The Leader Who Had No Title: A Modern Fable on Real Success in Business and in (2 page)

So I began to work at a bookshop down in SoHo. But due to
my negative attitude and utterly complacent behavior, I wasn’t doing well at the store. I was frequently reprimanded by my manager, and I fully expected to be fired. I was generally unfocused, nothing of a team player, and less than average at my work. My love of books was all that saved me. While those who ran the store despised me for my poor work ethic, the store’s customers seemed to like me. And so I was kept on. But only by a thread.

Now here’s where the story gets really good. One day, a miracle of sorts showed up in my life. When I least expected something good to happen, good came hunting me down. And that changed the game completely. A most curious stranger visited me at the bookstore. And the lessons he taught me in our all too brief time together shattered the limitations I’d been clinging to—exposing me to a whole new way of working and a completely new way of being.

Now, at the age of twenty-nine—amid more success and joy that I could have ever dreamed of—I’ve come to understand that hard times do make better people. That in the middle of difficulty lives opportunity. And that each of us is built to win—in both work and life. It’s now time for me to share what happened to me with you.

The days come and go like muffled and veiled figures sent from a distant friendly party but they say nothing. And if we do not use the gifts they bring, they carry them silently away.

—
RALPH WALDO EMERSON

I
T WAS ANOTHER FANTASTICALLY DULL
Monday morning. Our team had just finished what was known as Monday Morning Scrum—the beginning-of-the-week meeting where Customer Service Heroes were recognized and cheesy team cheers were encouraged. The store was doing poorly in terms of sales, and some within the organization expected it would soon be closed as part of the restructuring taking place across the whole enterprise. Costs needed to be cut, operations needed to be improved, and profits needed to rise. Quickly.

The goal of the meeting was to reconnect everyone on the team to the mission and values of the company as well as to energize us for a productive week ahead. At the end of every year, each store chose their best employee, who would then go into the running for the annual Best Bookseller in America award that the company gave out—along with a generous cash gift and a weeklong vacation to Aruba. In reality, the whole affair demotivated and discouraged me, making me feel even more apathy about the way I was spending my workdays. And I had little difficulty
telegraphing these feelings to any coworker who had the misfortune to cross my path.

Then something very mysterious happened. As I was quietly sipping a cup of coffee, doing my best to stay hidden away from doing any meaningful work behind one of the tall shelves of books in the Business section, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I quickly turned around and was stunned by the sight before me.

There stood a wildly eccentric-looking man. His clothes were a complete mess. Mismatched, old, and riddled with holes. He wore an aged plaid vest and his shirtsleeves were rolled up as if despite his tattered attire, his spirit was all business. In the vest pocket rested a yellow handkerchief—with little Mickey Mouse icons all over it. And around his neck dangled a silver necklace with simple initials engraved on it in modern lettering that read LWT.

I looked down at his feet. Surprisingly, he had on a new pair of shoes: penny loafers with bright coins inserted in the front of each sparkling shoe. He remained motionless and silent, sensing my discomfort with every long moment that passed between us, not at all needy to speak a word (a rare gift in this world of too much talking and not enough doing).

The stranger’s face was an ocean of wrinkles revealing the fact that this was a very old man. His teeth bore jagged chips and were noticeably stained. Stringy and unkempt hair topped his head and jutted out in a hundred contradictory directions. His hair reminded me of how the great Albert Einstein looked in that famous black-and-white photo where he’s playfully sticking out his tongue.

But more than anything else, what struck me about the bizarre-looking character standing before me on this otherwise mundane Monday morning were his striking eyes. While his disheveled appearance could have been taken to mean he was homeless or maybe even demented, his gaze was strong and his eyes were clear. I know this sounds strange, but from the look of
his mesmerizing stare, I not only felt safe, but I also felt I was in the presence of a very powerful human being.

“Hi, Blake,” the magnificently mysterious gentleman finally uttered with a deep, confident voice that caused me to relax even more. “Really nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you from everyone here at the store.”

