Robin Sharma - Title: A Modern Fable on Real Success in Business and in
Robin Sharma
Robin Sharma is one of the world's premier speakers on Leadership and Personal Mastery, recently named one of the World's Top Leadership Gurus. As a presenter, Sharma has the rare ability to electrify an audience yet deliver uncommonly original and useful insights that lead to individuals doing their best work, teams providing superb results and organizations becoming unbeatable.
For nearly 20 years, many of the most well-known organizations on the planet, ranging from Nike, GE, Microsoft, FedEx, PwC, HP and Oracle to NASA, Yale University and YPO have chosen Robin Sharma for their most important events, when nothing less than a world-class speaker will do.
Sharma's books such as The Leader Who Had No Title have topped bestseller lists internationally and his social media posts reach over six hundred million people a year, making him a true global phenomenon for helping people do brilliant work, thrive amid change and realize their highest leadership capacities within the organization so that personal responsibility, productivity, ingenuity, and mastery soars.
Sharma has been ranked as one of the Top 5 Leadership Gurus in the World in an independent survey of over 22,000 businesspeople and appears on platforms with other luminaries such as Richard Branson, Bill Clinton, Jack Welch, and Shaquille O'Neill.
About the Kindle Edition
Length: 227 pages
Audible book: Available
Word Wise: Enabled
Screen Reader: Supported
Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
Product Description
For more than fifteen years, Robin Sharma has been quietly sharing with Fortune 500 companies and many of the super-rich a success formula that has made him one of the most sought-after leadership advisers in the world. Now, for the first time, Sharma makes his proprietary process available to you, so that you can get to your absolute best while helping your organization break through to a dramatically new level of winning in these wildly uncertain times.
In The Leader Who Had No Title, you will learn:
• How to work with and influence people like a superstar, regardless of your position
• A method to recognize and then seize opportunities in times of deep change
• The real secrets of intense innovation
• An instant strategy to build a great team and become a "merchant of wow" with your customers
• Hard-hitting tactics to become mentally strong and physically tough enough to lead your field
• Real-world ways to defeat stress, build an unbeatable mind-set, unleash energy, and balance your personal life
Regardless of what you do within your organization and the current circumstances of your life, the single most important fact is that you have the power to show leadership. Wherever you are in your career or life, you should always play to your peak abilities. This book shows you how to claim that staggering power, as well as transform your life—and the world around you—in the process.
Amazon.com Review
For more than fifteen years, Robin Sharma has been quietly sharing with Fortune 500 companies and many of the super-rich a success formula that has made him one of the most sought-after leadership advisers in the world. Now, for the first time, Sharma makes his proprietary process available to you, so that you can get to your absolute best while helping your organization break through to a dramatically new level of winning in these wildly uncertain times.
In The Leader Who Had No Title, you will learn:
How to work with and influence people like a superstar, regardless of your position
A method to recognize and then seize opportunities in times of deep change
The real secrets of intense innovation
An instant strategy to build a great team and become a "merchant of wow" with your customers.
Hard-hitting tactics to become mentally strong and physically tough enough to lead your field
Real-world ways to defeat stress, build an unbeatable mind-set, unleash energy, and balance your personal life.
Regardless of what you do within your organization and the current circumstances of your life, the single most important fact is that you have the power to show leadership. Wherever you are in your career or life, you should always play to your peak abilities. This book shows you how to claim that staggering power, as well as transform your life--and the world around you--in the process.
Exclusive: A Note to Readers from Author Robin Sharma
Thank you for the opportunity to share a little about The Leader Who Had No Title: A Modern Fable on Real Success in Business and in Life. First, the book is the result of the 15 years I've spent as a leadership advisor to many of the FORTUNE 500 companies, including FedEx, Nike, Microsoft, GE, IBM, and organizations like Yale University and Young Presidents Organization--as well as to many über successful entrepreneurs. I mention that so that you know the book is built around real-world insights, lessons, and tactics that the best quietly use to win in business (and within their personal lives). If you're at a point where you are ready for extraordinary performance, exceptional leadership and to play full out with your life, this book will be highly helpful to you.
Second, the book is written as a story with a group of unforgettable characters that bring the whole Lead Without a Title process to life. The goal was to write a book that not only is full of powerful success tactics to become your leadership best but also one that entertains and deeply inspires. In this way, all the learning is sticky--and therefore valuable to you.
Finally, this book is really about not only the opportunity every human being has to show leadership (regardless of whether they have a title or not) but the responsibility we all have to work at our best potential--and make a difference in the lives of everyone around us in the process. Because the ultimate end-game of leadership isn't just positively influencing other people. It's transformation.
