Leadership Wisdom From The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari Part 4

"Is this gentleman with you, Peter?" the manager asked me as we strode by, obviously uncomfortable with Julian's attire. I nodded and continued behind Julian, who had just stepped into the empty lounge where the big-screen television sat. Soon we were both sitting in front of it watching the evening news.

"Trying to catch up on the day's events?" I asked, unsure of my friend's intentions.

"Not really," came the reply as he pressed the b.u.t.ton marked "radio" on the remote control he had picked up off the table in front of us. Now, the screen still showed the news, but the sound of the newscaster's voice was replaced by a soothing piece of cla.s.sical music from one of the local radio stations. The contrast proved striking. Over the screen flashed pictures of the violence that plagues so many of our cities and over the speakers came the serene strains of Vivaldi.

"Julian, what are you doing?"

"I'm sorry," he replied smiling knowingly. "Is there something wrong?"

"Of course there is. The video is not in synch with the audio."

"Just like too many leaders in our business world. They tell their customers they will do one thing and then do another. They preach fiscal restraint to their employees while they secretly negotiate their golden parachutes. They praise and show courtesy to a key executive when she is standing in front of them and then start condemning her the instant she leaves the room. They lack honor. They lack character. They lack integrity. Their video is not in synch with their audio."

I had never thought about the power of integrity as a leaders.h.i.+p philosophy. I was always of the "ends-justify-the-means" school of leaders.h.i.+p and believed that sometimes one had to manipulate things to get the desired result. The more I reflected on it, the more I realized I had been acting as if the truth did not matter in our operations. Through my actions, I had been sending the message to others that little lies and deceits were okay. They were a normal and acceptable part of business. I would make up lame excuses as to why I could not meet with a manager facing a difficulty. I would break promises to key customers when the commitment interfered with a more pressing, and perhaps more rewarding, matter. Surely this influenced my people and the way they did business.

"Visionary leaders care less about appearing right than doing right," Julian added. "They don't see their leaders.h.i.+p as a popularity contest where they need to please all their stakeholders. They have a very clear future focus, one that takes into account the interests of all, and they steadily move toward it. Their vision serves as their lighthouse, illuminating the path they must follow amid the turbulence that surrounds them. Their leaders.h.i.+p is grounded by deeply rooted principles, principles that only add further fuel to their purpose and their inner fire. What they do is aligned with what they say - they have character congruency. The leader with integrity will never let his lips betray his heart and will always let his principles guide his actions. Become a principled leader, Peter. Stand for something more than yourself. You will come to be respected. Maybe even revered."

"What kind of principles are you speaking of?"

"Collectively I call them the Gandhi Factor because they were the virtues that governed Mahatma Gandhi's life and leaders.h.i.+p. They include honesty, industry, patience, perseverance, loyalty, courage and perhaps, highest of all, humility. And, by studying them and building them into your leaders.h.i.+p practices, you will transform the effectiveness of your entire company. When your leaders.h.i.+p becomes moral as well as visionary, it will be as if GlobalView finally has an anchor to keep it from drifting when the seas get rough. When you face a crisis, there will be far less panic and far more calm. People will begin to act more fearlessly and more courteously and more respectfully. The nineteenth-century Spanish philosopher Carlos Reyles made the point splendidly when he wrote, 'Principles are to people what roots are to trees. Without roots, trees fall when they are thrashed with the winds. Without principles, people fall when they are shaken by the gales of existence.'"

"How do I bring the Gandhi Factor into our organization? I mean, things are pretty bad right now and no one is open to anything new. Most of us feel that we've faced enough change over the past year alone to last us for many lifetimes."

"Be the model," came the simple reply. "I read a while ago that Gandhi was once approached by a follower who asked the great man the secret to changing those around him. Gandhi thought for a moment and then replied, 'you must be the change.' And that's really the secret to fostering character and integrity within GlobalView. You need to be the change you desire. Don't expect others to become anything more than you are willing to become yourself You need to be the model your followers will emulate. People do what people see. Seneca captured this point when he observed, 'I will govern my life and thoughts as if the whole world were to see the one and read the other.'

