Your Highest Freedom

One of my favorite books is Man’s Search for Meaning, written by Viktor Frankl, an Austrian psychotherapist who survived confinement in Nazi concentration camps. So many of those around him perished. They lost hope. They fell into despair, then death. He managed to get through the ordeal by applying what I believe is our highest human freedom: our ability to choose how we respond to and process any event that happens to us. We can look for some good or we can become haunted by the bad. Frankl writes, “everything can be taken from a person but one thing, the last of the human freedoms to choose one’s attitude to a given set of circumstances, to choose one’s way.” Such a magnificent thought.

“Everything can be taken from a person but one thing, the last of the human freedoms to choose one’s attitude to a given set of circumstances, to choose one’s way”

(these are not my thoughts J and are copied from Robin’s book)

Ask Powerful Questions

One of the fastest ways to find the solution to an issue or challenge you are facing is to ask the right question. The right question inevitably leads you to the correct answer. Questions matter. In business, remarkable performers are dazzlingly good at getting to the right question. The one that speeds them to the place they need to reach and offers them the missing piece they need to find. And in life, asking yourself a powerful question will allow you to step into a whole new set of possibilities that you may have missed while you were locked into an old way of seeing things. Like the lesson amid a so-called failure. Or the opportunity that inhabits a setback.

Here are six questions that I share with the clients with whom we do leadership development work. I suggest you write them down and then find some time today to answer them in your journal.

• What one thing – if I did it – would profoundly improve the way I work (and how I live)?
• What needs to happen between now and the end of the next 90 days for me to feel that this is the best quarter of my work and personal life? (remember, clarity precedes mastery)
• Who do I need to express appreciation to? (make your list long)
• What would I like to improve, professionally and personally?
• What could I be grateful for that I’m currently not grateful for?
• How do I want to be remembered at my retirement party?

And as you make this day extraordinary, I’ll leave you with one of the my favorite quotes (which comes from Mark Twain): “If everyone was satisfied with themselves, there would be no heroes”

“In businesses, remarkable performers are dazzlingly good at getting to the right question, the one that speeds them to the place they need to reach”

(these are not my thoughts J and are copied from Robin’s book)

Be Unreasonable

One of my favorite quotes comes from George Bernard Shaw, who noted, “the reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man”. Please think about that idea for a moment. I suggest it’s a big one.

Sure, be practical and operate intelligently as you move through your world. I agree, it’s important to use common sense. True, foolish risks can lead to difficult consequences. But having said that, don’t be so scared of failure and disappointment that you fail to dream. Don’t always be so reasonable and practical and sensible that you refuse to seize glorious opportunities when they show up. Push the envelope as to what’s possible for you. Remember, critics have always laughed at the visions of the bold thinkers and remarkable visionaries. Ignore them. And know that every outstanding piece of human progress was achieved through the heroic efforts of some one who was told their idea was impossible to realize. The world needs more dreamers. Unreasonable souls who fight the urge to be ordinary. Who resist the seduction of complacency and doing things the way they have always been done. You can be one of them. Beginning today.

Kahlil Gibran, in The Prophet, made the point for more beautifully than I ever could, when he wrote, “ the lust for comfort murders the passion of the soul”

“Remember, critics have always laughed at the visions of bold thinkers and remarkable visionaries. Ignore them”

(these are not my thoughts J and are copied from Robin’s book)

Ideas are worthless

Controversial chapter title? Perhaps. But I think it’s true. I’ve heard so many gurus say that ideas are the currency of success and thinking drives business and we become what we consider all day long. But, to me, ideation without execution is mere delusion (I dare you to share that line at your next team meeting). In other words, an idea no matter how big, only assumes value when it’s acted upon and brought to life.

This world of ours is full of great thinkers who never realized their greatness. They were strong on the thinking side but weak on execution side. And they suffered as a result of that constraint. (German poet Johann von Goethe said, “whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic.”) World-class people get both right. They are superb strategically and brilliant tactically. Really creative and really good at getting things done.

So jump-start your commitment around execution. Yes, capture your ideas and bask in the glow of a remarkably imaginative thought that has the power to improve how you world or the way you live. And then reach deep into yourself and have the discipline to do whatever it takes to make that idea a reality. Because nothing happens until you move.

