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SCHULICH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Individual Integrative Framework Paper
Book Review of Leadership Wisdom by Robin Sharma
Sahaj Cheema
12/15/2010
ORGS 5100 C Final Assignment: It involves selecting a topic from the final section of the course
and preparing a paper on that topic. This could include a review of a “popular” management
best seller that compares its recommendations with the research-based ones in your text and
readings.

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Objective
‘Leadership’ is perhaps the most researched, discoursed and obsessed about concept in
business schools, organisations, religion, military, national politics and management books. It is
also presumably the most desired quality individuals would like to possess. The objective of this
paper is to review and relate the recommendations from the 2006best seller – ‘Leadership
Wisdom from the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: The 8 Rituals of Visionary Leaders’,written by
Robin Sharma, to one of the recently developed leadership theoriesstudied during the
Organisational Behaviour course - ‘Inspiration Leadership’. The theory of ‘Inspirational
Leadership’encompasses three main leadership styles-Transformational, Charismatic and
Authentic Leaderships and the ‘8 Rituals of Visionary Leaders’ endorsed by this book highlight
the ‘Transformational Leadership’conduct of an inspiring leader.

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I have been nurturing the dream of becoming an exceptional leader since I was a little
girl. In retrospect I feel, the fact that I grew up listening to my father (who is an officer in the
Indian Army) narrate fascinating stories of courageous and spirited leaders who fought with
fortitude for the honour of their country and the pride of their countrymen, must have been
partially responsible for it.But a part of that aspiration also stems from a deep seated desire to
be admired and respected by many.My decision to study transformational leadership out of the
many different leadership theories taught in this course is not based on a random chance
selection but rather is propelled by this very personnel ambition.
‘To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of
life~ Robert Louis Stevenson. Truly wise people aim not only for leadership in their businesses
but also within their lives.’
Robin Sharma is a young, magnetic and creativewriter and leadership expert who
isranked amongst the top ten management experts of today’s times. He has to his credit many
international best sellers like – The Monk who sold his Ferrari, The Greatness Guide and the
Surfer and the CEO. His book Leadership Wisdom tells the tale of an extraordinary leader who
turned around the fate of an organisation by following some simple leadership rituals.
The beauty of the leadership philosophy shared in this book is that it asserts even if one
is not inherently a natural charismatic leader, he or she can still become an effective leader
through his or her intention and dedication to do so.‘The best leaders recognize that leadership
is a craft, not a gift. They constantly work to refine their art.’This is fundamental belief is the
backbone of transformational leadership theory.
The authorconveys his ideas simply yet profoundly and leaves a definite positive
impression in the mind of the readers. His language and style of writing resonates well with
current generation of young, vibrant and ambitious professional who are unrelenting in their
pursuit of success. The two main protagonists in the story are Peter Franklin, the CEO of
GlobalView Software Solutions and Julian Mantle a former associate of Peter who guides Peter
on how tosteers his company out of a potential crisis. The initial few chapters of the book set

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the context to a scenario where Peter is worried about the future of GlobalView which had
received phenomenon growth in the last decade but was now crippled by dwindling employee
morale and productivity. On the other hand Julian, who was once an enterprising and
discerning business man had recently returned from a life altering journey of self-discovery
from the Himalayas. Peter is portrayed as sharp
intelligent man who is excellent in his work but
Our people were simply not as
cursed with less than impressive leadership and innovative and inspired as in the early
people management skill. The leadership wisdom in days. As a result, our products were
this book isimparted aslessons to Peter by Julian in not as well designed and unique. To
put it simply: people just didn't seem
the form of eight principles which he learnt during to care anymore. And I knew that if
his metamorphosis. allowed to continue, that mindset
would eventually spell the end of our
These eight principles correlate well with the four company.
sub dimensions of transformational leadership-
charisma, individualized consideration, inspirational motivation and intellectual stimulation
(Nelson/Quick, 197). These relations will be more apparent and pronounced after taking a
closer look at each of the leadership rituals.
Link Pay-check to Purpose – The Ritual of a Compelling Future Focus
The Wisdom –The author states that ‘The ultimate task of the visionary leader is to dignify and
honour the lives of those he leads by allowing them to manifest their highest potential through
the work they do.’A leader can motivate his people to put their heart and soul into the work
they do if they he can instil in them passion for the work itself or the ultimate goal the work will
accomplish. ‘Purpose is the most powerful motivator in the world.’ The leader should bind the
tasks of his employees to an emotionally compelling purpose.
The Practices–State the ‘WHY’ behind the work assigned to the employees. When employees
understand and believe in the WHY of things they do, they will do it more passionately. The
vision and mission statement of an organisation should be stated such that it instils a feeling of
purpose.

