Page 61 - Ray Dalio - Principles

world leaders. Since he had personally known virtually all of
the world’s leaders over the last fifty years, we asked Lee
about the qualities that distinguished the great ones from the

bad ones and what he thought of those who were leading at the
time. He rated Angela Merkel as the best leader in the West
and considered Vladimir Putin one of the best leaders
worldwide. He explained that leaders must be judged within
the context of the circumstances they encounter and then went
on to share his view of how difficult it is to lead Russia and
why he thought Putin was doing it well. He also reflected on

his unique relationship with Deng Xiaoping, whom he
regarded as the best leader of all.

I love getting to know interesting people from interesting
places and seeing the world through their eyes. This is true
whether they are rich or poor. Seeing life through the eyes of
the indigenous people I got to know in Papua New Guinea was
as illuminating for me as gaining the perspectives of the

political and economic leaders, world-changing entrepreneurs,
and cutting-edge scientists I’ve spent time with. I’ll never
forget the blind holy man I met in a mosque in Syria, who
explained the Quran and his connection to God to me.
Encounters like these have taught me that human greatness
and terribleness are not correlated with wealth or other

conventional measures of success. I’ve also learned that
judging people before really seeing things through their eyes
stands in the way of understanding their circumstances—and
that isn’t smart. I urge you to be curious enough to want to
understand how the people who see things differently from
you came to see them that way. You will find that interesting
and invaluable, and the richer perspective you gain will help

you decide what you should do.

MY FAMILY AND MY EXTENDED

FAMILY

My family, my extended family of co-workers, and my work
have all been extremely important to me. Juggling work and
family has been as much a challenge to me as to anyone else,