I speak and write a lot about being caring and respectful to people. Treat your people well and
they’ll treat your customers well. That’s a no – brainer. Help people get to their goals and they’ll happily
help you to get to yours. I’ll take that value to my grave. See the best in people and be the most
compassionate person you know. But being kind doesn’t mean being weak. Being a human doesn’t mean
that you don’t need to be strong and courageous when required by the circumstances. Not once have I
ever suggested that. Extraordinary leadership is a balance between being tender yet tough, compassionate
yet courageous, part saint and part warrior, friendly yet firm. (By the way, to help you get to world class
professionally and personally, I’ve recorded an idea – rich and exceptionally practical audio program called
“Extraordinary Leadership” which contains my best ideas on the topic. As my gift to you, you can download
the presentation for free at robinsharma.com).
All that the best leaders really care about is being fair, doing what’s right and getting results. And
that brings me to my gentle suggestion to you: Do the right thing rather than doing the popular thing. The
best thing to do is generally the hardest thing to do. Please remember that. Make the tough decisions.
Speak with candor. Let underperformers know when they are underperforming. Tell your superstars how
much you love them. Just be real.
Being a leader isn’t about being liked.
It’s about doing what’s right.
When you lead from a position of truth, justice, fairness and excellence, you’ll you’re your critics.
Who cares? I’ve never seen a critic show up at a deathbed. My friend Dan Sheehan, who runs a great
company called WinPlus out of Los Angeles that we’ve done leadership development work with, once
shared this with me: “Great people build monuments form the stones that their critics throw at them.” Nice
point. Smart guy. If I had listened to all my critics, I’d still be an unhappy lawyer locked to a desk. Thank
God I didn’t.
26.
What Do You Evangelize?
Being an “evangelist” has negative connotations in the world we reside in. But an evangelist, by definition,
is simply someone who spreads good news. It’s someone who gets stuck on a big idea or a passionate
cause and then walks out into his day and spreads the message like a virus. It’s someone who gets so
engaged in doing something important that it’s all he thinks about, dreams about, talks about. It’s a human
being who understands – at a cellular level – what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. meant when he said: “If you
have not discovered something you are willing to die for, then you are not fit to live.” This troubled and
uncertain world of ours needs more evangelists: human beings doing great things, blessing lives by their
action, making a difference.