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The Correlation – Unlike Transactional Leadership in which mangers link rewards and penalties
to the performance of the employees, transformational leadership lays emphasis on
performance inspired by personal attributes and the desire to achieve a greater purpose. The
inspirational consideration aspect of it also hints towards using company’s vision to kindle
individual’s desire to work.
Manage by Mind, Lead by Heart – The ritual of human relations
The Wisdom–Visionary leaders do not set goals for short term profit achievements but instead
focus on buildinglong term intangible assets like strong relationships based on trust and
respect. ‘When u enrich the relationship, u enhance the leadership.’ (P-95)A leader must truly
empathise and connect with his people. He must intentionally invest himself in listening to the
spoken and unspoken words of his people.He must build lasting and reliable relationships so
that his employees feel valued. ‘One of the deepest of all human hungers is the need to be
cherished & understood. When your people don’t trust you, there is no way they are going to go
the extra mile to give their best efforts.’ (P-97)
The Practices–The author lists four simple rules to discipline oneself to build true relationship –
keeping promises, listening aggressive, being consistently compassionate & telling the truth.A
leader who inculcates these habits will be viewed as trustworthy, honest and thoughtful.
The Correlation –This ritual concurs with individualized concern, one of the primary subdivisions
of transformational leadership. Employees who feel a deep connection with their leader or
organisation also feel a sense of loyalty and personal commitment towards the company and
thus stand by it even during testing times.Often it is seen that the difference between a good
organisation and a great organisation is the fact that the employees of a great organisation
stand by it even at times of adversity and crisis. Their relationship with the organisation runs
deeper than compensations and promotions.
Reward Routinely, Recognize Relentlessly – The Ritual of Team Unity
The Wisdom -Great leaders are great teachers & coaches.This is a distinguishing quality of a
leader. Just like a dedicated teacher is obsessed with the growth and improvement of his pupils

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a leader too must be fiercely committed to helping his people achieve higher standards of
performance. A leader must understand that everyone yearns to do good work but because of
lack of appreciation that yearning becomes dormant and employees become mediocre
performers.
The Practices - ‘The starting point formotivating your employees is - Hunt for good behaviour -
find employees who are performing well and when u find
them, let the rewards & recognition flow freely. (P-124) As
‘Change is the most dominant force in
a consequence of this action not only will the employees
the business world today. Technology
who are doing good work feel motivated to continue their is changing, society is changing, and
diligent efforts but also the ones who are capable to political landscape is changing, even
the way people work is changing. Did
attaining higher results will have someone or something to
you know that in the early 1900s, 85
emulate. While it is important to recognise and reward percent of the workers in our part of
positive actions it is also crucial to keep in mind not to instil the world were in agriculture? Now
fear of penalty or punishment for making mistakes. this field involves less than 3 percent
of the work force. And it was recently
‘Visionary leaders make work environment risk free. They
reported that more information has
give their peoplethe freedom to fall & by so doing, they been produced in the past thirty years
ultimately succeed.’ (P-126) The work atmosphere and than in the entire 5,000-year period
before it!’
ambience should represent an environment of freedom to
perform and motivation to excel.
The Correlation –While it seems that rewarding and recognising is the basic principle of
Transactional Leadership instead of Transformational the underlying rationale behind this ritual
is to enable employees to tap their own hidden potential. The philosophy of leaders being good
teachers overlap with the idea that ‘individualized consideration refers to how much concern a
leader displays for each follower’s needs and acts as a coach or mentor.’ (Nelson/Quick, 197)
Surrender to Change- The Ritual of Adaptability & Change Management
The Wisdom –‘To master change, develop the discipline of managing the unexpected. In
turbulent times, he who learns most wins.’This lesson is most relevant to today’s dynamic, high
uncertainty and high complexity business environment. Organisational and individuals need to

