used to organize that annual gala dinner and dance for all the ophthalmologists in the city. Remember what he named it?"

"How could I forget?" I replied with a grin. "The Eye Ball."

"Well, one afternoon, we were out on the course and I remember him telling me about one of his very young patients who suffered from a medical condition known as amblyopia. Apparently, another doctor had mistakenly put a patch over the child's good eye rather than the one that needed protection. After the patch was taken off, it was discovered, to the surprise and sadness of all concerned, that the little boy had completely lost the sight in that good eye. Apparently, the eye covering had stunted the development of his vision and caused blindness. That's the phenomenon that the term amblyopia describes."

"Remarkable."

"I've never forgotten that story, Peter. I also think it applies to the leadership lesson I'm offering to you. In today's business world, too many leaders become creatures of habit. They do the same things in the same way with the same people every day. They rarely have new thoughts, generate fresh ideas or take calculated risks. Instead, they confine their leadership to a secure area of comfort and refuse to leave it. Such leaders eventually suffer from their own form of amblyopia."

"How so?"

"By spending their days doing the same old things, it's like they've placed patches over their good eyes. They become unable to see the tremendous opportunities presented by these rapidly changing times. And, eventually, by not using their natural vision, they lose it and grow blind. Never let this happen to you, my friend. Take your blinders off and start looking for new opportunities, The best way to succeed in the future is to create it As Helen Keller once said, 'I'd rather be blind than have sight without vision.'"

Julian continued. "Now that you understand that the most enlightened and effective leaders are 'visionary leaders,' my duty is to give you the tools and skills to help you become one. And this is where Yogi Raman's leadership system comes in."

"First may I ask you a quick question?"

"Sure," Julian replied as we strolled back to the clubhouse.

"I really want to learn what you have to teach me. You know that GlobalView is in big trouble. My best programmers are jumping ship, morale has been destroyed, no one trusts management and teamwork is a thing of the past. In an industry that demands relentless innovation, we seem to have lost our creative fire. And all the change that we are being forced to deal with is crippling my people. Technology is changing, the industry is changing and our customers' expectations are changing. On top of all that, I just can't seem to figure out the direction in which the company needs to move."

I continued to share my frustrations with Julian. "What I'm really trying to tell you is that I know I need to improve my leadership abilities. At Digitech, I was promoted to higher and higher management positions. And though I went to a few leadership development courses here and there, in all those years, no one ever really took me aside and taught me how to lead people. No one ever showed me what to do to deeply motivate my team or communicate more effectively. No one explained how I could boost productivity while enhancing employee commitment. I've never even learned something as fundamental as the art of managing my time and getting things done.

"And now that I run my own company it's even worse. I always seem to have far too much to do and too little time. Everyone expects me to have all the answers to all their questions. I'm constantly under stress and take out my frustration on my people, which only makes things worse. As for a sense of balance between my professional and personal life, it's just a dream. I say to myself 'next year will be the year I get back into shape or start spending more time with my family.' But things never seem to slow down. So, if you don't mind, I'm going to really take advantage of our time together and dig deep into the elements of great leadership. I want to ask you some of the basic questions I've always wanted to ask but never did, for fear of looking foolish." "Please do," Julian replied gently.

"Okay. First of all, what does the word 'leadership' really mean? What does it really stand for? Though I'm running a huge company with more than 2,500 employees, I've never really been able to pinpoint the meaning of the word."

"It's like I said before, leadership is all about focused action in the direction of a worthy purpose. Leadership is about realizing that the impossible is generally the untried. Many people think that a leader is the man or the woman with the t.i.tle of CEO or president. Actually, leadership is not about position, it is about action. Your managers can be great leaders. Your programmers can be great leaders. The shop foreman down on the factory floor can be a great leader. You see, Peter, to lead is to inspire, energize and influence. Leadership is not about managing things but about developing people. Visionary leaders are those who understand that the true a.s.sets of any organization go up the elevator in the morning and down it every night. Quite simply, leadership is about helping people to liberate the fullness of their talents while they pursue a vision you have helped them understand is a worthy and meaningful one. You can do this. Your managers can do this. Even your frontline workers can show leadership in the work that they do. And the truly effective leaders have to live in two places at once." "I'm not sure I understand you."

