The Leader Who Had No Title: A Modern Fable on Real Success in Business and in (25 page)

“Truly fascinating,” I replied. “All of this is so helpful. And your earlier suggestion to clean up my emotional life also really speaks to me. I’ve been pretty angry and unhappy for a long time. What, specifically, could nourish my emotional life?”

“One of the first things you can do, Blake, is learn to forgive those who need to be forgiven. Many people bring such negative energy into their workplaces every morning because they are full of resentment and anger over past hurts and ancient betrayals. Self-leadership requires you to let go of these resentments. Learn to forgive the people you need to forgive and release things that happened in the past that might be consuming your precious creative potential.
You can’t craft a superb future by remaining stuck in your past
. Because the disappointments you are holding on to are holding on to your power. By freeing yourself of them, you free up a ton of energy, passion, and potential,” said Jet as he sipped from a bottle of water with a lemon in it.

“And how do I go about releasing my past so I can free up my leadership best?” I questioned.

“It starts with a simple decision, Blake. It’s so exciting to
me that all that stands between you and total transformation is a decision. Just decide, in this very moment, that you’ll forgive all those who have disappointed you and let go of all the experiences that have discouraged you. The moment you step into a space of honestly being willing to forgive is the moment you begin the clearing process. Also, remember that those people who hurt you were doing the best that they could do based on where they were on their personal journey through life. If they had known how to do better, they would have done better. And finally, please understand that only hurt people hurt people.”

“Only hurt people hurt people?”

“Sure. Really healthy people—those with outstanding inner lives—are not really capable of hurting others. They are so full of self-respect, positive belief, inspiration, the willingness to see the best in others, and a deep desire to be great in all they do that they simply are not able to knock down another human being. The capacity to damage another is no longer a part of their makeup. They just don’t have it in them. It’s only people who are hurting at some core level and who have themselves been hurt by others who go out into the world and hurt those around them.”

“Profound,” I observed sincerely. I paused. “And you mention spending some time in Personal Leadership Hour every day improving my spiritual life. How?”

“Well, I’d strongly encourage you to count your blessings every morning, Blake.
Gratitude is the antidote to fear
. Worry and appreciation just can’t live in the same room together. And the things that you appreciate begin to appreciate in value to you. What I’m saying is that spending even five minutes during that first hour of your day celebrating all the good things in your life will put you into an acute state of happiness. And as corny as it may sound,
happy people really do make happy leaders
. And happy leaders not only do better work—they’re a lot more fun to be around.”

“Very helpful, Jet.”

“Great. So let me get to the
H
in SHINE. It’s getting late and I should get back to work soon. It’s been a joy meeting you, Blake, but I don’t want to forget about my clients. They really depend on me.”

“No worries,” I replied. “I understand completely.”

“The
H
will remind you that Health is Wealth. I mentioned the importance of exercising and staying physically strong earlier. Peak health is like a tent pole: it lifts up
everything
else in your entire life. Get your health to its highest state and every other area—from your ability to think clearly during stressful times to your performance levels and moods—get pulled up with it. Health is one of those things we take for granted until we lose it. And those who do sadly spend 24/7 trying to get it back. If you lose your health—and I pray you never do—nothing else will be as important as trying to reclaim it. Makes me think of the old proverb, ‘When we are young we sacrifice our health for wealth. But when we become old and wise, we become willing to sacrifice every bit of our wealth for just a day of good health.’ And if you don’t believe me on that point, Blake, when we are done today and you are on your way home, stop by a hospital. Walk into the terminal ward where people lie on their deathbeds. And ask any one of them what they would give for an extension on their lives. Ask them what they’d give for just one day of excellent health. I’m sure they’ll tell you that they’d give everything they have. If you lose your health, you lose everything. Don’t ever let that happen to you.”

I fell silent. Ever since I returned from the war, I didn’t show much concern for my health. I’d stopped exercising. I ate junk food. I didn’t rest enough. It occurred to me, as I stood before this masterful massage therapist, that if I started taking my health more seriously and got back into exceptional physical condition, almost
every
other part of my life truly would improve. I’d have more energy at work and would feel more positive about things
in general. I’d probably be a lot more creative, and I’d definitely feel more passion. I’d have greater stamina and be tougher amid all the changes our organization was going through. In my home life, I wouldn’t need to flake out on the couch so much. I could start learning new skills and doing more fun things. I’d feel better about myself and have more adventure.

“Health is the crown on the well man’s head that only the ill man can see,” Jet added powerfully. “Please don’t tell me you have no time to exercise each day. Those who don’t make time for daily exercise must eventually make time for daily illness, you know.”

Jet’s advice was simple and yet tremendously important. I took it all to heart.

“Oh, and please remember that
your health will never be better than your self-image
. When you really start to believe in your natural leadership power and how awesome you truly are, your behaviors around your health will improve dramatically. But it all begins within,” he emphasized.

“This all makes sense. If I really don’t think that much of myself, I’m not going to take great care of myself.”

“Exactly,” he replied looking pleased with my comment.

“The
I
in SHINE stands for Inspiration Matters,” Tommy noted.

“Yup,” said Jet. “A day without feeling inspired is a day that you haven’t fully lived. You need to refill your well of inspiration every day, because the challenges of life will drain it every day. How can you inspire your teammates at work and energize your customers to buy from you if you are uninspired and deenergized yourself? You always want to do whatever it takes to be the most inspired person in the room.”

“I love the sound of that, Jet. Some practical suggestions for me, please?”

