Tony Robbins

1 FALL 2020 / REAL-LEADERS.COM 15 COVER STORY: CRISIS LEADERSHIP PLAYBOOK The spirit of great leadership is the capacity to influence others to do more than they ever would have done on their own. Leadership is the ability to inspire and enroll people. Here are Tony’s 10 qualities of effective leadership during times of crisis. TONY’S TOP 10 TIPS “ EXTRAORDINARY HUNGERANDDRIVE. ” If you want the defining characteristic of a successful life, I can give it to you in one word — hunger. A leader has an insatiable drive to be, do, share, create, and serve more. Many people mistake passion for hunger. They are not the same. Passion is great, but it’s really just first gear — it’s excitement. Hunger, however, will drive you through it. Hunger will be your resolve. It is the force that locks you into a commitment. It fastens you to the outcome when you’ve decided upon a desired result, and you won’t sleep at night until you achieve it. Hunger is irrepressible. If you study great leaders, they get their hunger froma variety of places, but inevitably, that hunger comes fromsomething that wasmissing. Maybe it was missing a father figure, or an education, or not having food on the table, even the deprivation from a global pandemic. Anything that intensifies the hunger within you is going to make you a more powerful leader. And the greatest hunger is to serve something greater than yourself, which leads to point number two. » investment career by buying 100 shares in every company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, which was selling for less than $1 a share. Robbins thinks this way of thinking is an excellent strategy to adopt in any crisis. “In Fortune 1000 companies, there are four economic seasons: spring when things grow, summer when growth slows, fall when you reap the dividends and winter when you do everything right, but everything feels impossible — crisis time. This seasonal cycle has been with us throughout history and also forms part of our personal lifecycles. Winter is not forever — it’s a time to add more value. The first thing a leader should do when a crisis arises is to escape the crisis inside their brain. When you defeat fear, you can begin focusing on the resources around you, and become creative with them. A decision made in fear is usually the wrong one,” he adds. COVID-19 couldn’t have hit at a worse time for young people, fresh out of college and about to embark on a career. Instead of feeling loss, Robbins feels they should rather see an open playing field before them. “Don’t hang on to a vision that was. Driving while looking in the rear-viewmirror will make you crash. Instead, see this crisis as a calling to define what you’ll become. Ask: What will I be on the other side of this? Work on yourself, to make yourself more valuable in the marketplace, and emerge with new skills that are needed post- pandemic. Focus on what you have, not what’s missing.” Courage is physical too, and Robbins thinks we should strengthen our bodies during crises when mental anguish threatens to consume us. “Every day, do something physical,” he says. For Robbins, this involves jumping into 55ºF water, regardless of the weather. “There’s not one day that I want to do this,” he laughs. “I don’t negotiate with myself, when I tell myself to jump, I jump. Mental discipline is a great foundation for tackling a tough situation.” “My advice to any CEO right now would be to work on the strongest, smartest, most playful, and creative version of yourself. Being resourceful with your mind, body, and emotions will see you through. You can lose all you’ve ever had, but nothing can take away fromwhat you can still become. The size of the enemy determines the size of a hero.” Last year Robbins traveled to 108 cities in 18 countries, now he’s running his empire from home on Zoom. “Serving people is what wakes me up each day,” explains Robbins. “Leaders must remember that it’s less about your product and service and more about falling in love with your clients. Leadership is not a position, it’s a presence.” n “DON’T HANG ON TO A VISION THAT WAS. DRIVING WHILE LOOKING IN THE REAR-VIEW MIRROR WILL MAKE YOU CRASH. INSTEAD, SEE THIS CRISIS AS A CALLING TO DEFINE WHAT YOU’LL BECOME.” TONY ROBBINS By Tony Robbins