Customer Reviews

Leadership Wisdom from the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

PRO: Useful quotations, meaningful wisdom, well organized, good summaries.

CON: Artificial fable, phony dialogue, and self congratulatory style of writing.

Although I did get some useful ideas, Sharma has such an annoying style that it's distracting. For example:

* He puts a little Trademark symbol next to many of his ideas, like "Leadership Audit" or "Weekly Sabbatical" or "The Wow Question" or "Aggressive Listening." He even tries to Trademark the title of his book (which you cannot do!). His ideas are not that original and trying to trademark them is so amateurish and annoying.

* The conversations are contrived and artificial. In fact the whole fable feels fake. I'm not sure how to improve it, but it just doesn't feel right.

* He pats himself on the back in the conversations. For example, when the monk tells Peter (the regular guy) something, Peter responds, "Fascinating" or "That's remarkable" or "Amazing." I'm not joking. He writes this. So it's hard for me to separate the fact that the author is basically saying that he is so great.

CONCLUSION: The book has wisdom and can be digested quickly. But Sharma's writing style and story are so annoying that it detracts from the message. Try another book.

Robin Sharma does a masterful job of expanding on Dr.Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People with his 8 Rituals of Visionary Leaders. As a certified Seven Habits Facillitator for the past 12 years, I found the book very stimulating and reinforcing to my Seven Habits practices and Principled Leadership. For example, Yogi Raman's Time Model for Visionary Leadership requiring Time leadership closely parallels Dr.Covey's Time Management Matrix focusing on the important/not urgent in leading a Quadrant II life style. The Yogi also recommends weekly planning around prioritized roles and goals. Again, I applaud Mr. Sharma for providing additional insights into my personal quest for achieving my Mission and Purpose in life. He also provides interesting perspectives that are helpful to me in my own "emotional intelligence" work as I advocate and teach Dr.Goleman's Five competencies of Emotional
Intelligence-Self awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills. I am recommending this work to all my friends and students who share the quest for a "life of service and purpose to make a difference"-"leave a legacy".

This book is very light and entertaining. However, the story is an ill-concocted version of the Seven Habits of highly effective people by Dr. Stephen Covy, which is, by the way, the book you should REALLY get.

Contrary to this lame copied version of poor story-telling, the Seven Habits is a very deep and moving book. It has substance and depth and if you are prepared to listen, it will change you life.

Ok, back to this book... the book is alright I guess, if not for the very annoying fact that the story is completely based in the Seven Habits, it shows a lighter version of the habits that may be entertaining, or otherwise a good way to get into the habits. Who knows, it may lead you to the other book, which is good.

If you prefer substance over "lightness", don't get this book. Furthermore, as another reviewer puts it, is poorly writen.

I'm only giving two stars over one, because the habits in which it is based are really something to look into...

The author of Leadership Wisdom, Robin Sharma, provides the reader with insights into how to become a visionary leader. The objective is to help leaders transform businesses into thriving organisations, in this era of rapid changes. He has a down-to-earth way of expressing his powerful solutions for today's most pressing leadership issues. The book is devoid of jargon, which makes it easy to follow for anyone wishing to improve his or her leadership skills.

Leadership Wisdom is a simple but captivating story on leadership. It teaches personal development, effectiveness and individual happiness. It teaches individuals to fulfil themselves in this hectic age. The book incorporates the tools of transformation into a simple philosophy of living.

The book is very informative, easy to read and extremely helpful in equipping individuals with leadership skills.

One of the best books I have read recently! It helps you put back in perpective what are the most valuable and important things in life and how to find peace armony and beauty where it really lies!
Reading this book has inspired me greatly to love and take care of myself and therefore I have decided and implemented to quit smoking that was a self harming habit!
I hope it will impress and inspire you too!
Other books I recommend are the four agreements by Minquel Ruiz and Recapitulation by Victor Sanchez!
Enjoy your reading!

What's going to happen next rages through your mind as you tell yourself it's too late in the evening to start the next chapter...but you do! This is an insightful look into the techniques for excellence in leadership, and a thought provoking look into your own personal life. Much more than a book on leadership, you will find yourself looking in the mirror with a desire for a fresher looking face, and, thankfully, some ideas of where to start.

This was a joy to read. Everyone I have passed it on to has told me it is one of the best books they have read in a long time.

I really found this book fun to read and easy to follow. The fable that the author used to convey his message kept wanting to not put the book down; wondering what was next. Ideas are very similar to "7 habits..." I was originally given a copy if this book as a gift, but bought another one to give to a friend.

Unlike ordinary leadership books, this gives insigthful information, timeless 'good practices' and ideas that are just absolutely amazing

I am really surprised to see so many good reviews on this book. (Good reviews coming from Mark Victor Hensen, Paulo Coelho and so on!)

This book should be renamed as: "GlobalView Software Solutions is one of the best software companies in the world"

The story in this book is not a true story. Please judge for yourself:


1. Author's best friend Julian went to India. "But during his first months in India, the wisdom he sought eluded him."(p.25) And then later on, he went to Himalayas by himself. Julian had been working in a corporate world most of his life and he did not know Hindi or other less common languages, how did he communiate with the Great Sages of Sivana?


2. Julian was fat and sick and he did not have any mountain climbing equipments. And he managed to climb Himalayas all by himself!


3. The Great Sages of Sivana have been hiding in the mountains for years and years. How would they aware of "the turmoil [our] world is in." (p.28) Remember the Great Sages have no access to newspapers, TV, radio, cables, magazines, books and internet!

4. (p.38) "This wise leader of the Great Sages of Sivana believed that all failure, whether in the business world or in one's personal life, could ultimately to be traced back to a failure in leadership. Companies don't perform...." I have been thinking: this doesn't sound like something coming from the mouth of a monk. Instead, it sounds like a speech of a corporate CEO or a chairman in an annual meeting. I really don't think a Sage with great wisdom would care about running a company. Seriously.


The author put trademarks on the following items:
* Leader Lead Thyself
* See what All See, Think What None Think
* Reward Routinely, Recognize Relentlessly

This is just like putting a trademark on: "Love thy neighbour" (from the Bible).

The author has been so successful and a monk with great wisdom would come all the way from Himalayas to help him, so that the the author can become even more successful. ***Think about this: If you WERE that monk, wouldn't you go and help people in Africa or North Korea, rather than assisting a successful businessman in the US?

This book makes sure I will not buy any books from Robin Sharma again. There are many other good books of leadership and spirituality in Amazon.

Powerful advice for all those who have been given the charge to manage and lead people. A wonderful book!