Musketeers of My Life...Charlie, John and Frank

I wish to have more months like these, I just cracked up with laughter, saw the Pope and met a magician, the universe has been too kind to me, and I am thankful, ever-hungry and humbled.

If you have not seen, “Modern Times”, or “The Kid”, then you are yet to experience #comedy. If “Gold Rush” has not touched your life yet, your funny bone is still starving.

I hope I gave enough clues, I am talking about Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin. Tell me a scene from his movie that has not cracked you up in laughter.

I just finished reading, “My Autobiography – Charlie Chaplin”. If you think a "happy" life created this man who made the world laugh its heart out then you would be let down. From rags to riches, #charliechaplin had a life that was full of moments that could have carved him very differently, but his inner artist was never allowed to deter. His natural talent kept the inner light on while he spent years in the darkness of workhouses not knowing what the future holds, he kept that texture of his inner #artist alive.

His obsession towards art was so deep that he watched his films with his audience, and he would strip open a scene that had not made them laugh as he expected and redo it all over. It’s always believed that self-critiques is the best way to self-improve. Chaplin is a true example of that. I can write about Chaplin for the next 100 pages, however, if you read his book you would realise that behind those incredible moments he created on the screen there was an excruciating effort driven by a deep-rooted self-belief that an artist fosters within. My takeaway, as Chaplin said, “The most lost day in life is the day we don't laugh.” ?? ?

I would have never gotten to Chaplin, if not for “Pope”, No, I don’t mean His Holiness, #popefrancis. I am referring to the Pope of management concepts John C. Maxwell

He is 76, has written 88 books, sold 36 million copies and “he is my friend”. While I attended his session in person I wished I was #spongebob for that day, there is no other way to absorb those gazillion concepts coming your way in those 6 hours.?I have read a few of his books, “The 21 Indispensable Qualities of A Leader” is a must-read for anyone who wishes to lead #highperformingteams. The core principle is like, the law of gravity.. it has not changed. The book is so comprehensive that you can read it throughout your life and still learn.

My self-confidence, took a jump to the start when I sat next to him for 90 seconds and asked him why did he choose “character” as the first quality over “vision” in his book – His response is another “tool” I have in the life’s tool kit. He said, “BE A ROCK.”

Those 6 hours were like six lifetimes, I leave you with 5 learnings that are GOLD.

1.??????3 components of success – Know your Purpose: Grow to your maximum Potential: Sow seeds for others

2.??????Understand the difference between “Success” and “Significance.”

3.??????Communication is never about “you”, It’s about “others”

4.??????True leaders “see more than others” and “see before others see it.”

5.??????Find out how to get a “return on failure” – There is a design

That night I slept with a #halo over my head :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xdE9A8AjrI

Have you ever had water from a fire hose, two days with Frank Cespedes is nothing less than that...!!!

With the limited grey cells that I have been gifted with, I had to work harder unlike my other colleagues when I was in that class listening to the world's best sales professor. Thanks to our founder, CEO Mahesh Shahdadpuri for the opportunity to join the YPO learning seminar. Frank is like a magician with magic dust when explaining concepts. Even I got it ??

I wish I could put learning from all the case studies in this edition but let me try to leave you with some of it.

1.??????Clarity of #strategy then allocating resources and effort – There is a framework.

2.??????#pricing is the "Moment of truth" – No matter what you believe customers will define the reality

3.??????Refine, refine, and refine your #valueproposition – It will always be a “work in progress.”

4.??????#incentives work but it needs to drive the right behaviour.

Looking at my bald shiny head, one of my colleagues once said your head is like “concrete” I know what he meant but I laughed my head out and responded it’s also “empty”. ?I like to keep it that way so that I can stay hungry to fill it up with more experiences, and #POVs and take small steps towards making this life meaningful. Hope you enjoyed reading and watching the video…?

See you next month.