Sharma - The leader who had no title: an inspiring story about working (and living) at your absolute best

ALSO BY ROBIN SHARMA

The Greatness Guide: 101 Lessons for Personal and Business Mastery

The Greatness Guide, Book 2: 101 Lessons for Success and Happiness

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: A Fable About Fulfilling Your Dreams & Reaching Your Destiny

The Saint, the Surfer, and the CEO: A Remarkable Story About Living Your Hearts Desires

Discover Your Destiny: Big Ideas to Live Your Best Life

Who Will Cry When You Die?

First published in Great Britain in 2010 by Simon & Schuster UK Ltd
A CBS COMPANY

Copyright 2010 by Sharma Leadership International, Inc.

This book is copyright under the Berne Convention.
No reproduction without permission.
All rights reserved.

The right of Robin Sharma to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

Simon & Schuster UK Ltd
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Simon & Schuster Australia
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A CIP catalogue copy for this book
is available from the British Library.

ISBN-13: 978-1-84737-877-4
eBook ISBN: 978-1-84737-881-1

Designed by Paul Dippolito
Printed in the UK by CPI Mackays, Chatham ME5 8TD

I dedicate this book to you, the reader. Your willingness to awaken your inner leader inspires me. Your commitment to work at your absolute best moves me. And your readiness to leave everyone you meet better than you found them encourages me to give even more of my life to helping people Lead Without a Title.

In a gentle way, you can shake the world.

MAHATMA GANDHI

The book you are now holding in your hands is the result of nearly fifteen years of my work as a leadership advisor to many of the Fortune 500, including Microsoft, GE, Nike, FedEx, and IBM, along with organizations such as Yale University, the American Red Cross, and the Young Presidents Organization. By applying the leadership system I teach you in this book, you will experience explosive results in your work and help your organization rise to a whole new level of innovation, performance, and customer loyalty. You will also see profound improvements in your personal life and the way you show up in the world.

Please note: the leadership method Im about to share is delivered to you as a story. The hero, Blake Davis; his unforgettable mentor, Tommy Flinn; and the four extraordinary teachers who transform the way he works and lives are all fictional charactersproducts of my overly active imagination. But trust that the leadership system itself, as well as the principles, tools, and tactics that its built upon, are very real and have helped hundreds of thousands of people in many of the most successful organizations in the world win in business and lead the field.

Victims recite problems. Leaders present solutions. My sincere hope is that The Leader Who Had No Title offers you and the organization you work for a game-changing solution to quickly and elegantly reach your absolute best in these turbulent and highly uncertain times.

Robin Sharma

P.S. To sustain and deepen your leadership transformation as you read The Leader Who Had No Title, visit robinsharma.com, where you will find a complete set of support resources, including podcasts, newsletters, blogs, online leadership assessments, and tools to build an exceptional team.

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

E ACH OF US IS BORN INTO GENIUS. Sadly, most of us die amid mediocrity. I hope it doesnt 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 Im 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 Im 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 Ill 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 youll 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, Ive 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 streetincredible. Yes, I do adore foodone of lifes best pleasures, if you ask me, along with good conversation, my favorite sports, and great books. Anyway, theres 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 Id always wanted to be. My mom was the kindest person Ive ever met. My father was the most determined person Ive 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 youve done that, go home and have a good nights 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 blindside you at 4:00 p.m. some idle Tuesday.

My parents shaped me in so many ways. They didnt 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 dont 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 didnt 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 schools 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 didnt care about much about anything. I medicated myself with too much TV, too much food, and too much worryall designed to avoid having to feel the pain that one feels at the recognition of ones lost potential.