Robin Sharma speaks informally from a pulled-over car and uses a brief anecdote about recording the audiobook introduction for his book The Leader Who Had No Title to illustrate a larger point: leaders and people should favor authentic self-expression (speaking and behaving as they naturally do) over performing or molding themselves to please others ('plastic' behavior). He frames authenticity as a leadership and life imperative across work, family, and community.
Chapters
Hi. Well, I'm pulled over. Don't worry. I'm definitely pulled over. And I just wanted to share some thoughts on a topic that's really dear to me and I think really important when it comes to leadership. And. And it's the distinction between being authentic versus plastic. And I have a very simple scenario I want to share with you. Yesterday I was in the studio recording the introduction of the audiobook for my new book, the Leader who Had no Title. And the producer or one of the producers mentioned, Robin, you're speaking too fast. Can you slow down? Speak in this way?
I thought about what I heard, and my reply was basically, you know, it might not sound perfect the way I'm speaking, but this is me. I speak quickly when I'm excited. I speak quickly when there are ideas flowing through me, especially when it comes to leading without title. One of my favorite topics in the world, as you know. And I just want to offer that simple scenario, which is, I think it's far more powerful when it comes to showing leadership and living your life to do what feels right to you and to be yourself and to talk with your own authentic voice and to speak the way you speak and to walk the way you walk, rather than living your entire life, whether it's at work, at home, or in any dimension of your life, in a way that's designed to please other people and to fit into the crowd around you. And I think what the world needs right now, not only in businesses and communities and families, but out on the street, we need people who are just comfortable in their own skin, who are authentic versus plastic.
