Hi,
Just finished reading "The Greatness Guide" yesterday. I feel really great ! As if I've a great conversation with the mentor. The book contains 101 short guide (in 1 - 4 pages long) to be great. As you see in my previous entry for Good to Great, it shares some similarities in terms of not stopping on good but strive on to be great ! The book combines leadership, personal effectiveness, business success in a neat single package. The book had it all, inspiring quotes, nice story, good action steps and the nicest thing is, someone had really done this before !
Some memorable/inspirational quotes
1. A mind once stretched by a new idea can never return to it's original dimensions - What's your Eureka moment ? I get most of it from reading/listening to a great title/discussion/meetings
2. The essential difference between emotion and reason is that emotion leads to action while reason leads to conclusion
3. Be grateful for where you are along the journey of life. Live in the moment but also remember that with the gifts that reside within you come great responsibilities - Nelson Mandela
4. The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr
5. I cursed the fact I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet - Persian proverb
6. Great people run toward their resistances and play out on the edges of their lives - Robin Sharma
7. Every one of us will die. But so few of us really live - Braveheart movie
8. Stop being the prisoner of your past and become the architect of your future - Robin Sharma
9. Pleasure comes from something on the outside while happiness comes from within - Robin Sharma
10. The best companies on the planet grow leaders and develop leadership potential throughout the organization faster than their competition - That's why important to develop leadership, even without a title
11. Person who chases two rabbits catches neither - Confucius
12. If you have not discovered something you are willing to die for, then you are not fit to live - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
13. Some of life's best pleasures are its simplest ones. Enrich your life with more of them and your heart will be happy - Robin Sharma
14. Each day, life will send you little window of opportunity. Your destiny will ultimately be defined by how you respond to these windows of oppurtunity - How true ! Our destiny shaped by decision we took on our journey of life...
Great must read point that inspires me
1. Drink coffee with Gandhi - Learn key idea from successful person via book etc
2. Make time to think
3. Mike Jagger and reference points - your ideal reference (person to be inspired upon) for something great
4. How to be a happier man - List of activities that make you happy according to your passions
5. Nothing fails like success - When something becoming so successful, don't neglect your workers
6. Know your genius - Focus + daily improvement + time = genius
7. Your customers buy with their hearts - know that people buy on emotion and supported by reason
8. Burn your boats - Act as if you'll never fail
9. On obituaries and the meaning of life - Did I dream richly ? , did I live fully ? Did I learn to let go ?, did I love well ? Did I tread lightly on the earth and leave it better than I found it ?
10. Getting what you want while loving what you have - Have your cake and eat it too with balance !
11. To be more productive, relax and have more fun
12. Client focused vs Out to lunch - business is about loving the people who do business with you and giving them more value than they expected
13. Do your part - The ability to triumph begins with you - Always
14. Avoid the Four F's syndrome - Fear, Failure Forgetting, Faith
15. Simple tactics for superb relationships - be positive, candid and speak truthfully, on time, say please and thank you, under promise over deliver, leave people better than you found them, be friendly and caring, be world class listener, become passionately interested in other, smile :) a lot
16. The Innovater's mantra - The enemy of the best is the good ! Innovate, innovate and innovate !
17. Good business is good for business
18. Build Success Structures - success schedules for us to raise above self
19. Be wise, early rise - don't lounge in bed, get into world class physical condition, set Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs), set your alarm clock 30 minutes faster
20. Get great at life - Pay attention to life, engage in life, enjoy life
21. Learn more to earn more - Value add by learn more, out study, out improve and out succeed.
22. Make a dent in the universe - Find a cause that's larger than yourself and then to give your life to it. Think Gandhi, Mandela, Edison, Einstein....
23. Commit to 1st class - commitment to ensuring that their surroundings reflect their devotion to being world class
24. Do a clean sweep - streamline, simplify and refocus your life. Take commitment to say good to pursuits that were not aligned with my personal and professional goals, installing systems to be more efficient and spending a lot of time refining the model of my business.
25. Do a '101 things to do before I die' list - Have a bucket list
26. Lay claim to greatness - It's never to late to start ! Start now !
27. Lead without title - worker taking responsibility to make customer feels appreciated
How this book make a great title !
1. Inspiring quote form proverbs to famous celebrity and leaders
2. Use real example in sharing his point across - It makes thing
3. Outline positive habits and things to do in cultivating great behavior
4. Great advice to give to children - you can do whatever you want to do when you grow up, never give up, whatever you do, do it well and remember that how much your parents love you !
How this book can be improved
1. Divide section according to theme i.e. Leadership, goal setting, business rules, customer service etc Busy people will be able to see specific section in an instant
2. This book leaves out meditation that initial book "The monk who sold his Ferrari" had mentioned previously. Why not add that in ?
3. Have specific action steps with journal log for your to monitor the progress. Set appropriate timeline on each guide required.
All in all, this book deserve 9 out of 10 for inspiring title. The contents here are magnificent and one of the most complete compilation of personal/business development I've seen so far on a 221 pages of book. In case you need to know more, visit Robin Sharma website that contains free podcast, blogs and his upcoming training. Be inspired and lead without a title ! I'm sure to revisit this book once in a while. Some sort of like booster dose for my road to be great person !
P/S : There's more, if you bought this book, you can download the free title "Extraordinary Leadership: 5 Best Practices to Lead the Field" free from his website