This guy knew my name! Maybe I should have been worried. After all, New York City is home to some pretty strange people, and this man’s appearance was confusing to me. Who was he? How did he get into the bookstore? Should I call security? And how the heck did he know my name?

“Relax, my friend,” he said, extending his hand to shake mine. “My name is Tommy Flinn. I’ve just been transferred to this store from the location on the Upper East Side. I know I don’t look like I’d belong in a store from that area, but I was actually Employee of the Year last year. Better be nice to me. I just might be your boss someday.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. You work for this company?” I blurted out.

“I do. But have no worries. Being your manager is the least of my dreams. Titles don’t interest me at all. Doing my best work is all that matters to me. And I don’t need to have any formal authority to do that. I hope you don’t mind me telling you so, but I’ve been ranked the number-one employee of this book company for the past five years straight,” he said with a proud smile as he rubbed the Mickey Mouse handkerchief.

This odd individual had to be delusional. I shifted on my feet. Maybe I should run while I still had a chance. But that would make me look silly. My coworkers didn’t have much respect for me as it was. And I adored my morning java too much to leave it there unfinished. I also have to admit that this man was also incredibly interesting. I decided to stay.

I looked around for a hidden camera. Maybe I was being set
up by my teammates for a laughable appearance on one of those TV shows that make fools of those unfortunate enough to be caught flatfooted in one of their well-designed pranks. But as I searched, I could detect no camera. So I decided to play along.

“Okay,” I spoke out, my voice shaking mildly even though as a soldier I’d experienced far more drama and endured much more extreme experiences. “Hi, Tommy. Nice to meet you. Why’d they transfer you to this store?” I asked, though I really wanted to add,
“And not to an insane asylum?”
“You know, they say we’re a sinking ship over here.”

“Oh, they didn’t force me to make the move, Blake—I requested it,” he said, still soundly confident and quite sane. “I wanted the transfer. I wasn’t growing at my old store. And I thought I could make more of a difference here. The more challenging the conditions, with the more marvelous the opportunities, Blake. So I wanted to come down here and work with you,” he added with another grin.

I had no idea where this conversation was going. Who was this person? And the pictures of Mickey Mouse on his handkerchief were starting to bug me—no disrespect to the little guy who I know has delighted millions.

“Does the name Oscar ring any bells, Blake?”

I was startled. I lost my breath for a moment. My heart started to beat faster. My legs began to tremble. My father’s name was Oscar.

“My dad was Oscar,” I answered softly, growing slightly emotional as I felt some of the sadness I’d buried within me on the loss of my parents. Tommy’s eyes softened. In that moment, I sensed that he was kind. He put his hand on my shoulder.

“Your father was a friend of mine back in Milwaukee. We grew up together but never saw each other after he moved to New York. We kept in touch by mail, writing each other long letters to share how our lives were unfolding. It was your dad who
encouraged me to move to this city when I was having trouble finding a job. His strength of character reminded me of the courage I had within me but had forgotten. I’m so sorry about what happened to your parents, Blake. They were good people.

“Anyway,” he continued, now looking up, straight at me. “Oscar kept me up to date about you and everything you were doing. He always told me you had a ton of potential and felt you were meant for some spectacular things. He really believed in you, Blake. But he sensed that you needed someone to inspire and show you how to get to your best. And for whatever reason, he didn’t feel that person was him.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It was stunning to me that this stranger was a friend of my father. The scene felt surreal. I sat down on a stool and leaned my back up against one of the stacks of books.

“Don’t worry, Blake, getting lost along your path is a part of finding the path you’re meant to be on. Sometimes we need to get off track before we can develop the clarity to be on track. All that you’ve gone through, from your personal loss to your tour of duty in Iraq, has been preparation.”

“Preparation?” I wondered aloud, still feeling a fogginess in my head.