"The best leaders recognize that leadership is a craft, not a gift. They constantly work to refine their art. And one of the things they work hardest to develop is an ability to be present-based but future-focused. Great leaders have mastered the twin skills of managing the present while, at the same time, inventing the future. That's why I say they have to live in two places at the same time. They need to live in the present and guide the improvement of current operations by enhancing quality, streamlining systems and raising customer-care standards. But at the same time, they must create, shape and nurture a clear blueprint for the future. Yogi Raman put it elegantly when he said, 'The visionary leader is one who has learned how to focus on the summit while clearing the path.' A company without a fanatical commitment to refining operations will soon be surpa.s.sed by its compet.i.tion. But a company without a strikingly clear ideal to work toward will soon be out of business."

"And is this where the piece of the jigsaw puzzle you left with me yesterday comes in?"

"Yes. Do you recall what the words on it said?" Julian asked.

Luckily, I had brought the piece with me and quickly lifted it from the front pocket of the yellow golf shirt I had on.

"I couldn't figure out what the design on it was but I was able to read the words."

"Fine. And what did they say?"

"Ritual 1: Link Paycheck to Purpose," I answered dutifully. "I'm not quite sure what that means, Julian."

"You will be before long."

RITUAL 1.

Link Paycheck to Purpose

CHAPTER FIVE.

The Ritual of a Compelling Future Focus

Life affords no higher pleasure than that of surmounting difficulties, pa.s.sing from one stage of success to another, forming new wishes and seeing them gratified. He that labors in any great or laudable undertaking has his fatigues first supported by hope and afterwards supported by joy.

Samuel Johnson While Julian and I had been chatting on the verandah, the sun had slowly set, making way for a peaceful yet particularly humid summer's evening. Despite the heat, he steadfastly refused to take off his robe. "I'm just fine," Julian replied courteously. "But I sure would appreciate a gla.s.s of ice water."

"With pleasure," I responded, quickly signaling the waiter to come over once again and informing him of my unusually attired guest's simple request. I had realized that Julian truly was a different man from the hard-living, stress-ridden corporate warrior he once was. Gone was the affinity for alcohol, recklessness and profanity that had characterized his notorious lifestyle. He was a model of good health, good judgment and a testament to the principles he was sharing.

"You know, Peter, there are a lot of so-called management gurus. They travel from city to city giving seminar after seminar and write book after book. While many of them develop useless buzzwords and jargon to justify their existences, the best ones really do have valuable ideas that would help improve organizations. The problem lies in what I call the Performance Gap. That's what prevents many businesses from reaching levels of greatness."

"The Performance Gap?"

"It's a theory that explains why knowledge generally doesn't translate into results. You see, all too often we know what we should do but we don't do what we know. We are human beings when what we really should be are humans doing. Many leaders know they should have a clear sense of their future vision and powerfully communicate it to the people they have the privilege to lead. They know they need to take steps to develop deeper connections with those under their leadership. The problem is that they have failed to develop the action habit. And, therefore, they put off doing what they intuitively know they should do. They spend their days majoring in minor things and slowly the weeks, months and years slip by them. These types of leaders never fully realize that 90 percent of leadership success comes in the follow-through, in the implementation and execution of the knowledge they have gathered. Everyone says we are so fortunate to live in this age of information. But what most people fail to appreciate is that information alone is not power. Power and compet.i.tive advantage come only when sound information is decisively acted upon."

"That's so true, Julian. Most of us in our company know at least a few dozen things we could probably implement in a week or so to at least improve the situation. And yet we are so busy with the daily emergencies that always seem to burden us that we end up putting off doing them until the next quarter and then the quarter after that."

