Book Review: The Leader Who Had No Title Robin Sharma

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2 Book Review: The Leader Who Had No Title Robin Sharma In a Nutshell... The book is a modern fable focusing on 4 for leadership concepts that encourage people and organisations to live out world class lives through the techniques taught in each leadership conversation. The single best book for anyone from the CEO, the Street sweeper and in between. This book will offer you something exceptional. Snippets of First chapters Quotable Quote: if everyone would sweep their own street the whole world would be clean. In light of a great organisation, what would happen to the sound of s symphony if even one of its players was out of tune and less the suburb at his art? How many of your employees are out of tune? No role is a small role everyone needs to drive innovation. Everyone needs to inspire their teammates. Everyone needs to embrace change. Everyone needs to take responsibility for their results. Everyone needs to be positive. Everyone needs to become devoted to expressing their absolute best. And once they do, the organisation not only will adapt beautiful to the changing conditions, it will actually lead within its field. Each one of us has total control over of how you show up in your current role. The highest of all human responsibilities is the ability each one of us has to choose how we respond to the environment we find ourselves within. You must pay the price for success before the rewards are due to you. However, the less you focus on the goods you receive most of care about at work, the more you receive it. The best way to help poor people is to ensure you don t become one of them. Quotable quote: there s only one of you in the whole world now and forever more. And no one else can ever be as good as you as you. Average life is only 960 months or twenty thousand days. The days slip into weeks and the weeks become months and it all goes by in a blink. Your workplace can change from a dead end job and reshaped into something resembling a work of art. Snippets of Chapter 3 Sad cost mediocrity and the spectacular rewards of leadership mastery:

3 Few things generate as much happiness as knowing that you are fully realising your genius, doing brilliant work, and spending your life beautifully. And with the catalystic change in our society right now, leadership has become the single most important master skill for success in business. We need to practice leadership in every arena we play. If you can t leader yourself you will never lead anyone around you. How to start: One of the best things you can do is get up early; it s one of the most intelligent daily practices the leaders without a title perform with acute consistency. Plenty time for sleeping when you are dead. Getting up one hour earlier gives us an extra hour per day, 7 extra hours per week. That s thirty fresh hours in a month. Almost an extra work week every thirty days. That s time you can exploit to build your plans, refine vision and develop your best projects. Time you can leverage to reflect on your values, remove your inner barriers and rethink your thinking. Graves are great things they serve to dramatically remind us of how short life is you know, we all end up in a pile of dust. And on your last day, all that truly matters is whether you got to know your inner leader, and if you did, whether you had the bravery to allow it to offer it s gifts to the world around you. Each one of us alone creates the lives we get to live... True human heartbreak is reaching your final moments and realizing that you wasted the most important gift that was given to you the chance to present your magnificence to the world around. Success is created through the performance of a few small daily disciplines that stack up over time to produce achievements far beyond anything you could have planned for. Successful people all perform the same few leadership disciplines. They consistently practice the same few fundamentals. But their seemingly small, insignificant daily acts of excellence stack up over time to a best-in-class carer and world-class personal life. Failure on the other hand is a succession of a few bad fundamentals performed daily such as smoking. Which will amount to something greater than you expected cancer or worse. Its small acts of daily neglect performed consistently until you reach point of no return (e.g. business bankruptcy). Sustained change only happens when we shift emotional rather than logical level. There is no dead end job in this whole wide unpredictable world of ours only dead-end thinking. By infusing leadership into everything you do and each thing you touch, you can live remarkably. You truly can realize your original genius. You really can be one of the great ones.

