Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has negotiated with warlords and presidents for 45 years. His diagnosis of the founder mindset is blunt.
EXPERT OPINION BY DANIEL ROBBINS, CEO AND FOUNDER OF IBH MEDIA AND HOST OF FOUNDER’S STORY
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Photo:
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar opened our conversation with an observation that hit uncomfortably close to home.
The most successful entrepreneurs I know have money
“The most successful entrepreneurs I know have money but still can’t sit alone in silence,” he told me. “Why? They don’t know the skill, how to quiet the mind.”
He would know. His breath-based meditation has reached over 800 million people. In 2026, he received the Luxembourg Peace Prize for 45 years of resolving conflicts around the world. He’s sat across from warlords, presidents, and people who hated each other for decades.
When I asked him whether he can read intentions in those rooms, he didn’t hesitate. “Oh yeah. And I see a good human being hiding in each one of them.”
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That framework, seeing the person under the position,
That framework, seeing the person under the position, is the same one he brings to prisons through his organization’s programs.
“No child is born on this planet as a bad or evil guy,” he said. “It’s lack of education, or ill education, or the problems and situations they have faced in their own life that make them what they are.”
Dangerous Emotions
For founders, the most practical part of our conversation was about emotions in leadership. I asked which emotion is most dangerous. His answer reframed the question.
Source: www.inc.com
