This is an article I wrote for my college magazine about the great author, speaker and ledership guru Robin Sharma (whom I have accepted as my guru, too). The man is a superstar!! Please read on.....
He is 41.
He is the CEO of Sharma Leadership International Inc., a premier training firm.
He is one of the world’s top experts on personal and organizational leadership.
He is one of the superstars of the speaking profession, frequently sharing the stage with great individuals such as Bill Clinton, Jack Welch, and Ken Blanchard.
His work is helping millions of people live their best lives and thousands of organizations get to world-class.
He is the man of the moment.
He is a legend in making.
He is Robin Sharma.
Robin S. Sharma, a Canadian, is the author of several books on leadership and better living, some of them being ‘The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari’, ‘Megaliving!’, ‘The Saint, the Surfer and the CEO’, and the recently released ‘The Greatness Guide’. These bestsellers have taken the world by storm, with their revolutionary ideas and messages.
A former lawyer, he quit his job and self-published ‘Megaliving!’ at a Kinko's copy shop (his mother edited it). He stored 2000 copies in his kitchen, and sold the books from the trunk of his father’s car. His second book ‘The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari’ was also originally self-published until former HarperCollins president Ed Carson discovered Robin in a bookstore. The book, and the series that followed, has become one of Canada's most successful publishing franchises.
People from all walks of life, such as CEOs, political leaders, homemakers, movie stars, pop stars and sports celebrities read Robin’s books. Some of them are former Israeli prime minister and Nobel prize winner Shimon Peres, Major League sports superstar Carlos Delgado (who said ‘The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari’ was the most inspirational book he’s read), San Francisco Giants player Jose Cruz Jr., Hollywood Star Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and the quarterback for the New York Giants, Jesse Palmer. Pop star Ricky Martin is a reader of Robin Sharma's books. Rock star Jon Bon Jovi is rumored to be a fan of ‘The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari’. Companies like Nike, Microsoft, FedEx, GM, Panasonic, Kraft, and IBM are using Robin’s leadership books.
What is so special about Robin? It’s his message and the techniques to help people become achievers. He is a man on a mission to help people remember their greatness and organizations realize their highest potential.
His definition of success is simple yet accurate. “Success is being true to yourself and, each day, being in the process of creating the life of your greatest vision. To me, success also involves realizing the potential and talents that reside within each one of us, living by your moral compass, staying healthy, having loving ‘human connections’ and leaving a legacy. What's the point of being successful without being significant. Yes, be a huge success. That's important. But lasting happiness ultimately comes from living for a cause larger than yourself.”
One of the most important, even monumental concept which Robin upholds and preaches is ‘Lead Without Title’. “I believe that if you are a human being, you have a duty to demonstrate leadership. ‘Lead Without Title!’ is my battle cry. Leadership isn't the sole domain of CEOs. Everyone has the opportunity to lead each day. Leadership isn't about title or how much money you make or the size of your office. It's about your attitude, your devotion to being excellent at everything you do, about being inspirational and leaving people better than you found them, about pushing the envelope, living your potential, being an example of possibility and doing your part to be a better place. Sounds idealistic? I see so-called ‘ordinary’ people doing it every day. And that makes them great.”
Robin isn’t all by himself in his crusade. He heads an entire organization dedicated to spreading his message. Sharma Leadership International Inc. is a leadership development firm focusing on helping employees “lead without title” and organizations achieve excellence. It offers a complete line of speaking services, coaching programs and learning tools to help organizations maximize productivity, release creativity and attain true market success.
Robin Sharma is also the founder of The Robin Sharma Foundation for Children to help underprivileged children become leaders.
Despite inspiring millions of people around the world with his books and speeches, lifestyle guru Robin Sharma remains a humble man. “The media sometimes calls me a leadership or self-help ‘guru’. I’m not. I’m just an ordinary guy who happens to have learned ideas and tools that have helped many human beings reach their best lives and many organizations get to world class.”
In his books and speeches, Robin deals out simple yet insightful lessons, illustrating them with beautiful examples. Robin points out that there is so much to be learnt from so many successful people. One can become successful by imbibing in oneself the philosophy of Steve Jobs (the CEO of Apple Computers), the resourcefulness and creativity of Richard Branson (head of Virgin Group), the commitment of U2 (yes, the rock band), the focus of Jon Bon Jovi (needs no introduction), and the optimism and cheerfulness of Spongebob Squarepants (the cartoon character).
Sharma says that people need to take risks in their lives to achieve their goals, but they also need to take time to assess their lives and find out what it is that they want to achieve. The father-of-two is acutely aware of how important family and relationships are, and he says these are two of the things that are more difficult to obtain than a huge bank balance. “If you want to create a world-class life you have to be disciplined and work hard,” says the Canadian. “The best things in life require the greatest sacrifice and are the greatest challenges.”
Robin Sharma has certainly shown an unconventional path to success and well being through his message. His work has been widely appreciated, and contemporaries such as Mark Victor Hansen (co-author of the ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’ series) and Paulo Coelho (author of ‘the Alchemist’ and ‘The Zahir’) have praised his books. Sharma is relentless in his pursuit of his goal. He hopes to make more people reach their potential over the coming years because, as he says: “A life is a terrible thing to waste.”