Best,
--Robin Sharma
A Conversation with Author Robin Sharma
Q: Is it really possible for anyone to be a leader?
A: Absolutely. The core message of The Leader Who Had No Title is that every single one of us has the opportunity to show leadership in our work and within our lives--every single day. This isn't some motivational platitude. It's a reality that I've helped everyday people in organizations like Microsoft, GE, FedEx, Yale University and IBM achieve. Because leadership isn't really about the title on our business cards. Leadership is about the strength of our influence, our willingness to innovate, the quality of our attitude and our commitment to excellence. This doesn't mean that organizations should get rid of titles and structures. It simply means that leadership is a behavior--and anyone of us can show it.
Q: This is obviously a time of deep change. Does the "Lead Without a Title" philosophy you share in your new book speak to this?
A: Yes. The #1 competitive advantage any organization has right now is growing the leadership potential of EVERY employee, at all levels. From the mailroom to the boardroom, the companies that will win in these highly uncertain times will be those that get people Leading Without a Title. To succeed in this economy, the best organizations will encourage their people to think, feel and behave like leaders, delivering wow results within their work.
Q: So the nature of leadership is changing?
A: The old model of leadership is dead. Everyone's now a part of the leadership team. And each of us has the responsibility of driving positive results and leading by example. It's now Leadership 2.0. Everybody gets to show their leadership best when they walk in the front door every day. The Leader Who Had No Title shows you how.
Q: Is leadership something we only show at work then?
A: Leading Without a Title is actually a way to express your absolute best at work as well as at home. While the book is definitely for people who want to fly in their careers and win at work, there are some key ideas in the book on personal leadership, getting to peak health, balancing work and family and having a lot more fun on the journey of life.
Q: Why this book and why now?
A: Because we need real leaders. Companies that we used to believe in have gone bankrupt or been bailed out. Leaders we used to admire have lost face. We need to restore the leadership values that made us great. And it starts with every one of us leading ourselves. We all have that power. It's time to reconnect with it.
From Publishers Weekly
Have you ever wanted to know how to identify life-altering financial opportunities during times of great unrest? Adviser to Fortune 500 companies, Sharma reveals his methodology and gives tips on everything from leadership-building skills to becoming a merchant of wow with clients and customers. Holter Graham delivers an understated and able reading, but given Sharma's obvious talents as a speaker--judged by his engaging interview included in the audiobook--, he would have been the more appropriate and charismatic choice. A Simon &Schuster hardcover (Reviews, Jan. 18)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Unknown
"The Leader Who Had No Title by Robin Sharma is ...filled with good advice on how stand out as a worker, no matter what your position may be. " Bookviews
Review
"If you want to operate at the level of 'WOW!', be an exceptional leader and live a life 'full out'--buy this book"
-- Darren Hardy, Publisher, SUCCESS magazine
About the Author
Robin Sharma is one of the world's most highly respected leadership experts. He is devoted to the mission of helping organizations develop people who Lead Without a Title so that they win in this period of intense change. His clients include Microsoft, GE, FedEx, IBM, Nike, NASA, Yale University, and The Young Presidents Organization. Sharma's books, such as The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari and The Greatness Guide have topped bestseller lists across the globe and have sold millions of copies in more than 70 languages. They have been embraced by rock stars, royalty, and many celebrity CEOs.
Sharma is also the co-Founder of 960vets.com, an innovative online support resource that helps U.S. veterans successfully reintegrate into civilian life.
CHAPTER 1
Leadership and Success
Are Your Birthright
Nobody succeeds beyond his or her wildest expectations unless he or she begins with some wild expectations.
—RALPH CHARELL
The sight of an achievement is the greatest gift a human being could offer others.
—AYN RAND
EACH OF US IS BORN INTO GENIUS. Sadly, most of us die amid mediocrity. I hope it doesn’t upset you that I reveal this closely held belief so early in our brief time together. But I need to be honest. I also should share that I’m just an ordinary guy who happened to get lucky enough to learn a series of extraordinary secrets that helped me become super-successful in business and deeply fulfilled in life. The good news is that I’m here to offer you everything that I discovered on a pretty stunning adventure. So you too can work at wow. And live full-out. Starting today.
The powerful lessons I’ll reveal will be given gently, carefully, and with sincere encouragement. Our ride together will be full of fun, inspiration, and entertainment. The principles and tools you’ll discover will automatically cause your career to fly, your happiness to soar, and your absolute best to fully express itself. But above all else, I promise you, I will be honest. I owe you that respect.