4 Life stands as a model of possibility Leadership Conversations: The Book is based on four leadership conversations around creating leadership mastery. The first Leadership Conversation: You need No Title to Be a Leader One of the greatest freedoms each of us has as people is the freedom to choose how we view our roles in the world and the power we all have to make positive decisions in whatever conditions we happen to find ourselves. You can choose to set yourself a high standard and deliver nothing less than my very best to each job. When giving your absolute best you create your own luck. Always giving more than your best at every job, steadily will improve your life. Lucky breaks are nothing more than unexpected rewards for intelligent choices we ve chosen to make. Success doesn t just happen because someone s stars line up. Success, both in business and personally, is something that s consciously created. It s the guaranteed result of deliberate series of acts that anyone can perform. Anyone can truly be successful, but few choose to be. Too many of us take jobs for granted and fail to see all the positive results they contain. We wish for something better rather than realizing we currently have. We just need to look a little deeper, try a little harder and lead a little better. It s impossible to build a tribute to success on the foundation of excuses. Never play victim, show leadership. True leadership is about having unshakable faith in your vision and unrelenting confidence in your power to make positive change happen. Albert Einstein great spirits have always encountered opposition from mediocre minds. If you stumble a bit, that part of the game. You learn to walk by falling. You learn to lead by trying. Great people construct monuments with the stones their critics throw at them. Go to work each and see yourself as an artist of sorts, and each day you re fortunate enough to be able to express your highest creativity on canvas that others call work. Titles bring power. The power that comes with being a managing director, for example, only lasts for as the person has the title managing director. If it s taken away, all the power that was associated with it was taken out the door with it. The influence that comes with having a title is fleeting at best. Firm yet friendly, tough yet tender and courageous yet compassionate.

5 Four Natural Powers: 1. Each of us alive in this moment has the power to go to work each day and express the absolute best within us. And you need no title to do that. 2. Everyone one of us alive today has the power to inspire, influence and elevate each person we meet by the gift of a great example. And you need no title to do that. 3. Every one of us alive with life can passionately drive positive change in the face of negative conditions. An you need no title to do that 4. Every one of us alive to the truth about leadership can treat all stakeholders with respect, appreciation and kindness and in so doing raise the organisations culture to best of breed, and you need no title to do that. Simply remember that no matter what your position within any organisation and no matter how old you are or where you live throughout the world, you have the power to show leadership. And no one and nothing can ever deny you that.. There is a difference to being alive and knowing how to live Two choice really, Victimhood or Leadership. First time in history of man we have this opportunity every can lead in their work and within their lives. Shining example of leadership if you elevate the lives of ten people per day in three months that 300 people you positively influenced. At the need of your year that over 3000 people. Management Tip: The single best move any organisation can make whether the organisation is a business or a non-for-profit or government or school or even a nation is growing the leadership potential of every one of its constituents. Leadership versus victimhood those who are superb at making excuses are usually are not suburb at doing much else. Victims live by excuses and ultimately die with them. You always behave in a way that is consistent with yourself image. So see yourself as nothing short of brilliant. Focus: Focus married with time produces mastery. You really need to focus on the particular job you want for ten years. Only then you will be an overnight success. Along with the excuses we make, we also allow ourselves to get distracted by a million little things and eventually amount to nothing. We all have the capability in us; very rarely do we have the discipline to exercise it. The only economy that matters is the one between your two ears. Ideas: Ideas are ultimately worthless unless you activate them with focused and consistent action. The best leaders never leave the site of a good idea without doing something not matter how small to breathe some life into it. Lots of people have good ideas. But the

6 masters become masters because they had the courage and conviction to act on idea. Just start whatever it is that you know you need to do to take your work as well as your life to where you know it can be. Small consistent steps drive momentum. Daily Ripples of excellence-overtime- become tsunami of success. Practise of success Daily 5 Imagine doing 5 little yet focused acts everyday to get you closer to your most important goals. After one month that s about one hundred and fifty goals you have realised. Then after 12 months, you ve achieved over two thousand goals. Just imagine what the next twelve months would like, not only for your work, but your health, your relationships you have achieved over two thousand little but focused and meaningful outcomes. I innovation. Daily and relentless progress. All great leaders flex their minds and elevate their abilities by consistently asking themselves What can I Improve Today? Make your present better than your past, develop an innovative mindset. Daily ripples of superior performance add up over time to a title wave of outrageous success. Start off small and just do little improvements every day. Few things are as foolish as hoping old behaviours will somehow present new results. M Mastery. What would the person who is the best in the world at what I do be doing right thus very moment. Please note, you ll find that you don t have a lot of company on that extra mile. Work wasn t at all something that is merely a vehicle to pass the time and pay my bills. It was gift. And a spectacular way to access my leadership best and in doing so, not only become happier human being, but also to make the world a better place in the process. A Authenticity: It s never been so important to keep the promises you make to your teammates and customers. It s about knowing who you are, what you stand for, and then having the courage to be yourself. Rather than defining success by what you get, they define their success by what you give. G Guts in Business: Unrealistically persistent and wildly courageous. The more you leave your valleys of comfort in the passionate pursuit of your mountains of opportunity, the more obstacles you ll face as you make your climb. On the other side of these obstacles lie the greatest rewards... Criticism is the defence reaction that scared people use to protect themselves against change. E Ethics: You will never go wrong in doing what s right. There is nothing more important than being honest, highly dependable, staying on time and treating people the way you want to be treated. Be ferociously humble. Make sure your video is in sync with your audio. Final thoughts on first conversation:

