Leadership Wisdom From The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: The 8 Rituals of Visionary Leaders by Robin Sharma Read Free Book Online Page B

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 assure 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 passed 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 dinnerand 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