book review the leader who had no title

Lead on Purpose

Promoting leadership principles in product management, book review: the leader who had no title.

September 17, 2010 by Michael Ray Hopkin 10 Comments

“ We all need to lead where we are planted and shine where we now find ourselves.” According to  Robin Sharma , the author of  The Leader Who Had No Title: A Modern Fable on Real Success in Business and in Life , anyone can be a leader. Too many people go to work with the mindset that to be a leader they need to work their way up the company ladder, get the title or position they seek, and  then they can be leaders. This is the wrong approach according to Sharma.

The book is written in a business fable style. The story is good and somewhat engaging. The leadership principles that surface in the story make the book worth reading. The foundation principle is  self-leadership . Anyone who understands this can lead regardless of his or her official title in an organization. According to Sharma, “leaders are those individuals who do the things that failures aren’t willing to do–even though they might not like doing them either.” Too many people pay the sad costs of mediocrity and forego the spectacular rewards of being a leader.

In the story, the main character (Blake) has conversations with four unorthodox leaders. Each of these individuals works in a position that — based on conventional wisdom — would not be considered a leadership position. Each conversation brings out key principles that can help “ordinary” people become true leaders:

• You need not title to be a leader: Success (business and personal) is something that’s consciously created. To lead without a title “you will have to be unrealistically persistent and wildly courageous.”
• Turbulent times build great leaders: Challenging times in both business and life give us great opportunities to learn and transform ourselves. “Problems and difficult days are actually good for you.”
• The deeper your relationships, the stronger your leadership: “Leave every single person who intersects your path better, happier, and more engaged than you found them.” Time spent forming deep relationships–in all aspects of life–will pay dividends down the road.
• To be a great leader, first become a great person: Training and strengthening your inner leader will help you perform at extraordinary levels. The key is learning to lead yourself. In our world we define success by the things we have, not by the people we’ve become. The more self-awareness we develop the more likely we are to grow and help others.

If you are looking for practical ways to improve your leadership and your ability to make a difference where you’re at now, this book is a must-read. Though I’m not a veteran, I appreciate the thread of gratitude throughout the book for veterans who have served and for the freedoms espoused in America.

• Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

10 thoughts on “ Book Review: The Leader Who had no Title ”

Leave a comment

I really appreciated with the 4 principles for being a leader. Definitely, I agreed with the Author, Robin Shama on his flexible and great vision that every can be a leader and he/she already had gained successive experiences for being a leader without title. Thank you .

Pingback: New Books! « The ilovereadin' Blog

i need the critical review

All good.. but most important in communiction. If cannot communicate what you did good and present youreself in deplomatic way you are not a leader. I have seen many people who are just good and knowledge abt the external world than related to operation are now leading. A man who can handle the complete operations / can guide other will not be a leader. The leader will be one who just know how to present his failure and team effort as what he has done.

This is my exp working in IT company, definitly the case is different if you are running your own business.

Pingback: Career Tuesday Intro (on Wednesday) | Chelsea Laviolette

Pingback: The Leader Who Had No Title: A Modern Fable On Real Success In Business And In Life | The Book Review Hub

When you go to your limits, your limits will expand

I am not a big fan of self-help books , specially one advertising by success in 7 days or 24 hours. No one can just succeed in 7 days by reading one book but this book was different. This book captured my attention with a TLWHNT, every one claim for title, measure their success with the position they reached and this book taught me it’s not the position which matters, its the satisfaction which matter. This doesn’t give you any short cut rule for success (there isn’t any) but it will tell you how can you train yourself for the competitive world around you. Book has limitless inspirational quotes and motivating thoughts. If I say some books have bought changes in me then I am sure this is one among them.

I am highly influenced and motivated by the BOOK that anyone can become a LEADER and first step is to live in LWT principle.

With Loving Ananda Pradhan

Reblogged this on Gr8fullsoul .

Leave a comment Cancel reply

• Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
• Subscribe Subscribed
• Copy shortlink
• Report this content
• View post in Reader
• Manage subscriptions
• Collapse this bar

Book Review & Summary Of ‘The Leader Who Had No Title’

‘The Leader Who Had No Title’ inspires and elevates its readers to push themselves out of their comfort zone and work on becoming their best versions. 

This is my third Robin Sharma book and like others this one follows a similar pattern. It weaves heaps of wisdom and years of research into a loose storyline. The author conveys his powerful messages with the help of characters in this book. If you expect a fiction-like depth among these characteristics, you may be disappointed. This is a power-packed self-help leadership book wrapped in a story format. 

While reading certain books you realize that it’s one of those that requires taking notes. That’s what I felt in every chapter. In addition to quotes from other people there were so many lines which were quotes in themselves. Some of them are listed in italics making it easy to come back to at a later time. 

The main character of the book is Blake Davis. Blake learns the purpose of life with the help of his mentor Tommy, a close friend of his father. Tommy introduces Blake to 4 other mentors who along with Tommy impart this special philosophy to him.

