Robin Sharma, one of the great author of all time describes how you can be a leader and lead without having a title.

Some noteworthy points:

– Leaders are those individuals who do the things that failures aren’t willing to do even though they might not like doing them either.
– Leadership isn’t just for CEOs, military generals, and people who govern nations. Leadership is for everyone.
– As you begin to do more of what Leaders Without a Title do, you are certain to receive the spectacular rewards that Leaders Without a Title get.
– Albert Einstein once wrote: ‘Great spirits have always encountered opposition from mediocre minds.’
– “Titles do bring power. But the problem with the type of power they bring is that if the title gets taken away, the power gets lost.”

This book teaches the lesson from 4 different teachers each having their own learning in itself.

1. “You Need No Title to Be a Leader”
   First Algorithm for leadership is IMAGE:
   I – Innovation: be all about making this day better than yesterday. small daily improvements over time lead to stunning results.
   M – Mastery: Be so good that people cannot ignore you. There’s a lot less competition on the extra mile because so few people even believe they can play there—many fewer commit to spending their careers there. And so, as you say, it actually becomes easier to be there.”
   A – Authenticity: To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. Because leadership has a lot to do with believing in yourself when no one else believes in you.
   G – Guts: You’ll need to dare more than the reasonable person and risk far more than the ordinary man. Part of showing real leadership involves attracting the attention and condemnation of critics. Some will insult your new level of leadership thinking. Others will harass your higher way of operating. Yet more will oppose your passionate commitment to over delivering. Many will become jealous of you.

          But as Fulton Sheen once observed: ‘Jealousy is the tribute that mediocrity pays to genius.’ ”
          E – Ethics: You will never go wrong in doing what’s right. Be honest. Be humble. Treat people like you want to be treated.

          Money, influence, and position are nothing compared with brains, principles, energy, and perseverance.

2. “Turbulent Times Build Great Leaders”
– Anyone can be a star when the economy is strong, the competition is weak, and your customers are loyal. Difficult times are the ones that reveal what you’re made of and what kind of a leader you actually are.
– The more time you spend in your discomfort zone, the more your comfort zone will expand.
– If you learn new things say new techniques in work or sport, it seems you are playing bad.. but that’s only for some time till new techniques got integrated.. afterwards.. things will improve.
– 5 rules to practice Turbulent Times Build Great Leaders: SPARK
S – Speak with Candor: Honest, Frank. An important part of showing leadership is to be more committed to speaking honestly than receiving the approval of others taking care that allows the listener to protect their
self-worth. Speak words that inspires, encourages others to do more better.
P – Prioritize: When things feel like they are falling apart, there’s a powerful pull to get nailed by the seduction of distraction.
A – Adversity Breeds Opportunity: Every seeming failure brings with it some gift. You just need to retrain your brain to re-perceive it that way. Doing nothing in the face of turbulent times is the worst thing you can do.
R – Respond versus react: Most people become part of the problem rather than showing leadership by becoming the source of the solution. Always remember that initiative and hard work is the warm-up act for a headliner called success
K – Kudos: Offer Kudos. Appreciate people. Praise good work. Honor mastery. Don’t wait for your manager to do all that. You do it.

3. “The Deeper Your Relationships, the Stronger Your Leadership”
– Part of your job now becomes unleashing the greatness in people who’ve never seen the greatness within themselves.
– When you genuinely help others, they will do anything to genuinely help you.
– Leading by example is one of the most powerful tools for positively influencing change in other people.
– Put people first, and everything takes care of itself in so many ways.
– Principles of deeper relationships: HUMAN
H – Helpfulness: always do more than you are paid to do.
U – Understanding: Speak less and listen more.
M – Mingle: Be out there connecting with your teammates and networking with your customers.
A – Amuse: having fun while you do great work will help you boost your productivity
N – Nurture: Be awesomely nice. Being nice isn’t being weak.

No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or to get all the credit for doing it.

4. “To Be a Great Leader, First Become a Great Person”
– Lead yourself first. Only then will you get to a place as a person where you can lead other people.
– Most people don’t discover how to live until just before they die.
– Change creates disruption but that disruption needs to happen if I want to grow. And really lead.
– Rules for this philosophy is: SHINE
S: See Clearly. We see the world not as it is but as we are. And we don’t know what we don’t know. So,when you go to work every day, You will work to survive rather than work to thrive.
your daily thoughts are nothing more than mere reflections of the belief system programmed into you by your parents, peers, and teachers as well as all the other influences that have shaped your perceptions.

The 7 Fundamentals of Personal Leadership to follow in morning for an hour:
1: Learning – Read books.
2: Affirmations – reciting the affirmation “Today I am focused, excellent, and stunningly passionate in all I do” or what you want to do as leader.
3: Visualization – Close eyes & visualize winning at best.
4: Journaling – note your insights, feelings, hopes, and dreams. Also process through any frustrations you might be experiencing and go deep into your fears
5: Goal setting – Setting and then reconnecting with your goals on a regular basis is a powerful success discipline.
6: Exercise
7: Nutrition: What you eat determines how well you’ll perform

H: Health is wealth. If you lose your health, you lose everything.
I: Inspiration Matters. You need to refill your well of inspiration every day, because the challenges of life will drain it every day. Star performers understand the need to constantly alternate between peak performance and inner renewal.
N: Neglect Not Your Family. Your loved ones matter. What’s the point of becoming super successful but ending up completely alone?
E: Elevate Your Lifestyle. You only live once, so why not enjoy it completely? Nice things are nice to have. A beautiful lifestyle is a beautiful thing to experience. But who
you are becoming as a human being is a much smarter concern. The main aim in life is simply to become all you’re meant to be.

Leaders Without a Title think about their legacies every single day. Consider how you want to be remembered when you’re no longer here.