"Quite right. So remember, as I share Yogi Raman's leadership wisdom with you, that the key to improving your leadership performance is to pa.s.sionately act on it. Don't squirrel it away hoping you will have time down the road to study it and put it into play. Recognize its power and deeply embed it into your daily routine so that you practice its principles daily. Make it a part of your leadership and your life right now. Only then will you see quantum improvements in your effectiveness as a leader of people and in the productivity and performance of GlobalView. As noted by Herodotus so many years ago, 'This is the bitterest pain among men, to have much knowledge but no power.'"

"Any advice on how I might go about 'making the wisdom a part of my leadership and my life today' as you suggest?"

"Most important of all, you must begin to ritualize the wisdom you are about to discover," Julian replied.

"Huh?"

"The best way to ensure these leadership lessons become a part of who you are is to create rituals around them. That is one of the most timeless and essential of all the leadership truths I will deliver to you."

"Can you give me an example of a ritual, just so I'm clear about what you're getting at?"

"Sure. One simple ritual the sages practiced with an almost obsessive sense of commitment was getting up at dawn. They felt this gave them a tremendous head start on their days and fostered self-discipline. By engaging in this simple practice every single day, it became a part of who they were. A time came when they couldn't have slept in even if they tried."

"One of my managers is the same way, Julian. As a boy, his father forced him to get up at 5:00 A.M. every single day of the week. He told him he was doing it for his own good, 'to build character.' Now, even if he's on vacation, he still gets up at that unG.o.dly time of the day. Perhaps that's why he's one of the most productive people in our company."

"Personal productivity is generated in many ways. Getting up early is certainly one of the best of them. But the point I'm making is that both the Great Sages of Sivana and your top manager ritualized the discipline of getting up early. Other people have ritualized the discipline of exercising every lunchtime and still others have ritualized the practice of reading every night. What I'm really trying to say, and this is so important for you to understand, is that the only way you will become a visionary leader and liberate the fullness of your leadership talents is by making the truths I'm about to reveal to you part of your daily routine. You need to make them iron-clad rituals, as all the visionary leaders before you have done. In this way you will move beyond simply knowing to doing."

"Could brushing your teeth be considered a ritual?" I asked earnestly.

"Definitely. Would you ever dream of going into the office without brushing your teeth?"

"I wouldn't dare inflict such pain on my staff, Julian," I replied with a hearty laugh, my first in a long time. "Cruel and unusual punishment has been banned in this part of the world, in case you forgot!"

Julian chuckled but then quickly returned to the point he was making. "You brush your teeth every single morning and wouldn't dream of not doing it. So it's a perfect example of a ritual. If you can integrate the leadership truths from Yogi Raman's system into your routine to the same degree, your success as a visionary leader will be guaranteed. This I promise you."

"Great, I'm feeling excited already. So far you've explained that enlightened and effective leaders all have a vividly imagined future vision. They know precisely where they want to go and concentrate their energies on getting there. You've also taught me that the leadership truths that make up Yogi Raman's timeless success system need to be made into rituals so that I practice them daily, almost unconsciously, in spite of how busy I get. Would it be possible for you to give me the elements of this ancient system now?" I asked, barely containing my curiosity.

Julian looked up to the sky, which had now grown dark and star-filled. He gazed for what seemed like an eternity at one star in particular, squinting his eyes in an effort to see it more clearly. Then he muttered something under his breath. While I couldn't make out all that he said, I did hear, "So there you are, my friend. I've missed you for a while."

Then, realizing that he had drifted off, he quickly caught himself and returned his attention to me, looking mildly embarra.s.sed. "Sorry about that, Peter. When one spends as much time alone as I do, one's social graces tend to diminish. I apologize for my mind wandering off like that. It's just that I spotted something I haven't been able to find all week."