7 Leadership definitely is the single most important advantage of every world-class organisation, the source of every great achievement, and the bedrock of every extraordinary life. Second Leadership Conversation: Turbulent times Build Great Leaders Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever. Keep in mind, difficult days never last, strong people always do I may not be rich, but I have a rich life... As a leader without title, I had a natural power within me to determine what meaning I attached to any circumstance I d been presented with. By finding a positive and useful interpretation, I d be flipping the switch from victimhood to leadership. I need to stop making excuses for what my life looked like, use previous experiences to build and even brighter future. One intelligent insight can inspire you to make a decision that shifts you into revolutionary new way of performing. Anyone in business is in show business. Change: If you stick your head under the desk and hope the avalanche of change will go away, you ll end up suffocating. If you fight against it, you ll end up in trouble It means, to ski down the tough runs you have to do the very thing that it seems you should most avoid doing From a skier perspective: If I don t lean into the change that s coming at me and instead try to protect myself by pulling back into my old way of operating, I ll end up frozen on the mountain, so to speak. The fear you have when going to your outer limits actually causes your limits to expand When it comes to skiing, anyone can look like a pro and ski on the easy runs. The true test of your ability is how you ski on the hard ones. What you resist will persist, but what you befriend you begin to transcend RISK: Take some intelligent risks and have the courage to concentrate your greatest abilities on your largest opportunities, even if that thought frightens you.

8 Comfort Zone: You will get back in direct proportion to what you give. The more you do things you do that scare you, the more you are showing leadership. If you retreat, you lose the opportunity for the largest growth. We all have our Everest lurking within our hearts. You need to be dedicated to climbing it a small amount everyday On the easy stuff, anyone can look like a superstar. Deficiencies get amplified under pressure, in person or in an organisation learn from those. The very things that make you feel afraid are those very doorways into your leadership. There can be no growth or progress without that feeling of nervousness in the pit of your belly and discomfort in the core of your body. Do what frightens you daily, and you ll elegantly transform fear into power every day. Growth Choose growth over complacency even though complacency feels better in the short term. Growing yourself and your leadership best is your single best survival tactic. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world the master calls the butterfly Richard Bach. Disruption is usually the beginning of real improvement showing up. Business Management Tip: Like the turbulent times and periods of struggle in business are, in truth, similar opportunities to grow wings and express our best. Change: You can be a victim about the whole thing and feel the change is something being done to you that s fit s some external force that you have no control over. Or you can use my natural power and step up to being a leader without title. Victims Cry why me? Leaders, on the other hand shout it s up to me!!!! Be the light in a dark turbulent world. SECOND LEAD WITHOUT TITLE PRINCIPLE: SPARK S. Speak with Candor being a pristine, truth-filled, and inspirational communicator. Don t preserve the status quote with vague generalities. People want truth not plastic sloganeering. Be courageous enough to speak the truth when it s difficult or your voice tremors. Without such truth and candor people live in a place amid delusion and fantasy. Leaders in every interaction remind people of their best. Superb leaders also employ encouraging, supportive and positive words that provoke others into dazzling action. Just look at John F Kennedy, Gahndi, Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. Were able to do through the sheer power of their words.