"What a quote. That's definitely one for the bulletin board in the lunchroom."

"Or the one in the executive suite," Julian replied firmly. "Visionary leaders become their own best amba.s.sadors. They become s.h.i.+ning examples of what they expect their people to be. Don't push your people to work harder with fewer resources while you take an extra afternoon off to play golf. Don't cut employee benefits while you, at the same time, refurbish your office. Don't tell your people to buy into your vision of the future while you quietly plan your exit strategy. People are not stupid. They can tell whether you are honorable or not. Live your leaders.h.i.+p. Become one of those fine leaders who has the character power to go from knowing what's right to doing what's right to being what's right. Remember what Socrates said, 'The first key to greatness is to be in reality what we appear to be.'

My mind began to rifle through all the weaknesses my own character revealed on the job. I regularly said I'd do one thing and then did another. I generally cared more about my own interests than my people's. I had a fiery temper, I could be abrupt with my staff, I was self-centered, I was a very poor listener and often lacked sincerity. I thought no one really picked up on these flaws, but now I realized they did. For the first time in my entire executive career, I saw that my weaknesses as a leader were stimulating weaknesses in our company. My lack of leaders.h.i.+p was the source of the lack of followers.h.i.+p. It was time for me to stop blaming other people and other events for the difficulties GlobalView faced. It was time for me to clean up my act. It was time for me to "be the change."

"The imperfections of your character empower the imperfections of all those you lead," continued Julian. "When you are rude to an employee, you implicitly give him permission to be rude to someone else. When you lie to someone, you condone her lying to someone else. When you are late for a meeting, you silently say that punctuality is not important. And all these messages powerfully shape the corporate culture that serves as the framework for everything you and your followers do."

"How do I begin to be the model, Julian? I've practiced my current style of leaders.h.i.+p for so long, I'm not sure where to start the change."

"First I suggest you do a Leaders.h.i.+p Audit. Go deep within your heart and reflect on your strengths, and even more importantly on your weaknesses, as a leader. Get to know yourself. As I said earlier, awareness precedes change. Then, as with all change initiatives, whether personal or organizational, start off small. I recently read about a local company that was experiencing challenges similar to those of GlobalView. Morale was low, productivity had plummeted, creativity had dried up and profits were nonexistent.

"The leader came up with a simple idea Realizing the fact that her frontline people rarely saw her was contributing to the company's poor performance, she began the simple discipline of taking regular walks around the shop floor. While doing so, she noticed that unlike her impeccable executive office upstairs, the factory was absolutely filthy. Garbage was strewn along the walkways, graffiti lined the walls and a thick coat of dirt clung to everything. Clearly, no one cared about the place where they worked.

"As the leader performed this regular walkabout, walking and talking with the workers, she would quietly pick up garbage, hoping that this symbolic gesture might somehow influence their thinking. Soon, the workers followed her example. While walking with her, they too would pick up the rubbish that had littered the floors and put it into the nearest trash can. Then, noticing how much better the place started to look, they asked the leader if they could paint the walls in the colors they wanted. She quickly agreed. Next came a wholesale clean-up effort, spearheaded by the factory workers, who now began to take great pride in their workplace. This, in turn, led to improved morale, improved productivity and a sense of owners.h.i.+p in the minds of all of the employees. They had come to take a genuine interest in their work and in the organization they served. This positive force of change spread through the entire company and it quickly returned to good health."

"And it all started by a simple act of the leader."

"Small acts can lead to great results, Peter. Never forget that your people are watching you. They are looking to you to see what is acceptable behavior and what isn't. So be the ideal of what you want your people to be. And borrow the strategy of that enlightened leader in the story. Get out of that palatial office suite you have barricaded yourself into and go talk to the people that really count - the men and women who look to you for leaders.h.i.+p. Listen to them. Find out what makes them tick. Listen to their hopes and their dreams and their frustrations. Get a clear sense of what the environment is really like within your company. Most leaders haven't a clue. As Yogi Raman once told me, 'The fish is often the last to notice the water in which it swims.'"

