Robin Sharma - Leadership Wisdom from the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari - The 8 Rituals of the Best Leaders

So what is this miraculous and time-honored leadership formula that has made me the toast of the business community? Who was this wise visitor who revolutionized our organization and showed me how to become the kind of visionary leader these topsy-turvy times call for? I know with all my heart that the answers to these questions will change the way you lead as well as the way you live. The time has come for you to discover them.

It was a bizarre scene. Now that I reflect on it, I still cannot believe it happened. I had just come out of my regular Monday morning meeting with my managers after hearing that GlobalView’s fortunes were going from bad to worse. In the meeting, one manager had informed me that some of our top programmers were thinking of going to work for a smaller company where their efforts would be more appreciated. He also said that the relationships between management and nonmanagement were growing more strained by the day. “They don’t trust us anymore,” he said angrily.

Another manager added, “Not only that, there’s no teamwork in this place. Before we got so big, everyone would help one another. People truly cared about a job well done. In the old days, if we were under a deadline to ship out a big order, I still remember all of us would work together, sometimes late into the night. I even remember times when the programmers and managers rolled up their sleeves to help people in shipping seal boxes and get them ready for loading onto the delivery trucks. Now it’s every person for himself. It’s a bunker mentality. I really can’t stand it anymore.”

Though I remained uncharacteristically calm during the meeting, I broke into a sweat as I walked down the long hallway that linked the boardroom to my office. The tension of the past few months was killing me, and I knew I had to do something to stop the company’s downward spiral. I just didn’t know who to talk to or what to do. Sure, I could hire a team of consultants to offer some quick-fix solutions to the problems that plagued us. But I felt I had to dig deeper to strike at the roots of what had caused us to go from being a visionary company full of passionate and compassionate people to a bulky bureaucracy where people could not wait for closing time.

By the time I reached my office, perspiration dripped off my forehead and my shirt was soaked. My executive assistant, seeing my state, rushed toward me and grabbed my arm. As she escorted me to the plush leather couch that sat next to one of the many floor-to-ceiling bookcases in my imperial office, she asked if she should call my doctor or perhaps even an ambulance. Not even giving her the courtesy of a reply, I lay down on the couch and closed my eyes. I had read somewhere that visualizing a soothing scene in the mind’s eye was a great way to calm down after a stressful encounter. And so I did my best.

Just as I began to relax, I was startled by a loud noise. It sounded as if someone had thrown a rock against one of the windows in my office. I leapt to my feet and ran to the large main window in search of the culprit. But I could see no one. Maybe the stress I had been suffering from was playing games with my imagination. As I slowly returned to the couch, it happened again, but this time even louder. ‘Who could it be?’ I wondered, thinking I should have my assistant call security immediately. ‘Probably another disgruntled computer programmer pushing his luck with the boss,’ I thought, growing even more annoyed at the disturbance. I darted to the window yet another time and, this time, saw a figure standing in the center of the sweeping rose garden that my second-floor office overlooked. As I squinted my eyes and looked more carefully, I was shocked by what I saw.

It was a striking young man who appeared to be wearing a hooded red robe, the kind I’d seen the Tibetan monks wear on a trip that I had made to that exotic land more than a decade earlier. As the rays of the sun illuminated the handsome, unlined face of the stranger, his robe flapped in the light wind, giving him a mysterious, almost ethereal appearance. He had a big smile on his face. And on his feet he wore sandals.

After realizing this was not some hallucination of an overworked CEO whose company was slowly sliding into oblivion, I pounded on the window in anger. The young man did not move. He remained in a fixed position and kept smiling. Then he offered me an enthusiastic wave. I could not stand this kind of disrespect. This clown was trespassing on my property, spoiling my rose garden and clearly attempting to make a fool out of me. I immediately commanded my executive assistant, Arielle, to call security. “Have them bring our strange visitor up to my office right now, before he gets away,” I ordered. “He needs to be taught a lesson—the likes of which he will never forget.”

Within minutes, four security guards were at my door, one of them carefully holding the young stranger, who appeared to be cooperating with them, by the arm. Surprisingly, the young man was still smiling and he radiated a sense of strength and serenity as he stood in the doorway to my office. He did not appear to be a bit concerned about being caught by security and marched into my office. And though he said nothing, I was also struck by the strange feeling that I was in the presence of a man of great knowledge. I experienced the same feeling I used to have when I was with my dad. I really cannot explain it any more than that. Call it intuition, but my gut told me the young man was far wiser than his youthful face showed. Actually, I think it was his eyes that gave it away.

In my years in business, I have discovered that a person’s eyes can reveal the truth. They can disclose warmth, insecurity, insincerity or integrity, if one simply takes the time to study them. The young man’s eyes told me he had wisdom. They also indicated he had a passion for life and perhaps a slight mischievous streak. They seemed to sparkle when the sunlight pouring into my office caught them. Seen up close, the young man’s ruby red robe was quite splendid in its texture and design. And despite being inside, he had chosen to leave the hood on, lending further mystery to his remarkable appearance.

“Who are you and why were you throwing rocks at my window?” I demanded, my face growing hot and my palms growing even more sweaty.

The young man remained silent, his full lips holding their smile. Then he started to move his hands, bringing them together in a prayer stance, offering me the traditional greeting of the people of India.

‘This guy is unbelievable!’ I thought. ‘First he treads through my rose garden, the garden I love looking at from my office when things get crazy. Then he starts pitching rocks at my window, scaring the heck out of me. And now, when he is surrounded by four burly, no-nonsense security guards who could floor him in an instant, he plays games with me.’

“Look, kid, I don’t know who you are or where you’ve come from, and to be honest, I don’t really care,” I exclaimed. “You can keep wearing that silly robe and giving me that silly smile. Be as cocky as you like because I plan to call the police. But before I do, why don’t you break that vow of silence you monks are so famous for and tell me why you are here?”

“I’m here to help you reinvent your leadership, Peter,” the young man replied in a surprisingly commanding tone. “I’m here to help you get your organization back on track. And then on to world-class status.”

How did he know my name? Maybe this guy was dangerous. ‘I’m glad I’ve got security right in front of me,’ I thought to myself. And what was all this nonsense about helping me “reinvent my leadership and get my company back on track?” If this clown was some kind of consultant trying to get my attention for a fat contract, he was going about it the wrong way. Why didn’t he just send me a proposal like the rest of those overpriced, underworked “change agents” who have an amazing gift for creating makework projects that ensure they never miss the target dates for their early retirements.