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constantly innovate and rediscover themselves to maintain competitive advantage. No one can
escape change. Not only must a leader himself bravely embrace the notion that in change lies
opportunity, he must inspire his people to feel the same way. ‘There is joy in change. Without
change, there is no progress.’
The Practice - ‘Champion the constant intellectual development & skill improvement. The best
antidote to the fear that change evokes is knowledge. In turbulent times, he who learns most
wins.’A leader must drive his people to higher levels of intellectual sharpness and agility so that
they are able to thrive even in change and complex situations. The aim of an accomplished
leader must be to generate more leaders and not followers.
The Correlation –Transformational Leadership identifiesintellectual stimulation as a pillar of its
strength. People have to be greater than their circumstances in order to succeed.
Focus on the Worthy- The Ritual of Personal Effectiveness
The Wisdom –‘The art of getting things done isin knowing what need to remain undone.’Most
management books stress on the importance of time management, but Robin Sharma has a
different stand on that he titles time leadership. ‘If you do not lead your time, it will lead you.’
He says and quotes Peter Druker – ‘Switch from being busy to achieving results.’
The Practices - In order to lead your time he proposes a simple method called ‘The Time Model
for Visionary Leadership’. As per this model one must keep aside a period a time for what he
calls a ‘weekly planning practise’. As per this practice once a week, preferably Sunday evening
devote half an hour to enlisting the activities and tasks one wants to get done in that week.
After planning for the activities for the week, there is a simple five step approach to ensure the
plan translates into action. ‘Revisit your future vision, align it with your goals for the year,
disintegrate your goals into smaller mini targets or milestones, schedule and prioritize these
milestones and thus delegate them effectively and keep track of the milestones achieved.’
The Correlation –This rituals and the one that follows tie into building a Transformational
Leader’s personal charisma and effectiveness to lead by example. These practises are essential

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for a personal growth of leader. A leader must possess qualities and virtues that make his
people look up to him and hold him in high regards.
Leader Lead Thyself- The Ritual of Self Leadership
The Wisdom –‘All leadership begins within. By improving, refining & defining who we are, we
see the world from the highest, most enlightened perspective.’The path to being a good leader
is not devoid of challenges to push oneself to the highest level of discipline, ethics and merit in
every respect. Call it the boon or curse of leadership, but if you want to inspire your people you
have to let them idealise you. And that is a huge responsibility. ‘Anything less than a
commitment to peak personal performance is an unconscious commitment to weak personal
performance.’(P-202)
The Practices - In order to be model leader the author recommendsadopting the following:
The Discipline of personal renewal: Be happy, joyful and content with your life. Don’t
only focus on work but also on fun, leisure and family.
The Discipline of abundant knowledge:Inculcate the habit of reading and constantly
expanding your knowledge and thus your wisdom.
The Discipline of Physicality:Stay fit and care for your body. ‘The person who doesn’t
make time for exercise must eventually make time for illness.’
The Discipline of early awakening:Live each day as if it was your last and thus try to live
every moment to the fullest.
See what all see, Think what none think- The Ritual of Creativity & Innovation
The Wisdom–Contrary to popular belief that creativity is a talent that few are blessed with the
author believes that every human being is creative. ‘Your most important tasks as a visionary
leader is to unlock the natural state of creativity that sleeps within the minds of every one of
your people. You must help your employees to think smarter and inspire them to explore new
pathways of thought.’ To make room for creative new ideas one has to first clear the space by
letting go of out-dated, tried and tested ways of thinking. One needs to come out of his risk free
zone.

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The Practices- Make it a practise to celebrate spontaneity & reward original thinking in your
workplace.‘One of your highest priorities is to create a workplace that rewards curiosity and
recognizes that new ideas are the seeds of success. Remember, even one good idea can totally
transform your organization.’One of the surest ways to
sprout new ideas is to encourage people to be ‘There was little trust, low
inquisitive and ask a lot of questions. productivity, and even less
creativity. And from what I could
The Correlation–This ritual explains how a gather, nearly everyone in the
transformational leader can promotes a culture of organization believed that the
blame for the problems rested
intellectual stimulation and creativity. By making small
squarely with one person: me. The
changes in the workplace, by tweaking the way he consensus was that I just did not
communicates his work expectations and by removing know how to lead.’
the fear of failing and trying new things, he can build a
team of creative and spontaneous professionals.
Link leadership to Legacy - The Ritual of Contribution & Significance
The Wisdom–The last ritual of a visionary leader is to understand that he has a role to play in
the larger scheme of life and that he can make a difference to society and environment. ‘The
greatest irony of leadership is that the more you give, the more you get. And when all is said
and done, the highest and most enduring gift that you will ever be able to give is the gift of what
you leave behind.’
The Practices - As a leader and as a human being try think of the foot print your actions will
leave behind. ‘What makes greatness is beginning something that does not end with you’Do
actions in the present that focus on a better future for all.
The Correlation -This ritual captures the essence of not just transformational leadership but all
Inspiring Leadership theories in general. After all isn’t the purpose of all inspiring, visionary
leaders to make a real difference and contribution to the human race. It is this that
distinguishes them as legendary leaders for ages.

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After reading this insightful book and understanding the philosophy and principles of
Transformational Leadership I am motivated that as an MBA student my greatest challenge and
goal is to realize my long fostered childhood fantasy in the organisation I join after my
graduation. Even though I may not be a natural leader who commands authority or charms
people’s hearts, the fact thatI can learn inspiring leadershipallures me.