The Little Black Book of Stunning Success by Robin Sharma is well written, short

and truly inspiring. It contains a lot of positive thoughts, great ideas, insights and
motivations which can greatly attribute to one’s daily living. The fifty pages of it are filled
with points that made me rethink the way I perceive and handle the hardships I
encounter everyday at work.
One particular thought that struck me was how seeing the best in people
contributes to the success of an organization. Its true that most people see the worst in
others, I have personally saw and experienced the same in my workplace.
Miscommunications and misunderstandings often lead to gaps within the organization
and therefore greatly affects the organization’s performance and delays the
achievement of a certain goal. As the author said, “The best leaders see through the
eyes of understanding.” By simply asking or finding out why a person acts the way they
do, these miscommunications can be easily prevented. Also, better working
relationships entails great listening skills. Subordinates work better when their concerns
are being heard and addressed. Upon reading this book, I thought that as a leader, no
matter how busy you are, it is important to put your people first; know their problems,
appreciate their work because no one wants a workplace where they not taken care of.
Another takeaway from the author was the idea of the “1% wins” and the power
of daily practices. Success don’t happen overnight, it takes a lot of work, discipline and
consistency. Those ideas are a great way to create a habit, however it is also said that
the first step is always the hardest. I think this I because most people are scared to try
and wants to remain in their comfort zones. When a person decided to take the first
move, everything becomes easy because it will be familiar. It will become a part of their
daily living. After starting a new habit, consistency is also important. What is the point of
starting if there is no commitment? Anyone can take the first move but a few will stay
until the end.
Also, it was also emphasized that leaders talk less and do more. Discussing how
a thing should be done and wasting time making empty promises do not lead to better
outcomes. It is always the action that counts. As the saying goes, work hard in silence,
let your success be your noise.
Successful leaders are also focused, they have a clear vision of what they want
the organization to achieve. In my personal experience, focusing on one goal is very
hard. With so many compliances at hand, I sometimes forget other things that needed
to be done and given that there is an ongoing pandemic, it has been very hard for me to
focus. After reading this book, it made me realize that I should set my priorities straight.
Its never too late to change and that taking small steps are better that none at all.
Problems are everywhere, and just like any organizations, ours is not perfect. We
encounter problems and challenges that are out of our control. But as the author says
“every problem your encounter is an opportunity in disguise.” Maybe we are given these
challenges to improve ourselves. Maybe we are being forced out of our comfort zones
in order to achieve a greater version of ourselves.
In all of the ideas shared by the author, the most important is respecting yourself.
I’ve heard of employees who lost themselves in pursuit of greatness, however, most of
them does not lead to good outcomes. We often worry what others think of us that we
lose our own values, our integrity. But at the end of the day, what is important is how we
think of ourselves, doing what we love and what we think is right.