With that sage advice, Julian shook my hand and began to head off into the darkness. Then he stopped and turned around.

"Oh, there's something I forgot to give you. It will provide you with something to think about until we meet again next week." He reached into the long robe that he had refused to remove all evening, despite the intense heat. He pulled out an object I could not see due to the darkness and gently pressed it into my hand. Then he quickly disappeared into the night.

As I got into my car, I looked at Julian's gift under the small light next to the rearview mirror. It was another wooden piece of the jigsaw puzzle. Like the one before it, there was a design on it. And just as before, there were words carved into the wood. They read, Ritual 2: Manage by Mind, Lead by Heart.

Chapter 5 Knowledge Summary * Julian's Wisdom in a Nutsh.e.l.l The Ritual The Essence The Ritual of a Compelling Future Focus The Wisdom * Purpose is the most powerful motivator in the world * The primary task of the leader is to get his people excited about a compelling cause that contributes to the lives of others * Great leaders.h.i.+p precedes great followers.h.i.+p. Show employees you have their best interests in mind.

* Visionary leaders focus on liberating human talent and manifesting the potential of people * Lead with integrity, character and courage The Practices * Ritualize wisdom so that your positive intentions translate into tangible results * Communicate your compelling cause so it engages hearts * Align your video with your audio Quotable Quote The ultimate task of the visionary leader is to dignify and honor the lives of the people he leads by allowing them to manifest their highest potential through the work they do.

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari RITUAL 2.

Manage by Mind, Lead by Heart

CHAPTER SIX.

The Ritual of Human Relations

It is the individual who is not interested in his fellow men who has the greatest difficulties in life and provides the greatest injury to others. It is from among such individuals that all human failures spring.

Alfred Adler As I drove home, my mind buzzed with the ideas Julian had shared with me. They made so much sense that I wished I had discovered them on my own, many years earlier. It would have saved me so much aggravation and stress. If I had been applying this leaders.h.i.+p wisdom, who knows where GlobalView might be? My mind then drifted off to what I wanted the company to look like in ten years. I imagined what it would be like if we were the biggest and best company in our field on the entire planet. I envisioned how many of our people I could help develop and how many people's lives we all could touch. A smile came to my face.

It felt good to be dreaming again. Jonas Salk once said, "I've had dreams and I've had nightmares. I've overcome my nightmares because of my dreams." All the successful business-people I had ever known had been dreamers. They had discovered their emotionally compelling cause through deep contemplation and had the courage to let it consume them. When we were hungry young entrepreneurs trying to build GlobalView, I would sit quietly for hours, doing nothing but thinking big thoughts about what our future might bring. But as the business grew, so did the headaches and my quiet moments became few and far between. This meeting with Julian, a man who had clearly experienced his own transformation, would change me forever. I knew I had the makings of a visionary leader. I just needed to learn what to do, and the remarkable leaders.h.i.+p system Julian was sharing with me was showing me. I felt great hope for the future and the cloud of uncertainty began to lift. I felt inspired, renewed and recharged.

That night, I ripped a sheet of paper off the legal pad that sat on the desk in my den. Though it was well past 2:00 a.m., I began to write down all I had learned. I had been exposed to the First Ritual of Visionary Leaders: Link Paycheck to Purpose and the many timeless leaders.h.i.+p truths that surrounded that great lesson. Julian had also given me a glimpse of the second of the eight rituals, a ritual that appeared to require me to Manage by Mind, Lead by Heart. And I knew there was still so much to come.

After committing what I had learned to paper, I began to list ways I could implement this knowledge. After all, Julian did warn me of what he called the Performance Gap, the theory that problems in leaders.h.i.+p often arise when leaders fail to translate their good intentions into actions. Even from my own experience in the business world I knew that most ineffectiveness stems from the fact that most people do not have the self-discipline to do what they know they should do, when they have to do it. They put off doing the important things in business and in life in favor of the easy and immediate things. And then one day, late in their lives, these people wake up and realize what they could have done with their lives. They regret all the missed opportunities and lost chances. But, sadly, by then it's too late. It's like the saying, "If youth only knew. If age only could."

