Robin Sharma has written a great book on being a leader, this is one of the best books on leadership. This book contains life changing information that will take your life to a greater level by helping you become the leader that you can become. Below are a few paragraphs from the book which I feel that highlight the wisdom that Robin has instilled within the pages. I highly recommend that you buy this book.
“Leaders 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.”
“Don’t forget, stop being so focused on what you will get when you realize your vision and begin to pay more attention to the why of what you are doing. Be dedicating your energies to the worthy purpose lying behind what you are doing and taking the focus off the rewards, you will get to your destination far more quickly.”
“Once a young student traveled many miles to find a famous spiritual master. When he finally met this man, he told him that his main goal in life was to be the wisest man in the land. This is why he needed the best teacher. Seeing the young boy’s enthusiasm, the master agreed to share his knowledge with him under his wing. ‘How long will it take before I find enlightenment? the boy immediately asked. ‘At least five years,’ replied the master. ‘That is too long,’ said the boy. ‘I cannot wait five years! What if I study twice as hard as the rest of your students? ‘Ten years,’ came the response. ‘Ten years! Well, then how about if I studied day and night, with every ounce of my mental concentration? Then how long would it take for me to become the wise man that I’ve always dreamed of becoming?’ ‘Fifteen years,’ replied the master. The boy grew very frustrated. ‘How come every time I tell you I will work harder to reach my goal, you tell me it will take longer?’ ‘The answer is clear,’ said the teacher. ‘With one eye focused on the reward, there is only one eye left to focus on your purpose.”
“Most people are so busy that they’ve never stepped back to consider how they could improve their own effectiveness. But as Thoreau said ‘It is not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The real question is what are you so busy about?’ Most people are ant chasers rather than elephant hunters if you get my metaphor; they spend their days concentrating on trifles that don’t contribute to the advancement of their objectives rather than going after the big game that would really get them to their professional and personal goals. They just don’t focus on the things that count. The second reason is that they don’t know where to start. They’ve been squandering their time for so long that they have no idea how to turn things around.”
“Most people let their days slip by without realizing that the days slip into weeks and the weeks slip into months and the months slip into years. They put second things first and major in the minor. Pretty soon your whole life has slipped by simply because you didn’t take charge of your days. As the sages used to tell me, ‘If you don’t act on life, life will act on you.”
“The Time Model For Visionary Leadership requires you to integrate the weekly wins you have promised yourself you will achieve over the coming seven days into your daily schedule. You see, by actually writing your weekly goals into your schedule, much as you would a meeting with your best customer, you will be sure to follow through on them. By carving out specific times to achieve your weekly wins before less worthy things get scheduled, you will be certain to give your priorities the priority they deserve. Remember this time leadership truth, if your priorities don’t get put into your planner, other people’s priorities will get put into your planner. The golden key to time leadership is really doing what you planned to do, when you planned to do it.”
“All the successful business people I had ever known had been dreamers. They had discovered their compelling cause through deep contemplation and had the courage to let it consume them. Geat organizations begin with great leaders. And every great leader has bold dreams.”