“Listening to music is one of the best ways I know to drive
huge levels of inspiration. Associating with interesting people who love being remarkable, ethical, and original will also fuel your passion and provoke you to be your leadership best. Communing with nature is yet another effective way to get your creative fire burning and keep you excited about achieving great things at work. Whenever I get a chance, I head out to the countryside. Walking alone in the woods is like a miracle cure for the stress of this city. And I leave the woods feeling truly alive again. The view of the majority is that things like being out in nature and doing things to renew spent reserves of creativity and energy are a pure waste of time. And that if you’re not doing something, you’re not really doing anything. But refueling your mind, body, emotions, and spirit actually allows you to grow tougher against the turbulence of business. If all you do is play full out, all the time, your reservoirs of potential will become depleted and you’ll burn out fast. Star performers understand the need to constantly alternate between peak performance and inner renewal. And once the leader within you is replenished and reinspired, you’ll go back to work even stronger, even more creative, and far more exhilarated. The activities I’m encouraging you to pursue serve to reawaken the inner leader. They rekindle our passion and open any closed doorways into our absolute best.”

“And the
N
in SHINE?” I asked.

“Neglect Not Your Family. Your loved ones matter. What’s the point of becoming super-successful—as I sense you’ll soon become—but ending up completely alone? A lot of those billionaires I mentioned when you first got here spend a lot of their lives solo in their spectacular mansions. What’s the point of that? A huge amount of joy can be found in cultivating beautiful relationships with your family and friends. At the end of the day, Blake, you really don’t need that much to be really happy: work you can be proud of, food on your table every night, wonderful health, and people you love. A solid foundation at home sets you
up for strong and solid results at work. Feeling cared for and loved by your family is such a powerful accelerator for your leadership and personal success.”

“Which brings me to the
E
,” Jet noted. “The
E
in my acronym will remind you of the fifth rule for personal leadership: Elevate Your Lifestyle. Lifestyle isn’t something that we speak about very often. But it’s so important to a life well led. Do something every day to improve your lifestyle. As I suggested earlier, go through life first-class. You only live once, so why not enjoy it completely?”

“But I thought you said having a lot of things isn’t what genuine leadership is about, Jet?”

“That’s definitely not the priority for Leaders Without a Title, Blake. But please remember: it’s very human and natural to want to have nice things. Why feel guilty about having them? Become spectacularly great in the work you do, awaken your inner leader, and most certainly express your absolute best. But enjoy life along the way. The real key is to get the things you want while making sure they don’t get you. And that brings me to my final point of our conversation.”

Jet’s face grew serious. He looked down for a moment. Tommy stood up and walked over to join us.

“Nice things are nice to have. A beautiful lifestyle is a beautiful thing to experience. But who you are becoming as a human being is a much smarter concern. The main aim in life is simply to become all you’re meant to be. Actually, even more important than who we are becoming as people is focusing on the difference we are making as leaders. Contribution is the ultimate purpose of work—and life.”

“I need to hear more on this, Jet,” I observed, seeing that Jet was summarizing what Leading Without a Title was essentially about.

“
Success is not about what you receive, Blake. Success is all about what you return
. Like I said, even the longest life is a pretty
short journey in the overall scheme of existence and all that is. Tolstoy wrote a wonderful short story called ‘How Much Land Does a Man Need?’ The moral of the story was that at the end, all the things we spend the best days of our lives chasing really don’t matter that much. All that we really need once our lives get to the end doesn’t amount to much more than about six feet of soil. What truly counts then is what we will leave behind. What I’m really encouraging you to think about is your legacy. I’m inviting you to consider how you want to be remembered when you’re no longer here. ‘The great and glorious legacy of a human being is to live with purpose,’ observed the philosopher Montaigne. It will be a deep loss to this world if you refuse to accept the call on your life to Lead Without a Title and present your absolute best to the lives around you. Leaders Without a Title think about their legacies every single day. They think about how they want to be remembered when they are no longer alive. They think about what achievements they need to get done so that they leave their mark for the generations that will follow. They consider what kind of people they must become so that their lives stand for something excellent, meaningful, and powerful. Get these things right, and a glorious legacy will be yours for the leaving. And then, when you are no longer here, people will walk into your bookstore, see that plaque on the wall next to the section you used to work in that bears your name, and say, ‘Ah, there once worked a bookseller who led without a title and gave the finest he had to give.’ ”

I felt emotion welling up within me.

“So please remember, Blake, that this day—and every day until the last of your days—is nothing more than a platform for heroic possibility. The real question is whether you will have the courage to use this opportunity to shine your own special form of greatness into this uncertain world of business we now work in. And once you do, you’ll enrich the lives of your teammates, your
customers, and your loved ones. And you’ll forge a human monument of passionate achievement that all those who will come after you will marvel at. And be inspired by.”

Silence filled the space where we were standing. Tommy didn’t move. Neither did Jet. I thought tears might begin to flow from his eyes. I wasn’t sure what I should do. Then, in a dramatic instant, Tommy lifted up an arm and slapped Jet on his back.

“Man, you’re too intense. Snap out of it, my brother,” he laughed.

Jet began to giggle. “I know. I know.”

Soon all three of us were laughing hilariously. It was a fantastic moment. One I’ll never forget. But then something utterly unexpected happened. Tommy began to cough again. The attack began mildly, then quickly turned violent, with Tommy not only coughing up blood but also beginning to shake terribly. I rushed over to him, as did Jet, and tried to assist him in any way I could.

“It’s my time,” was all he could whisper. “It’s now my time.”