CONCLUSION
You Don’t Have
to Be a Saint
YOU DON’T HAVE to be a saint to benefit from Mother Teresa’s leadership principles. They can and should be used by anyone seeking to build a great organization. They can be applied every day to improve how your organization works. The balanced application of a simple, clear vision, practical trade-offs, patience, inquiry, joyful discipline, true communication, equal regard, and silent reflection provides a practical framework that leaders can choose now, with immediate results. These principles will improve performance at all levels of your organization and in all phases of your business or your life. They will work for you whether you are the president of a great nation, the CEO of a multinational corporation, the executive director of a nonprofit or an NGO, the manager of a branch office, or a parent, teacher, or volunteer. Our inspiration is the hope that Mother Teresa’s leadership principles may touch your life in some way, great or small. If they do, you have our thanks, and this book has accomplished its purpose.
RUMA’S STORY: During my time as a volunteer with the Missionaries of Charity, my focus was on the here and now. There was work to be done, every day. And I had my own issues to struggle through. If you had asked me then what I was learning about business, I would not have known what you were talking about.
Nearly twenty years later, I realize that I was in the presence not only of spiritual greatness, but also of executive excellence. My business education and entrepreneurial experience have hammered home one truth over and over: creating a great enterprise, especially at scale, is incredibly difficult, and never happens by chance. Creating the Missionaries of Charity—founding it, nurturing it, and growing it to a global organization with millions of workers, tens of millions of clients, and billions of dollars of capital—ranks among the great business accomplishments in human history. The organization’s survival is testimony to Mother Teresa’s vision and tenacity. Its continued vibrant growth after her death speaks to an even greater accomplishment and tells us that there was more at work than one considerable personality.
As I have worked to create my own businesses, and to help others with theirs, I have found myself intuitively returning to my time with the Missionaries of Charity and asking, How? How did she do it? What principles did she apply to create an organization that bore the stamp of her personality, but transcended her individuality?
Finally, after fifteen years of immersion in the business world, the light switched on for me. In a single conversation, when asked what Mother Teresa’s management secrets were, I found myself describing the concepts that are embodied in this book:
PRINCIPLE 1: Dream it simple, say it strong—Create a vision that is simple. Say it strongly with words and actions at every possible moment.
PRINCIPLE 2: To get to the angels, deal with the devil— Develop a framework to make decisions on ethical issues.
PRINCIPLE 3: Wait! Then pick your moment—Before beginning, be prepared emotionally, financially, and operationally.
PRINCIPLE 4: Embrace the power of doubt—Relentlessly question your business.
PRINCIPLE 5: Discover the joy of discipline— Discipline can bring you joy.
PRINCIPLE 6: Communicate in a language people understand.
PRINCIPLE 7: Pay attention to the janitor— Everyone has value.
PRINCIPLE 8: Use the power of silence— Calm your mind and listen.
Mother Teresa did the seemingly impossible by consistently applying a set of timeless management principles to the problem of serving the poorest of the poor. She did so in a thoughtful and balanced way, never letting the principles become dogma, and never letting one principle dominate the others. As I reflected further, it became clear to me that these principles not only made sense decades ago when she founded the Missionaries of Charity, but are even more applicable in today’s highly interconnected world of business. And as part of my calling, I was compelled to write this book.
Last year was my time to act. This book is a result of that action—nearly twenty years after my experience. It took Mother Teresa nearly twenty years to start the Missionaries of Charity.
When is your time? Has it come? What are you the Mother Teresa of?
Start today by picking one principle that resonates with you. Implement it and begin to change how you lead your life or your organization. It will make a difference.
Then take the next principle that you are drawn to, much as Mother Teresa was drawn to serving the poorest of the poor. Implement that principle.
Simply continue at the pace at which you are comfortable, but never get too comfortable in just one place. Leadership is never about complacency.
Within one month of taking action, you will be achieving results that you have never thought possible. You will notice the difference.
Like Mother Teresa, you have been called to action.
Act.
————————————
We would love to hear your stories about how you have used Mother Teresa’s principles to change the leadership of your organization or your own life. Please send your stories to [email protected], where we will share them with others so that they may learn from your leadership as well. Thank you.