“Sure. If you hadn’t gone through everything you’ve gone through, there’s no way in the world you’d be ready to hear what I’ve come here to teach you. Life’s had to break you down so you could be rebuilt better. And, boy, just wait until you see the breakthroughs you’re about to experience. Before you know it, you’ll be the rock star of this whole book company,” Tommy said as his voice rose, full of passion.

“A rock star?” I questioned.

Tommy instantly shot one fist into the air and started shaking his hips, sort of similar to a Mick Jagger move. But this sight wasn’t pretty. “Yes, a rock star,” he replied as he laughed.

“Man, I have trouble just making it through the day. Look, I know you’re trying to help and it really blows my mind you somehow know my dad. But you really have no idea of what I’ve gone through. I still have flashbacks from the war when I least expect it. I can hardly sleep most nights, so a lot of the time I’m exhausted. And even though I’ve been Stateside for a while now, my girlfriend and I have nothing close to the relationship we had before my deployment. So my goal isn’t to be some kind of a ‘rock star’ at work. My goal is pretty much just to survive.”

Tommy folded his arms. He looked deep into my eyes.

“I hear you,” he said, growing very serious. “And I respect what you’re telling me, Blake. Please, just be open to what I’ve come to share with you. My life was a mess, too. But it’s been completely turned around. It feels like a miracle occurred. And I
guarantee
that the same thing will happen to you. I promised your dad I’d help you years ago. I’ve never felt the time was right to pay you a visit. Then by some quirky twist of fate, I saw your name on one of the applications that came in for an opening at this bookstore. One of the perks of winning the Number-One Bookseller in America award, along with the cash and the trip down to the Caribbean, is the opportunity to sit on the recruitment committee and to have regular breakfasts with the executive team to exchange ideas on how to build a better company. I realized that this was my chance to reach out to you—and share a transformational philosophy for leadership in business and success at life that was taught to me a number of years ago, when I too was a little lost along my professional and personal journey. Just imagine becoming so good at what you do here that people give you a standing ovation when you walk through the front door every morning, like they do for Coldplay, U2, or Green Day!” Tommy exclaimed, his enthusiasm rising.

I had to laugh at the idea. Maybe it would be cool to be the
rock star of this organization. And I definitely wanted a chance to win that trip to Aruba, along with the money.

Tommy continued. “And just imagine not only getting to world-class in your career but reaching your absolute best in terms of your health and your relationships and your levels of happiness. I can show you exactly how to have
all
of this. And it’s a lot easier than you might think.”

“Does that necklace you are wearing with LWT on it have something to do with what you want to teach me?” I asked, filled with curiosity.

“Very good,” Tommy responded politely, with a clap of his hands. “This is going to be easier than I thought. Yes, LWT lies at the heart of the method you’re about to discover. It’s a profoundly simple yet simply profound way of working—and living. On the day it was taught to me by four very special teachers, something deep within me shifted. And a natural power within me awakened. I was
never
the same person again. I know how strange and unbelievable that sounds, Blake. But that’s exactly what happened. I just saw my career and my personal life through a whole new set of lenses. Actually, almost immediately after this process was revealed to me, I began to view the whole world through a remarkable new set of eyes. And amazing results began to show up.”

I was intrigued. Skeptical, yes, but equally fascinated. My instinct told me that he wasn’t lying, as outlandish as the entire scenario was. “It’s that powerful—this philosophy you discovered?”

“It is,” Tommy replied simply, as he rubbed the LWT letters on his necklace absentmindedly. “It really is . . .” he added, his voice trailing off. He then played with his hair a little and paused. The bookstore was starting to fill up, and my coffee was now cold. For a few moments, I grew distracted.

Then, I decided to play devil’s advocate. “Tommy, I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but if this LWT stuff is so special, then
why are you still working at this bookstore? Couldn’t you be retired? And, forgive me for saying so, but they haven’t even made you the manager of this place when they transferred you here. You’re in the same position I’m in. Your teachings don’t seem to have helped you so much, man,” I said somewhat sarcastically.