I thought deeply about my vision of GlobalView's future. I really went deep into my heart and asked myself where we could make the greatest impact as a company. I reflected on how I would start communicating to my people the vision that was taking form and how I would show them that by helping me fulfill my dream, they would fulfill theirs. I contemplated how my new vision for our future would make a difference in people's lives and how I could show my people that the work they did really mattered.

Then my mind began to focus on ways I could truly "be a liberator," to use Julian's words. To start seeing my role as a leader in terms of being a liberator and not a limiter of people's highest talents. I had to stop micromanaging and let people have more responsibility for their results. I had to start specifying goals and not methods so people could bring more creativity and ingenuity to their work. I had to let them develop as people on the job and challenge them more. I needed to let people do the jobs they were capable of doing, without my constant monitoring and supervision. And I had to bring back a sense of character and integrity to my leaders.h.i.+p.

No more yelling and screaming. No more talking behind people's backs or keeping secrets. No more manipulating and arm-twisting. Sure I had to be strong and tough when the circ.u.mstances required. That went without saying. But I also had "to stand for something," as Julian had said. I needed to govern myself and my leaders.h.i.+p by the time-honored principles he had mentioned. The men and women of GlobalView deserved no less.

The days leading up to my next meeting with Julian whizzed by. I was so eager to meet him, I could hardly sleep at night. My energy level soared while the wisdom he had learned in the Himalayas became a part of my life. I cannot really explain why I guess it was similar to the way parents feel when they have their first child. There is a newfound sense of excitement, pa.s.sion and purpose all mixed into one sentiment. You do not want to miss a moment of the experience and feel grateful that it has finally happened to you.

In the few days of applying the truths Julian had taught me, noticeable improvements began to take place within the company. I became more open, honest and interested. I started to take the ideas and interests of others into account. I started to spread my sense of excitement around the company and communicate a much grander vision for the future of GlobalView. And I began to care about the people I worked alongside. Even my executive a.s.sistant, Arielle, a no-nonsense woman who rarely let down her guard around me, joked that I must have been replaced by "an alien clone from a kinder, wiser colony" "No matter what has happened, Mr. Franklin," she said in a slightly more serious tone, "everyone really likes the changes you are making and hopes that you will keep moving forward. And no one can believe the way you set fire to the old mission statement in the middle of the parking lot yesterday morning. It will go down in GlobalView history, that's for sure!"

Finally, Friday came. As I left our headquarters and drove down to the park behind City Hall where Julian had instructed me to meet him, my fingers toyed with the second piece of the puzzle Julian had given me. Ritual 2: Manage by Mind, Lead by Heart. 'What exactly did that mean?' I wondered. So far Julian had offered me some great information. It was powerful yet practical. But this stuff about "leading by the heart" concerned me a little. I hoped Julian was not going soft on me.

Just as he had promised, Julian was waiting for me in the park. And although it was another scorching summer's day, he again wore the attire of the traditional monks whose ageless knowledge had changed his life. But in a strange twist, today he also wore a fas.h.i.+onable pair of dark sungla.s.ses, the kind that rock stars and movie actors favored. The contrast was striking.

"I like the shades, Julian," I said as I patted him on the shoulder, glad to see my friend again.

"I thought you'd like them. I bought them from a young street vendor the other day. He told me I needed to update my look. So I did," he laughed. "I needed them anyway, to protect my eyes from that sun," he added, looking up into the sky for a second.

"Wouldn't want to lose your vision, right?" I replied, ever the model student.

"Nicely said, Peter. Sounds like you've been doing some thinking."

"True. Actually, I've taken your advice and begun to do more than just think about the leaders.h.i.+p wisdom you have given me - I've started to act on it."

"Wonderful! I knew I didn't make a mistake coming to see you. I knew you would put the priceless information the sages bestowed on me to good use. And as the sages themselves loved to say, 'When the student is ready, the teacher appears.'"