The book conveys four key leadership conversations Blake has with these individuals. I will be sharing my summary from each of these conversations which gives you a glimpse in to the core of the book.

The 4 Leadership Conversations

• You need no title to be a leader. In this conversation with his first mentor, Blake is taught that every person is capable of influencing anyone they meet by being a great example. That you need no title to be a leader. 

My favorite quote from the chapter – “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 a deliberate series of acts that anyone can perform”.

• Turbulent times build great leaders. Blake learns through his new mentor Ty that when you push yourself to your limits, your limits expand. The more you lean in towards the challenging path, the more you benefit.

My Favorite Quote from the chapter –  “ Life begins at the end of your comfort zone ” – Neale Donald Walsch”

• The deeper your relationships, the stronger your leadership. Blake learns that the key to success lies in being of service to others. If you want to win, you need to help others win. When you genuinely help others they will genuinely help you. 

My favorite quote from the chapter –  “Leave every single person who intersects your path better, happier and more engaged than you found them”

• To be a great leader, become a great person. Through conversation with his final mentor Blake learns that one needs to work on building themselves before they can help others grow. That self-leadership is the most important thing. 

My favorite quote from the chapter –  “Lead yourself first, only then will you get to a place as a person where you can lead other people”

Should you read it?

Robin Sharma does his magic with this book just like he did with the 5 AM Book Club. Every line and every chapter in the book is carefully crafted to inspire its readers. Inspire them to be the very best in their lives. No matter their craft. They can lead and influence right where they are by being their real and authentic selves. 

According to the author, “Each of us is born into Genius. Sadly, most of us die amid mediocrity ”. This strongly resonated with me. We go through lives on auto-pilot and we sometimes need to pause and re-evaluate our purpose. This book inspires one to think about our purpose in life, think about what we want to fight for. It inspires us to step out of our comfort zone and dream about goals without any limits. 

The Leader Who Had No Title is a leadership book you want on your shelves. You will come back to it again and again to be re-energized. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Shilpa Kapilavai

Shilpa Kapilavai is a writer, meditator, and former IT professional passionate about personal growth and helping others live happy lives. She writes about self-help, mental health & mindfulness and aims to inspire readers to open their minds to self-discovery and make positive life changes. Join her on this journey towards a more meaningful life.

You May Also Like

Share What You Have Read, Reading & About To Read On World Book Day

From Self-Discovery to Strong Family Values: 5 Ways Michelle Obama’s Becoming Spoke to Me

How To Stop Worrying And Start Living – Book Highlights & Review

One comment.

Take a peek at the amazing views of Cape Town, read my reviews on cool places to explore, things to do, and scenic hikes and walks, including dog-friendly recommendations.

Search This Blog

8 highlights from the leader who had no title, a modern fable on real success in business and in life by robin sharma.

Some of the highlights from the book that stood out for me are:

1. don’t judge a book by its cover, 2. life is a continuous lesson, 3. treat everyone equally, 4. you are a leader, right where you are nourish your principles to ensure success.

• Everyone needs to drive innovation
• Everyone needs to inspire their teammates
• Everyone needs to embrace change
• Everyone needs to take responsibility for results
• Everyone needs to be positive
• Everyone needs to become devoted to expressing their absolute best.

5. Continuously learn and grow

6. the 5 ‘o clock club, 7. small steps over time generate big results, 8. commit yourself to mastery.

An exceptional review Imtithaal. It has inspired me to get the book, so that I can read this for myself. Thank you for sharing your insights too, which I feel were absolutely spot on. I identified with your comments in point 3. Whatever station in life you are blessed to reach, never ever forget where you came from and remain humble and connected i.e. genuinely interested, in the people around you. That will keep you grounded, so that your ego does not get the better of you.

I'm not a Robin fan...I prefer books that have sex in haha. Great review though imtithaal but I'll join the clock club when they start at a decent hour.

Thank you Sharon for always reading and commenting on my blog. I really appreciate it. I'm glad you enjoyed the review and connected with what I wrote and feel. Thank you for the advice and I will endeavour to remember and practise it always. Much love Imtithaal

Thanks for reading and leaving a comment Arlene. I really appreciate it! I'll have to make a plan (especially for you) and review something sexy... With the following admission my review credentials might plummet, but I've read the 50 Shades Trilogy twice. I quite enjoyed it. So follow my blog for future posts and look out for some racy reviews in future.

Wow such an incredibly interesting post. I need to work at Nr 6. I always prefer that extra hour lie-in but when I do happen to get up earlier I can see such an improvement in my productivity levels throughout the day. XoXo One Stiletto At A Time

Post a Comment

I'd like to hear what you think about my posts, so leave me a comment...

Popular posts from this blog

Hiking the noordhoek peak circuit in silvermine, pumpkin-spiced enrichment stuffing recipe for dogs, klaasenbosch is a delightful trail for a walk with your dog.