After a moment, he continued. "Yogi Raman taught me that there were a series of specific rituals practiced by visionary leaders, eight to be precise. These eight disciplines represented a distillation of all the leadership wisdom that had been pa.s.sed down through the ages and practiced by the world's greatest leaders of people. These were not the quick-fix, flavor-of-the-month strategies that are so prevalent in today's businessplace. Instead, they reflected the ageless truths about how to deeply stir men and women into action, how to cultivate tremendous loyalty and respect and how to bring out the very best in the people you lead. Yogi Raman, in all his brilliance, fashioned these eight rituals into the leadership system I've promised to share with you for some time now. You have been patient and sincere in your interest to learn a better way to lead. And so the time has come for me to teach the system to you."

"Would it be fair to a.s.sume that the piece of the puzzle you left with me yesterday after your surprise visit to my office has something to do with the first ritual of Yogi Raman's leadership system?"

"Indeed it does, Peter. The First Ritual of Visionary Leaders is Link Paycheck to Purpose. Simply put, this is the ritual of a compelling future focus. As I have already told you, all enlightened leaders have a richly imagined vision of their organization's future. But having a vision is not enough. The vision must excite the minds and touch the hearts of the men and women of your organization. People will go far beyond the call of duty when their leader paints for them a future vision that is compelling and important. Purpose is the most powerful motivator in the world.

"Yogi Raman told me that one of the greatest human hungers is the need we all have to make a difference in the lives of others. People have a deep inner need to be a part of something larger than themselves. Whether we are speaking of the CEO or the shipping clerk, every human being needs to feel that he or she is making some sort of contribution. Great leaders appreciate this hunger and constantly communicate to their followers how what they do in their daily work positively affects the world at large. They also fan the flames of excitement within their organizations by continually showing their people that the work they are doing is moving them closer to a compelling cause. To put it simply, these leaders give their followers a reason to get up in the morning."

"Very interesting. Any ideas on how I could apply this to my situation?"

"Earlier you said that low morale is stifling GlobalView's growth." "True."

"Then remember this, Peter. There's no such thing as an unmotivated person, only an unmotivated employee. You can take any member of your team whom you believe lacks motivation and initiative and scrutinize his or her personal life and guess what you'll see?"

"Dare I guess?"

"You will see that that person has hobbies that he loves. You will see that he has interests that excite him. You will discover that he works late into the night on his stamp collection or spends hours learning new languages or pa.s.sionately playing musical instruments. Every single person on this planet has the ability to get excited and motivated about something. The leader's primary task is to get his team excited and motivated about the compelling cause that is his vision. Rather than constantly ordering your people to work toward the future goals you have developed, why not give them a reason to do so? And if you find that they are still unmotivated, understand that it is because you still have not given them enough reasons to buy into your picture of the future. Remember what the psychologists have known for many years: human beings naturally move away from pain and toward pleasure. Visionary leaders find ways to a.s.sociate pleasure with the daily work of their employees and the ultimate cause they are working toward. They link paycheck to purpose."

Julian continued. "What's your current corporate mission statement?"

"C'mon, I'm tired of hearing about mission statements. I think that whole idea has been done to death, if you don't mind me saying so."

"I agree. But the fact remains that crafting a statement of your organization's future can only serve to refocus the energies of your people on the things that count. So bear with me, please."

"To be the preferred supplier of our customers, to create high-quality products and to grow into a five-billion-dollar company within five years," I stated proudly.

"Do you truly think a mission statement like that will inspire people to give their best to the company? Do you seriously believe you have given your people a reason to get out of bed every morning? Have you really shown them a compelling cause they can work toward? Every company wants to be the customer's preferred supplier. And about the five billion dollars, I'll let you in on a secret. You're probably the only one in the entire company who is excited about that one. It has no emotional impact on the average person within the organization, working hard to pay off the mortgage and to put her kids through school."

Julian's words stung me. I knew he wanted to challenge me to explore new pathways of thought. But he was. .h.i.tting pretty close to home. I had drawn up that mission statement myself. And it meant a lot to me.

"Let's look for ways to reframe your future vision to make it more compelling to those you lead. What business are you in?"

"We make software."

"And what is your primary market?"