"And not a day too early, Julian. Things were getting insane at the company. Now I realize that. And yet, in just a few days of applying the lessons you've shared with me so far, I've noticed some very positive improvements," I said, pleased to inform him of our progress. "I know it's still early and real change takes time but things are starting to happen. I've shared your leaders.h.i.+p wisdom with everyone on my management team and every supervisor in the company. I've asked them to, in turn, pa.s.s along the lessons I've learned to every other person who works here so we can all grow wiser together. It's like you told me earlier, leaders.h.i.+p is not really about position or t.i.tle but about action. And anyone in the company, from my senior vice-president of operations to the shop steward to the young kid who works in the mail room can display leaders.h.i.+p. I now understand that every single employee at GlobalView must receive leaders.h.i.+p training if we really want to be a world-cla.s.s organization. Everyone must know what it means to be a visionary leader and then bring this knowledge to bear on the particular job that he or she does. Every one of us must strive to show leaders.h.i.+p at work."

"Make sure you share your success stories with me as they come. I know there will be many," said Julian.

"Well actually, I already have one I can mention. After our meeting at the golf club last week, I went home and wrote out a wish list of things I needed to change in my leaders.h.i.+p. I did a Leaders.h.i.+p Audit, as you suggested. I noted as many weaknesses as I could think of and then came up with an action strategy and a time line by which I would eliminate each one. Once I did that, I then had a little personal brainstorming session where I came up with hundreds of innovative ways I could implement the points you made when we last met. One of the ideas that came to me was to give all my employees a one-thousand-dollar annual budget that they could spend on enhancing their professional and personal effectiveness. You told me I had a duty to nurture the growth of my people on the job and to really help them get the best out of themselves. So I decided to take this duty seriously and really encourage personal development. You should have seen how happy they were when they heard about this initiative. I know it will cost a fair amount of money, but I really see it as an investment rather than as an expense. As you suggested, Julian, employees who feel superb about themselves are certain to produce superb results."

"So what have they started to do with the money?"

"Well, the program is just getting off the ground, but members of a few of our teams have already received their checks. From what I've heard, some of them are buying the planning tools they always felt they needed to effectively manage their schedules and their time. Others are spending their budgets on motivational books and educational audioca.s.sette programs they can listen to in their cars on the way to work. And one man used part of his budget in a very private way. He is quite short and had difficulty performing his work in our manufacturing facility because it required him to continually reach up to high places. But he was too embarra.s.sed to tell his supervisor. He thought everyone would laugh. Once he had his own budget to spend in any way that would enhance his on-the-job effectiveness, he went out and bought a simple footstool. His supervisor told me his productivity has doubled and he has never seen the man happier."

"You are starting to experience the power of the truths I discovered in the Himalayas. The reason they have stood the test of time is pretty simple. Because they work."

"I'll tell you another thing I've started doing since you exposed me to your leaders.h.i.+p wisdom, Julian."

"What's that?"

"I've started taking a lot more risks as a leader. I've begun to see myself as an innovator and catalyst for new ideas. If I'm not constantly stretching my mind and exploring new pathways of thought, how can I expect my people to do the same? I'm reading again. I'm making the time to think again. And I've even started taking a daily cruise around the office to get to know as many people as I can, like that leader you told me about. The fish is often the last to notice the water in which it swims, you know."

Julian smiled, clearly pleased at my progress, and said, "Risk taking is a very powerful success skill. Yet, most people have never cultivated this important leaders.h.i.+p discipline. Most of us never remove our security blankets and venture into the zone of the unknown. Yogi Raman put it this way, 'The farther you go out on a limb, the easier it is to fall. But then again, out on the limb is where all the fruit is.' Visionary leaders take chances. They are constantly trying new things. And that becomes a habit. As Seneca said so many years ago, 'It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.'"

