This book wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be. I’d expected anther business book, filled with theories and small, relevant anecdotes. Instead, I got a book that could be a novel.
That book is “The Leader Who Had No Title” by Robin Sharma. I’d been seeing this book around for quite some time before I bought it last week, but it hadn’t really grabbed me until I wanted some reading material for a flight. I found the concept interesting, as it’s something I’ve considered many times in the past. Why do we still insist that leaders are managers? Why not everybody?
That’s not to say it wasn’t good, just unexpected. I don’t usually read novels (or other stories, like this book), however I actually did enjoy the book quite a lot. It’s well written, and genuinely engaged me the whole way through.
The story follows Blake, a classic lethargic under performer, on his journey to discover true leadership. A great number of the concepts in the book hold true, and it really does contain a great number of philosophical lessons. Some are a little cliche, and some draw a long bow.
If you’ve seen this book around, you might want to pick it up. It will be an interesting read and will provoke your inner leader. As usual, it’s available on Amazon.
I am not a big fan of Robin — as I have only seen him once in a conference where he spoke a lot of the moment when you face the death, and what would be your achievements when you’re there. So I did not feel too inspired about his speech — but I will give him credit for one key learning: you have to continuously develop yourself. I define this as “incremental development” (or self-development), if you wish, and talked about it here: http://projectmanager1.blogspot.com/2010/09/incremental-development.html