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 Plot

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

1. 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”.

2. 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”

3. 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”

4. 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.