"I'll tell you another chance that I'm taking to clean the cobwebs out of our organization. I read about a top-performing company in Singapore that had a very unusual practice. Every other Friday afternoon, they would shut down the factory for two hours. Then, all the different teams would go off and discuss the latest management bestseller. It not only allowed them to cement relations.h.i.+ps with their teammates and break out of their routines, it kept them abreast of the cutting-edge ideas on personal and organizational excellence."

"Tremendous concept," Julian replied as he sat down on the gra.s.s in a shaded spot.

"I've inst.i.tuted the same practice at GlobalView. My managers are really excited about it. They've always complained they never have enough time to read the best business books and keep up with the current management trends. Now they'll be getting paid to do so," I noted proudly.

"Believe me," said Julian. "In the long run, this idea will save you money. The ineffectiveness that arises in most companies from outdated thinking and inefficient systems that continue to exist simply because of tradition is extremely costly over the long run. Even deadly. What you are doing might be unorthodox. But it is also smart. Putting your people first is the wisest leaders.h.i.+p lesson you will ever learn. Which brings me to the next element of Yogi Raman's ancient system, the Second Ritual of Visionary Leaders: Manage by Mind, Lead by Heart."

"I was wondering what this one is all about."

"This is the ritual of human relations and communication competency. Every truly visionary leader has mastered the practice of connecting deeply to his followers. He has refined the art of clarifying his vision for the benefit of his people in a way that fully engages them and stirs them into action. Through their people skills and talents as effective communicators, such leaders touch the hearts of their team and earn long-term loyalty. Simply put, When you enrich the relations.h.i.+p, you enhance the leaders.h.i.+p."

"Are relations.h.i.+ps really that important? I mean I know a ton of leaders who couldn't care less about connecting with their people. They see their missions very simply: to create profit and value for the shareholder. Everything else is irrelevant."

"These so-called leaders are not visionary leaders and, believe me, there is a big difference. Visionary leaders are not people who squeeze as much profit out of a company in as short a period as possible before they bail out and head for an early retirement in the Bahamas, leaving their company in a terrible mess. While short-term profits are important to visionary leaders, they are constantly thinking long-term. They understand that by taking the time to allow their people to develop the fullness of their potential and put strong systems in place, upon which the company can build, ma.s.sive profits are guaranteed. The leaders you speak of are like sprinters running a marathon. They go for broke in the first mile, but in doing so have nothing left for the rest of the run. Ultimately, they are the biggest losers.

"You see, Peter, anyone can go into a company and drive up profits by relentlessly driving down his or her people. But soon, the people will grow tired and the equipment will break, because neither has been properly cared for. Remember, the chickens always come home to roost. You just can't avoid the natural laws of life."

"Point well taken, Julian. So what do I need to do to put Ritual 2 into practice?"

"I'm about to show you," he replied as he glanced at an elderly couple sitting under a nearby tree, giggling like a couple of school kids as they enjoyed their picnic. "See those two over there? I've been observing them for the past few weeks. Sometimes I've watched them feed the ducks in that pond over there. Sometimes I've watched them ride their bicycles around the park. Sometimes I've even overheard their conversations as I relaxed here on the gra.s.s," Julian admitted, with apparent embarra.s.sment. "I'll tell you one thing for sure. Those two have a wonderful relations.h.i.+p."

"I wonder how long they've been married? They really look like they're in love."

"Forty-three years from what I've overheard," replied Julian. "Last week they celebrated their anniversary right here in this wonderful park. They shared a huge cake with a bunch of friends over there. Quite a lively party they had," he said, pointing over to a clearing dotted with five picnic tables and bright red flowers.

"Forty-three years. That's pretty amazing in this day and age."

"It's not hard to see how they've managed to stay together so long," Julian said as he took off his sungla.s.ses and wiped the perspiration from his face. "Not surprisingly, they follow the timeless human relations principles that Yogi Raman told me visionary leaders applied to foster the respect of their followers and to build lasting trust. And if there's one thing I've learned, a world-cla.s.s organization is also a high-trust organization. Trust is one of the ageless elements of every peak-performing company. If your people don't trust you, their managers and their co-workers, there is no way they are going to go the extra mile to give you their best efforts. Without trust, there is no commitment. And without commitment, there's no company."