If you want to know more about Robin Sharma, his books and his organization, please visit his website: www.robinsharma.com
He is the CEO of Sharma Leadership International Inc., a premier training firm.
He is one of the world’s top experts on personal and organizational leadership.
He is one of the superstars of the speaking profession, frequently sharing the stage with great individuals such as Bill Clinton, Jack Welch, and Ken Blanchard.
His work is helping millions of people live their best lives and thousands of organizations get to world-class.
He is the man of the moment.
He is a legend in making.
He is Robin Sharma.
Robin S. Sharma, a Canadian, is the author of several books on leadership and better living, some of them being ‘The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari’, ‘Megaliving!’, ‘The Saint, the Surfer and the CEO’, and the recently released ‘The Greatness Guide’. These bestsellers have taken the world by storm, with their revolutionary ideas and messages.
A former lawyer, he quit his job and self-published ‘Megaliving!’ at a Kinko's copy shop (his mother edited it). He stored 2000 copies in his kitchen, and sold the books from the trunk of his father’s car. His second book ‘The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari’ was also originally self-published until former HarperCollins president Ed Carson discovered Robin in a bookstore. The book, and the series that followed, has become one of Canada's most successful publishing franchises.
People from all walks of life, such as CEOs, political leaders, homemakers, movie stars, pop stars and sports celebrities read Robin’s books. Some of them are former Israeli prime minister and Nobel prize winner Shimon Peres, Major League sports superstar Carlos Delgado (who said ‘The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari’ was the most inspirational book he’s read), San Francisco Giants player Jose Cruz Jr., Hollywood Star Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and the quarterback for the New York Giants, Jesse Palmer. Pop star Ricky Martin is a reader of Robin Sharma's books. Rock star Jon Bon Jovi is rumored to be a fan of ‘The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari’. Companies like Nike, Microsoft, FedEx, GM, Panasonic, Kraft, and IBM are using Robin’s leadership books.
What is so special about Robin? It’s his message and the techniques to help people become achievers. He is a man on a mission to help people remember their greatness and organizations realize their highest potential.
His definition of success is simple yet accurate. “Success is being true to yourself and, each day, being in the process of creating the life of your greatest vision. To me, success also involves realizing the potential and talents that reside within each one of us, living by your moral compass, staying healthy, having loving ‘human connections’ and leaving a legacy. What's the point of being successful without being significant. Yes, be a huge success. That's important. But lasting happiness ultimately comes from living for a cause larger than yourself.”
One of the most important, even monumental concept which Robin upholds and preaches is ‘Lead Without Title’. “I believe that if you are a human being, you have a duty to demonstrate leadership. ‘Lead Without Title!’ is my battle cry. Leadership isn't the sole domain of CEOs. Everyone has the opportunity to lead each day. Leadership isn't about title or how much money you make or the size of your office. It's about your attitude, your devotion to being excellent at everything you do, about being inspirational and leaving people better than you found them, about pushing the envelope, living your potential, being an example of possibility and doing your part to be a better place. Sounds idealistic? I see so-called ‘ordinary’ people doing it every day. And that makes them great.”
Robin isn’t all by himself in his crusade. He heads an entire organization dedicated to spreading his message. Sharma Leadership International Inc. is a leadership development firm focusing on helping employees “lead without title” and organizations achieve excellence. It offers a complete line of speaking services, coaching programs and learning tools to help organizations maximize productivity, release creativity and attain true market success.
Robin Sharma is also the founder of The Robin Sharma Foundation for Children to help underprivileged children become leaders.
Despite inspiring millions of people around the world with his books and speeches, lifestyle guru Robin Sharma remains a humble man. “The media sometimes calls me a leadership or self-help ‘guru’. I’m not. I’m just an ordinary guy who happens to have learned ideas and tools that have helped many human beings reach their best lives and many organizations get to world class.”
In his books and speeches, Robin deals out simple yet insightful lessons, illustrating them with beautiful examples. Robin points out that there is so much to be learnt from so many successful people. One can become successful by imbibing in oneself the philosophy of Steve Jobs (the CEO of Apple Computers), the resourcefulness and creativity of Richard Branson (head of Virgin Group), the commitment of U2 (yes, the rock band), the focus of Jon Bon Jovi (needs no introduction), and the optimism and cheerfulness of Spongebob Squarepants (the cartoon character).
Sharma says that people need to take risks in their lives to achieve their goals, but they also need to take time to assess their lives and find out what it is that they want to achieve. The father-of-two is acutely aware of how important family and relationships are, and he says these are two of the things that are more difficult to obtain than a huge bank balance. “If you want to create a world-class life you have to be disciplined and work hard,” says the Canadian. “The best things in life require the greatest sacrifice and are the greatest challenges.”
Robin Sharma has certainly shown an unconventional path to success and well being through his message. His work has been widely appreciated, and contemporaries such as Mark Victor Hansen (co-author of the ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’ series) and Paulo Coelho (author of ‘the Alchemist’ and ‘The Zahir’) have praised his books. Sharma is relentless in his pursuit of his goal. He hopes to make more people reach their potential over the coming years because, as he says: “A life is a terrible thing to waste.”
If you want to know more about Robin Sharma, his books and his organization, please visit his website: www.robinsharma.com