My name is Blake Davis, and though I was born in Milwaukee, I’ve lived here in New York City for nearly all of my life. And I still love this place. The restaurants. The pace. The people. And those hot dogs on the street—incredible. Yes, I do adore food—one of life’s best pleasures, if you ask me, along with good conversation, my favorite sports, and great books. Anyway, there’s really no place on Earth like the Big Apple. I have zero plans to leave. Ever.
Please allow me to quickly mention a little of my background before I tell you about the bizarre yet precious events that shifted me from where I once was to the place I’d always wanted to be. My mom was the kindest person I’ve ever met. My father was the most determined person I’ve ever known. Salt-of-the-earth-type people. Not perfect. But find me someone who is. The main thing is that they always did the best that they could do. And in my mind, the best you can do is all you can do. Once you’ve done that, go home and have a good night’s sleep. Worrying about things beyond your control is a pretty good formula for illness. And most of the things we so concern ourselves with about never actually happen. Kurt Vonnegut said it beautifully when he observed: “The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindsides you at 4:00 p.m. some idle Tuesday.”
My parents shaped me in so many ways. They didn’t have a lot of things, yet in many ways, they had everything: they had the courage of their convictions, they had superb values, and they had self-respect. I still miss them deeply and not a day goes by that I forget to appreciate them. In my quieter moments, I sometimes reflect on the fact that we generally take the people we love the most for granted. Until we lose them. Then we take long, silent walks and pray for a second chance to treat them the way they deserved to have been treated. Please don’t let that sort of regret infect your life. It happens too often, to too many among us. If you are blessed enough to still have your parents, honor them. And do it today.
Growing up, I was a good kid. “A heart on two legs” is how my grandfather used to describe me. I just didn’t have it in my constitution to hurt anyone or disrupt anything. I did fairly well in school, was pretty popular with the girls, and played some solid football on my high school’s varsity team. Everything changed when my parents were killed. The ground beneath my feet fell out from under me. I lost all confidence. I had no focus. My life became stuck.
In my early twenties, I drifted from one job to the next, sort of coasting on autopilot for a while. I numbed out and didn’t care about much about anything. I medicated myself with too much TV, too much food, and too much worry—all designed to avoid having to feel the pain that one feels at the recognition of one’s lost potential.
In that period of my life, work was merely a means to pay the bills rather than a platform to express my best. A job was nothing more than a rough way to get through the hours of my days rather than the gorgeous opportunity to grow into all I was meant to be. Employment was just a vehicle to pass my time instead of an excellent chance to shine a light on other people and a way to use my days to build a better organization—and in so doing—a better world.
I finally decided to enlist in the army. It seemed like a good move to help me feel a sense of belonging and to find some order amid the messiness. I was shipped off to the war in Iraq. And though being in the military did bring structure to my life, it also brought with it experiences that continue to haunt me to this day. I witnessed friends I’d gone through basic training with killed in bloody battles. I saw soldiers who were not more than kids brutally maimed and tragically hurt. And I watched any of the mild enthusiasm that may have existed in my former self wither away as I sank deeply into the muddy, desperate awareness of what my life had become. Even though I’d escaped physical trauma at war, I still became a wounded warrior. And I carried the ghosts of battle with me wherever I went.
One day, it was suddenly time to come home. It happened so fast it was dizzying. I was put on a transport plane, flown home, and within a day or two after some routine medical checks, handed my papers. I was thanked for the service I’d rendered to my nation and wished good luck. On a sunny autumn afternoon, I walked out onto a city street and came to a frightening conclusion: I was completely on my own again.
My biggest struggle was trying to find my way back into a society that had forgotten me. Most nights, I couldn’t sleep—my mind punished with violent memories of the nightmarish scenes I’d experienced at war. In the mornings, I’d lay in bed for hours trying to get enough energy to get up and start my day. My body hurt. I’d feel scared for no reason and could hardly relate to anyone other than my fellow soldiers. The things I used to love doing seemed so trivial and boring to me. My life lacked any sense of purpose or meaning. Sometimes I wished I’d die.
Perhaps one of the best gifts my parents gave me was a love of learning, especially through books. Within the covers of a single book are ideas that, if acted upon, have the power to rescript every part of your life. Few things are as smart as investing in becoming a better thinker and developing a stronger mind. Relentless learning is one of the main traits of an open and powerful person. And an obsessive and ongoing self-education is one of the greatest survival tactics to get through turbulent times. The best people always seem to have the biggest libraries.
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 lies 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.
© 2010 Sharma Leadership International, Inc.
Product Details
Publication date: March 27, 2010
Publisher: Free Press
Language: English
Comments