“As leaders, we have no right to take our leftovers to people,” said Garry Ridge.
Leftovers. It’s the perfect word for that negative energy we sometimes carry as leaders from one interaction to the next. The frustrating conversation that still echoes in our head when we show up to our next meeting. The disappointing news we haven’t quite processed. The rough morning we haven’t shaken off.
Garry Ridge knows a lot about the impact what’s going in an a leader’s mind can ripple throughout a culture. He was obsessed with culture for the 25 years he led WD-40. And whatever he figured out, worked. Under his leadership, WD-40 grew from $300 million to $3.5 billion in market value while sustaining an extraordinary 93% employee engagement rate. That’s more than success. That’s creating a culture where people choose to bring their whole hearts to work.
Garry did a live Q&A with our Optimism Library subscribers where he shared perspective about what it takes to be the leader we wish we had. “We are just these humble human beings bumbling our way down this pathway of life, and in the bushes are these thieves that come and grab us”—envy, anger, impatience, all those forces that pull us away from who we truly want to be. “For a minute we might feel okay in those bushes, but if we don’t remind ourselves to get out and get back on that bumbling path, we’ll never get to our destination.”
This is about more than being kind, though kindness matters deeply. This is also about performance, about building something that lasts. Scientists call it “emotional contagion,” the reality that a leader’s mood inexorably ripples outward, shaping individual performance, team dynamics, and ultimately, results. (Recent research from MIT Sloan Management Review reveals that leaders everywhere often amplify workplace stress rather than absorb it. A recent analysis published in The Leadership Quarterly confirmed what all too many of us have felt before – leader stress creates an enormous drain on the cognitive and emotional resources of entire organizations, making it harder for everyone to do their best work.)
But here’s the beautiful part: we can choose a different path.
Garry’s Simple Practice That Changes Everything
Garry carried something with him for all 25 years: a small card that he attached to the cover of his notebook with a single question:
“Am I being the person I want to be right now?”
Below that question lived his list: “grateful, caring, empathetic, reasonable, listener, fact-based, balanced, curious, learner, throws sunshine not shadow.”
Before walking into meetings, during difficult moments, or when he felt himself getting pulled off course, he’d glance at it. If the answer was no, the list below reminded him of the path back. This was his simple way of catching himself before he carried frustration from one conversation into the next, before he let a bad morning become someone else’s bad day.
Your Turn
Imagine what corporate cultures would be like if more of us created our own version of Garry’s practice. What if, throughout our day, we ask ourselves: “Am I being the person I want to be right now?”
Try it. Also write down the qualities that define the leader you aspire to be.
Keep it somewhere you’ll see it—on your notebook, your desk, your phone’s lock screen. Before walking into a meeting, glance at it. Before responding to a difficult email, take a look. When you feel a bad moment threatening to spill into someone else’s day, pause and read it.
No leader is perfect. We can’t get it right every time. This is about intention, about consciously choosing who we want to be, moment by moment.
The people we lead don’t expect us to be perfect. They expect us to want to be present. To care about what kind of leader we want to be. They want the best we have to offer…not our leftovers.