9 Management tip: Instead of saying not doing a good job, why not say, I can appreciate your effort. Let s look at way to take you to the next level or performance. DO NOT GOSSIP. THEY DO NOT COMPLAIN, THEY DO NOT CONDEMN, THEY NEVER SWEAR. The only words they try their best to use each day are those that inspire, engage and elevate. P. Prioritize in turbulent times it easy to get distracted from mission, vision, values, goals and it s easy to get nailed to the seduction of distraction. Focus on the best and forget the rest. Consider the idea that leadership is about knowing very little about a lot of things and a staggering amount about a few things. Note: Even if you were shifting from busyness to getting things done, it s also key to remember that getting things done is not the same as doing great things (shift from chaotic to elegant simplicity). ACTION STEP: Every morning, before you go off to the world, take some quite time for yourself. During this period, make the time to think. Sometimes you need to slow down to speed up. Thinking in silence while the rest of the world is asleep is an excellent discipline for exceptional performance. A. Adversity Breeds Opportunity: Every set back carries an even greater opportunity. Every seeming failure brings with it some sort of corresponding blessing. Have the courage to walk through the doorway offered. And for every dream that dies, an even better can come to life. Problems are nothing more than platforms for even brighter possibilities. Crises contain exceptional opportunity: Remember the strongest and most powerful of leaders were built by struggle and setback. Action is the antidote to despair In challenging times keep moving. ACTION STEP: KMP Keep Moving Forward. Just keeping moving forward and taking action, no matter how hard it seems. Keep progressing Every positive action yields a positive consequence, even if not immediately. It's better to go down in the fiery failure because you chased your loftiest ambitions than to spend your best hours watching television in some subdivision. R. Respond Vs react: Don t worry about the areas you can t control and take control of those areas you can. Take Initiative. Remember the finest hour for every great leader was when everything looked like it was falling apart. K. Kudos: Being a Leader without Title is about being a leader and inspirational in a world that all too often celebrates the worst things. Remember to shine a light on people. Life begins at the end of your comfort zone!

10 Third Leadership Conversation: The deeper your relationships, the stronger your leadership. The deeper your relationships the stronger your leadership Give away that which you most want to receive Single best way to inspire your teammates to become the natural leaders they are meant to be is to model leadership mastery yourself The quality of any organisation comes down to the quality of the relationships between its individual teammates Being great at business is all about a glorious focus on people. Believing in them and celebrating them. Always do more than you are paid to do H: Helpfulness be astonishingly helpful U: Understanding - speak less and listen more. Leadership is about listening, and allowing others to fell heard. That takes a big person. M: Mingle when people are seeing your face, you stand out. They get to know you. They begin to like you. And remember, people always like to do business with people they like. Now is the time to be out building bridges, rolling up your sleeves, and connecting with colleges and customers while you help them get to where they want to go. Drink coffee with your stakeholders. Have lunches with your customers. Find out what their concerns and worries are. A: Amuse having fun while you do your work will help you boost your productivity. Fun makes you more engaged in whatever you are doing. N: Nurture: Leave every single person who intersects your path better, happier and more engaged than you found them. Take care of people and the money will take care of itself. Help other people get to their goals and people will help you get every single one of yours. People are the most important element to a winning business

11 The Fourth Leadership Conversation: To Be a Great Leader, First become a great Person. Blood, sweat, and tears are necessary to reach dreams, hopes and joys. Build up such extreme amounts of internal power that you re pretty much invincible in the face of deep change and relentless pressure. To be a great leader, first you must become a great person. We must lead ourselves first, only then can you lead other people. The time to think about your legacy and how you want to be remembered is not on your last day, but now. That way you can live your life backward and make certain that you have a good ending. Elevate the lives of everyone around them. The street sweeper gets buried next to the CEO. And titles, prestige and university degrees don t matter much at the end. All that truly counts is whether you grew into all you could have been and whether you showed leadership by using your potential to positively contribute to lives of other human beings In our world we define our success by what we have rather than by the people we ve become. Personal Leadership Leading from the inside out is the DNA off all enduring excellence. Greatness is an inner event with outer consequences. Once you awaken your inner leader, worldly success is the guaranteed result! Life waits for no one, don t put off until tomorrow what you know you must be done today. Often we see through eyes of fear versus through lenses of opportunity. Action: Being positive people who laugh at positive thinking should make a study of sports heroes, of legendary champions. Thoughts in the brain matter. Every business result is the direct result of collective behaviour of each of its people. And every action you take is a child of a thought. The results you expect are the results you ll see. Understand the thoughts in one s mind. Better awareness leads to better choices, better choices leads to better results. 5AM Ritual: this is time to reset yourself. To lock in to your flight plan for the day. To reconnect with your core values. To renew, regenerate and reground. It s a period to work

12 on your mind, strengthen your body, nourish your emotional life, and fuel your spiritual dimension.