“This world of our is full of great thinkers who never realized their greatness”

(these are not my thoughts J and are copied from Robin’s book)

Don't Fight for your Excuses

“I can’t be better than I am at work”. “ I don’t have the time to exercise”. “I can’t do this project (or reach that dream) because it’s too hard/scary/impractical”. It’s so easy very human to fight for your excuses. And the more you fight for them, the more they own you. Don’t feed what you don’t want. Let them go. And step into your power.

“We have forty million reasons for failure – but not a single excuse”, observed Rudyard Kipling. Successful people don’t make excuses. They create results. And no great like was ever built on a foundation of excuses. So stop making them. Most of them are self-created delusions, designed to help you avoid doing the things that you are afraid to do. Yes, beneath every excuse lives a fear. A fear of changing. A fear of the unknown. A fear of failure. A fear of success.

Today can be the day you burn the bridges that lead to your excuses (please do). Today can be the day you step up to the possibilities that lie just off the beaten path of your life. Today can be the day you Lead Without Tittle. And access your genuine greatness.

“No great life was ever built on a foundation of excuses. So stop making them”

(these are not my thoughts J and are copied from Robin’s book)

What ever happened to commitment?

When I was in Dubai delivering a leadership presentation for the Young Presidents’ organization a while ago, a woman approached me and said, “Robin, I loved reading The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, but you make it all sound so easy. Making improvements in my life is hard”. Hmm. Made me think. A lot. Here’s where I am at with that one.

We live in a world seduced by easy. We want to look great and be spectacularly fit but we don’t want to have to exercise to get there. We want to be super successful in our careers but we wonder if there’s a way to reach world class without having to work hard and be disciplined (every great executive is strikingly disciplined, as is every great company). We dream of living fearless, joy-filled lives, but we all too often avoid the very best practices (like getting up early, taking risks, setting goals and reading) that are certain to deliver us to our ideals. Nothing comes for free. There truly are no free lunches. The best things in life require sacrifice and devotion. Each of us, to get to our own unique forms of personal professional greatness, must pay the price. And the more we pay, the more we’ll receive.

Wanting to live your life best life, at work and at home, without having to work at it and stay disciplined around our important To Do’s is like wanting an amazing garden without having to plant anything. Or like hoping to be in superb physical condition without having to give up the daily chocolate bar. Or like praying to have a great business by swallowing some magic pill. Whatever happened to commitment? And dedication?

Great lives don’t just occur out of the blue. They are crafted and built, like the Taj Mahal and the Great Wall of China, block by block, day by day. And superb businesses don’t just appear, They are forged through continuous and never ending improvement and effort. Let’s not fall into believing that the best things in life come without effort. Give your best, and the best will come to you. Guaranteed.

“Nothing comes for free. There truly are no free lunches. The best things in life require sacrifice and devotion”

(these are not my thoughts J and are copied from Robin’s book)

Our team’s only as good as each one of us

Watched a road crew at work the morning while walking to school. The team leader was having a bad day. A bus driver was hitting her horn because a traffic barricade was slowing her down. The team leader yelled, threw a fist into the air and then kicked over the barricade. One angry man.

Then he started yelling at his crew. Mocking them. Spitting out his venom. Ranting like a madman. They looked down at the ground and kept on working. I sense they felt humiliated by the public spectacle. But their leader continued. Pouring his toxic waste out onto the busy street for all to see. Tonight he’ll blame his crew for a low-performance day. And probably scream at his kids.

Our team will never be greater than “each one of us”. Each one of us set standard to which each one of us can rise. Each finger affects the strength of the hand. When organizations bring me in to help their people get to world class performance, I gently remind everyone in the room that “everything begins with you”. I suggest that’s mission critical idea. Forget blaming others – that’s just excusing yourself. And it all starts with your inner world. “External leadership begins with internal mastery” You can’t help in building an excellent organization until you commit to becoming an excellent person.

That team leader I saw out on the street might want to look in the mirror. Might want to cleanup his own messes. Deal with character. Open his own heart. “Soft stuff, Robin” you say? No, I really don’t think so. It’s hard stuff. (How many people have the courage to do it?) The stuff that ultimately drives better business results. Boosts profits. Gets organizations to greatness. And did I mention that it all starts with you? Because it really does.

“You set the standard to which you all can rise. Each finger affects the strength of the hand”

(these are not my thoughts J and are copied from Robin’s book)