THE LEADERSHIP JOURNEY OVER A LIFETIME: HOW LEARNING MOMENTS CAN BE TRANSFORMATIVE

Abstract

The author, Chairman Emeritus of WD-40 Company, reflects on his long career at the company, which started in sales and ended recently as CEO and Chairman. He notes an important question that he says is rarely asked: “How did you become the person who was equipped to do that?” He further notes that “If I can do it, a kid from the Sydney suburb of Five Dock, who left formal education at 16 because he’d rather learn first-hand how to sell stuff, I have to believe that anyone can do it.” Plain-spoken wisdom is dispensed throughout, including that “once you achieve a senior-most leadership role, however, you quickly realize that having your hands in all the functions of the enterprise is an inefficient use of your time and viewpoint from the more elevated position.” After becoming CEO, he read a transformative, life-changing quote from the Dalai Lama: “Our purpose in life is to make people happy. If you can’t make them happy, at least don’t hurt them.” He realized that he “wanted to create a workplace culture where people went to work every day happy in the knowledge that they would be doing meaningful work in the company of colleagues they liked, trusted, and respected.”