Leadership Lessons from Green Day : Robin Sharma

Following is the extract of Robin Sharma's Newletter for the month of July titled Leadership Lessons from Green Day. Green Day is my favourite band, no doubt. But never knew I could learn so much from them! Here it is:

Leadership Lessons from Green Day

Last night I watched a documentary about the rise of Green Day. They have morphed into one of the world's most popular as well as influential rock bands, selling over 65 million records, filling stadiums in cities across the world and inspiring a whole new generation of musicians.

Here are the 5 business as well as personal leadership lessons we can gather from Green Day's ascent:

#1: Every dream starts off small.

Green Day started off called Sweet Children. They played to empty halls and few gave them any chance of being successful. However, their vision was larger than their doubts and they stayed the course like the best Leaders Without Titles always do. Amazing things happen when you stay in the game longer than anyone thinks you should.

#2: They out-practiced their competition.

The original members of Green Day came from broken homes. Parents were not around much. So most of their free time they practiced. Often they would write songs all day and play guitar all night. Like all genius-level performers, relentless practice over an extended period of time births extraordinary performance.

#3: They were well grounded.

After Dookie sold over 14 million copies, the members of Green Day reached superstardom. However, rather than succumbing to the seductions of success, they remained grounded. They started their families and they remained true to their roots. This has allowed them a longevity that so many rock bands never achieve.

#4: They understood the power of renewal.

After the success of their breakthrough album Dookie, Green Day toured the world relentlessly. But then after that - at the peak of their success - they took a complete year off. They spent time with their families. They pursued other musical projects. And they refilled their well of inspiration. Rather than burning out, this period of time allowed them to come back stronger and to continue having fun at their craft.

#5: They dared to innovate.

The albums that followed their breakthrough release actually sold many less records. However, Green Day were willing to relentlessly innovate. The album they were working on before American Idiot came out was actually a mess in the sense that their master tapes were stolen. Many bands would have given up. However Green Day saw it as an opportunity to rewrite the entire album. They came up with an idea of a rock opera and released American Idiot. This became their biggest seller and 15 years after they started, they reached a whole new level of fortune.

A Powerful Idea for World-Class Organizations: Distributed Leadership

In many ways, the whole idea behind Leading Without a Title is the democratization of leadership. Yes, positions are important to the smooth running of any organization (whether that organization is a business or a community or a family). Having said that, the new model of leadership (leadership 2.0) is all about every single stakeholder showing leadership in the work they do. This is really all about distributed leadership. Every single person who works within a business, for example, owns the responsibility of showing leadership at their craft. Every single teammate is the CEO of their own small business unit called their job.

(The following pic is not included in the newsletter. Couldn't resist to add it! :p)

The Secret

Listening to 'The Secret' by Rhonda Byrne. As per the Wikipedia, the film is largely influenced by Wallace D. Wattles' 1910 book The Science of Getting Rich and the book is based upon William Walker Atkinson's prior works and school of thought. The audio is worth listening to instead of blogging over here! Back to The Secret now. Geared up for an amazing 'aural' advice and action!

Things to Do this Monsoon (and the coming ones too!)

Was off the posts for a while, felt short of words you see (and that's the topmost reason why tweeting tops and blogging doesn't!) Here is some simple stuff (in Alphabetical order) I would like to share and strongly recommend to do ALL of them before the lovely monsoon season ends!

Cleaning up your limbs whenever you return home drenched (and muddy!)

Get thoroughly wet under the natural showers!

Hanging out with a bunch of close pals in an eccentric eatery Eg. Poptates.

Having a bowl of Maggi/Soup Noodles/Top Ramen (Maggi rules though!)

Having Cutting Chai at the road side without giving a damn to hygiene.
(psst..a tip: Ask for an empty glass from the Chai wala and put your Chai glass into that empty one to protect your fingers from getting burnt!)

Having home-made bhajiyas or vadas with dollops of spicy and sweet chutneys!

Keeping your cupboard neat and placing naphthalene tablets (come on now don't crib, you don't want your favourite jeans to rot do you?!)

Listening to songs with some natural effects like some chirps or rain water sounds.

Putting on your new rainy shoes and kicking water on the road as you walk!

Observe the beauty of nature around you..Be it on the tracks while train-travelling, the slow growth of light green coloured leaves in some pots at your home, the moss on the building walls as you walk, the earthworms in the mini-puddles on the road, the sun amidst running grey clouds, the sudden change in the skies from grey to pure sky blue, a butterfly or two fluttering somewhere, the burst of grass on every empty patch of land..(Am all smiles now :))

Reading a book with nature as the primary or secondary theme (Eg. Himalayan Tales by Ruskin Bond)

Quite an obvious list, I know. But hey you can use it as a checklist and tick out those you've already done or as you do! See..my posts aren't that silly as you think..Ha! 8-)