July 13, 2011

Being a bit of a voracious reader, I enjoy the opportunity to blog about my most recent reads, and this week I’ve gone from rock stars to leadership. This time it’s “The Leader Who Had No Title” by Robin Sharma. I’ve read one other book by Robin – “The Monk who Sold His Ferrari” and I have to admit that I find his style of writing extremely corny BUT the message contained within is very powerful, so he’s not to be underestimated. I definitely think there is method to his madness, because he is conveying some very complex stuff in a simple way, so as a result, folks that wouldn’t normally read these types of books can gain the benefit of his insight. His aim is simple – to get every human being on the planet working at their very best, across all aspects of their lives, and being a leader in their field, no matter what they are doing. So as the book says, if you’re a street sweeper, be the Michelangelo of street sweepers. Robin Sharma is a change and leadership expert and he consults the biggest companies in the world. He is obviously respected, and the one thing he believes is companies need to empower all employees to be leaders, no matter what level they are at – be it a janitor or the CEO. It certainly makes a lot of sense. But it’s not just about leadership in the workplace, it’s about personal leadership, plus it’s also full of good life reminders and a collection of awesome quotes from famous people – some alive and some long gone – that are “nourishing.” Personally, it makes a lot of sense to me right now. Since reading it, I have definitely started to wake up in the morning and rather than think “ahhh I want more sleep,” I quickly change my mindset and think more about how can I be the best in all that I do – with myself, my work, my boys and my man. So it’s been a really good thing for me right now when life feels a little bit arduous. One of the early parts of the book that I thought was worth sharing is “The 10 Human Regrets.” So even if you don’t read it, I reckon this stuff is good and ALWAYS worth keeping front and centre. “The 10 Human Regrets 1.       You reach your last day with the brilliant song that your life was meant to sing still silent within you 2.      You reach your last day without ever having experienced the natural power that inhabits you to do great work and achieve great things 3.      You reach your last day realizing that you never inspired anyone else by the example that you set 4.      You reach your last day full of pain at the realisation that you never took any bold risks and so you never received any bright rewards 5.      You reach your last day understanding that you missed the opportunity to catch a glimpse of mastery because you bought into the lie that you had to be resigned to mediocrity 6.      You reach your last day and feel heartbroken that you never learned the skill of transforming adversity into victory and lead into gold 7.      You reach your last day regretting that you forgot that work is about being radically helpful to others rather than being helpful only to yourself 8.      You reach your last day with the awareness that you ended up living the life that society trained you to want versus leading the life you truly wanted to have 9.      You reach your last day and awaken to the fact that you never realised your absolute best nor touched the special genius that you were built to become 10.   You reach your last day and discover you could have been a leader and left this world so much better than you found it. But you refused to accept that mission because you were just too scared. And so you failed. And wasted a life” Good reminders don’t you think? I definitely know I don’t I have too many regrets because I’ve always been focused on living life to the full, but if I look at this list, the most work I have to do is on nine and 10, although we’re close to achieving six right now, and we won’t give up until we do. For me, 10 is about creating the opportunities I want to create so that I can leave this world better than I found it, and I believe that, no matter how small, I can make a difference. Nine I’m really focused on this now, and this blog is definitely part of that bigger dream towards reaching my “special” genius. It’s my focus because I know I am yet to reach my absolute best – I’ve done really well in a lot of areas, but my absolute best – not yet. I will though. I’m determined. So if you need a kick in the arse, want to get more focused, are sick of being a victim or find yourself blaming everyone and everything for your failures, or just know that sometimes a good reminder is all you need to get refocused, then you can do a lot worse than read this book. I think Robin is doing something admirable here and his Robin Sharma blog is good too if you want to check it out – definitely not as corny. Robin didn’t just write a book, he’s starting a movement, so check it out if this sort of stuff is your bag. I might buy it for a few people. Yours, without the bollocks Andrea