"So what kinds of things have you observed this couple doing?" I asked with keen interest.

"Four things in particular, Peter: promise-keeping, aggressive listening, being consistently compa.s.sionate and, finally, and perhaps most importantly, truth-telling."

"Those are the secrets to their incredible relations.h.i.+p?"

"Yogi Raman taught me that those are the secrets to every great relations.h.i.+p. He told me that anyone who desires to be a visionary leader, one who inspires his or her people to achieve extraordinary things, must make these four practices an integral part of his or her leaders.h.i.+p style. They are the cornerstones of effective human relations. They will help you perform Ritual 2 on a daily basis."

"They seem so simple. Can they really make the impact on my team that you are suggesting?"

"That's the problem with many of the enduring leaders.h.i.+p truths. They appear to be so simple and so obvious that everyone puts off applying them. They are not trendy, so people shove them aside in favor of strategies that are more flashy and sensational. Let me ask you, Peter, are you doing these four things every day?"

"Uh, no."

"Let's deal with the first one at least. Do you keep the majority of the promises you make?"

I immediately knew the answer to this question. I would often break promises I had made. I would tell my employees I was always available to meet with them, but, when someone actually had a problem that he or she wished to discuss with me, I found convenient ways to get out of the meeting. Other times, I'd tell a key supervisor that she deserved to have the increased responsibilities she'd been asking for. But then I'd neglect to follow through and ensure she got what she wanted. I was a master of broken promises.

"Every promise you break, no matter how small and seemingly inconsequential, steadily chips away at your character," Julian said to break the silence. "Each time you don't return a phone call when you said you would or miss a meeting you promised to attend, you erode trust. Each time you don't honor a commitment, you chip away at the bonds between you and the people you have the privilege to lead. As Yogi Raman used to say, 'Every time you avoid doing right, you fuel the habit of doing wrong.' "

"And those elderly lovebirds keep their promises to each other?" I wondered aloud.

"They sure do. When the husband says he'll meet his wife at noon for lunch over at that hot-dog stand, you can bet he'll be right on time. When the wife says that she'd like to take their bicycles out for a spin on a particular day, sure enough, their van pulls up into the parking lot and the husband wheels out the bikes. You see, Peter, when people keep their promises, they breed great loyalty. The wife knows she can count on her husband and he knows he can count on her. And this breeds consistency, an important attribute of high-quality human relations. The husband and wife know what to expect of each other. They can rely upon each other. And that, in turn, breeds trust. Never get behind on your promises. I know you'll be delighted with the results."

"You know, Julian, you're the first person to show me the connection between promise-keeping and human relations. I know what you are saying is true. For me to really be the leader I've now committed myself to being, I must keep the promises I make to others and be a person they can truly count on. I need to earn the trust of my people and gain their loyalty. From today onward, I will be a man of my word. I'll do what I say I will do. I promise."

Julian grinned. "I'll hold you to that one, my friend."

The sun was still blazing as he stood up and started walking. It was remarkable how agile Julian was despite his advancing years. His youthful face carried a smile, as he strode around the park, continuing his discourse on Ritual 2 and the power of leading from the heart and enriching human relations.h.i.+ps.

"The second discipline you must master to make Ritual 2 a part of your leaders.h.i.+p style is aggressive listening. Visionary leaders capture the hearts of their people by deeply listening to them. Most leaders believe that to lead effectively, they need to do most of the talking. They have been brainwashed into believing that leaders speak and followers listen. Visionary leaders know that another of the human hungers is the hunger to feel understood. Everyone has a deep need to have a voice and to have that voice considered. So visionary leaders become excellent listeners. The irony is that in doing so, they become known as superb communicators."

"Let me get this right, Julian. Are you actually telling me that by listening more effectively, I'll be able to communicate my messages more effectively? I mean, how could that be possible?" I asked.

"You want your people to trust you, right?" "Right."

"You want your people to be loyal to you and GlobalView, right?" "Right."