Rockefeller’s advice – 9

Auto-generated transcript:We come to the last of the principles. He says reputation outlasts riches. John D Rockefeller, he gave away 500 million in charities. He built the University of Chicago and Rockefeller University. He treated his people well with respect. And he always says money disappears, reputation echoes through generations. And your legacy is not your bank account, it is the name, the reputation you build for yourself. I'm reminded of the Gucci family slogan, which says quality is remembered long after the price is for water. Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten. He also said that his secret empire or the empire secret was not oil, it was people. He said, I'd rather earn 1% of 100 people's efforts than 100% of my own. And he spent personal time recruiting top talent globally. And very interesting what he said about who in his view was the best person to have. He said, I will pay more for the ability to get along with people than I will pay for any other ability under the sun. He said, I will pay more for the ability to get along with people than I will pay for any other ability under the sun. So he valued people of talent, he valued people who were present, who got along with people, who were influential. That's how you become influential, by being able to get along with people. You do not become influential by being crass or by being qualified. You do not become influential by being a good person. You do not become influential by being quarrelsome or by any other way. You build reputation and you build influence by being nice. Now being nice does not mean you don't stand for your rights. It doesn't mean that you let people walk all over you. No, it just means that whatever you do, you do with style and you do with kindness and you do that with good manners. Good manners are worth money. Believe me, they're good. They're worth money. They're worth money. They're worth money. They're worth money. I remember a little kid, maybe 10 years old or something, and I was in the riding club and Syed Ahmad Khan Sahib passed away. He was my riding instructor. And I would always, you know, in our Hyderabadi way, I would say, I would make salaam to my elders. And I was not conscious of it, but I evidently had a big smile on my face. And Syed Khan Sahib was a good rider. Syed Khan Sahib was one of the first to say, , He told me that you are respecting people. You are doing salaam to people and you are smiling will open doors for you that you cannot even imagine. And he told me this when I was 10 years old. Today I'm 17. I believe that is so true. I'm so grateful to Allah . for such good teachers and for enabling me to do that. Now, reputation outlasts riches. John D. Rockefeller's competition and rivalry with Andrew Carnegie was not only in oil, but also externally in philanthropy. And both of them, they tried to outdo each other in giving more and more to charity. And obviously, that's a wonderful thing. It's a thing which the whole of society benefits from. And they did that, you know, amazingly well. The thing he says is he treated people with respect. That's the whole thing. The whole point is, how do you build reputation? Reputation is a very... First of all, let me say this. Reputation is your most valuable asset. Nothing in the world comes even close to your reputation. In terms of its value, as far as you're concerned. Reputation. The thing I say to myself and I say to anyone who's listening, what do you want to be remembered for? What do you want to be remembered for? Always ask yourself this question. Any situation that you are in, what do you want to be remembered for? And then go and do that. Do the thing that will make you memorable, that will give good memories to people. So if you are a parent, raise your children, the way you want to be remembered by those children. If you are a teacher, teach the way you want to be remembered as a teacher. If you are a manager, manage the way you want to be remembered as a manager. Whatever you are, behave in a way that you want to be remembered. When people think of you, what do you want them to say? What do you want them to think of when they are thinking of you? That's very important to live their life consciously every moment in that way, where you are conscious of how do I want to be remembered? And Alhamdulillah, Allah Ta'ala has given this in our hands. You can be remembered any way you want. Any way you want. If you think about, if you read history, if you read biographies, if you just think about people, just think about, for example, people you knew who are no longer there, but you think about, you know, you remember them. And ask yourself, what do I remember that person for? And invariably, without exception, you will remember people positively for what they gave to you. By giving, I don't mean, you know, chocolates or ice creams. I mean, giving in terms of their knowledge, their time, their help, feedback, sometimes critical feedback, and so on. People who did something for you. We do not remember people for what they did, we never remember people for what they had. We remember people for what they did for us. How did that person impact me? I've written two books, which are biographical. One is called, you know, Teacup. The other one is called From India to the Indies. And before that, I wrote another book called It's My Life. It's My Life. It's My Life. It's My Life. It's My Life. And it's my, in which I mentioned several people who are my role models and who are my mentors. And you will see from my, my narrative, and this is true for anyone, that these were people who had a positive impact on me. So, when I'm remembering them, I am really remembering my time with them and how I benefited from them. Now, this is not a sign of selfishness or something. This is human, this is human nature. People remember what they gave. they got from you. So ask yourself, what are people getting from me? Whoever is in my circle of influence, whoever is in my circle of friends, what are they receiving from me? And make sure that that is the best thing that they can receive from you. And you are a winner. The reason I'm saying this is because you might say, well, you know, John Rockefeller gave away $500 million because he had that. I don't have that. You don't need to have $500 million. You think about the people that we remember with huge respect, many of them, especially I would say, look at the top three, more than likely, the top three would be people who in a material sense had nothing. They did not, they're not remembered for the numbers. They're not remembered for how many millions they gave away because they didn't have the will. Those millions. But they're remembered for what they gave in terms of wisdom, in terms of knowledge, in terms of just kindness, in terms of helping people, and so on and so forth. People who are great roadborders. Take all the Ambia, for example, the prophets. Take Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. You don't remember Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam for how many millions he gave away because he did not have those millions to give away. Whatever he had, he gave away initially, but after that, he didn't have it and he didn't give it. But we remember him for what? Most people and the most stories of the seerah have to do with his akhlaq. They have to do with his kindness, with the way he treated, especially those who did not treat him well, especially his kindness towards those who, within quotes, did not even deserve that kindness. But he was kind to them because that's who he was. That's what he was. So you take anyone, the issue is, what do people get from me? What are they receiving from me? That is very, very important with that. So focus on your legacy. What is your legacy? I write a lot and alhamdulillah, those books are my legacy. The people I have taught are my legacy, inshallah. I hope that some of them at least will make dua for me when I'm gone and so forth. And this is why we do because this is our legacy which we are building. Think about legacy as your bank account. This is what your net worth really is. It's not how much money you have. It's your legacy. What's your net worth? Your net worth is your legacy where you are looking at, what can I leave behind which will be sadaqa jaaria for me. So, thinking about it, also in the Islamic context, reputation and so forth is not just reputation but it's also your sadaqas. This pandemic has become şimdi 사실 bank account too. Jere, you just went away, sa мыnor now sa firsti se等一下 jirgade 세�ftere ve Áísina ya Qay sundaa, now ma ye geldi ginseng na呢 taht kuke, but it's also your sadak한 shahidiyya al neikan ya me. So now I〜 a special day. I granted in Mohamed Al chick reducing my One way of looking at reputation is to look at it from the context of sadhakajarya, because this is what earns for you after you're gone. And one of the sadhakajarya is knowledge that you impart, beneficial knowledge that you teach people. And of course, the money you spend for the benefit of others. These are the two things. And of course, children that you raise who are pious and righteous, but even if you don't have children, it doesn't matter. It's a question of doing something which is beneficial. I mean, to put it broadly, doing something which is beneficial. There are many things which are beneficial in different ways, all of which are acceptable as far as Islam is concerned. So therefore, think about this in the context of how can I benefit others? This is my legacy. How can I benefit others? We ask Allah the Almighty, because the Prophet said, the best of you is the one who is the most beneficial to others. And we ask Allah the Almighty to make us among the best by being beneficial to others.