Book review - Awaken the leader in you

Authors – Mitesh & Indu Khatri

Publisher – Jaico Books

Pages – 188

Price – Rs 250

Sneak preview from the cover

Awaken the leader in you discusses the traits & skills needed to be a successful leader. This book destroys the myth that leaders are only people at the top management levels. Offering a completely new perspective on leadership, Mitesh & Indu categorize leaders as extraordinary people if they have an entrepreneur mindset and ordinary people if they have an employee mindset. The authors firmly believe that all are born with infinite potential and witness every ordinary person, there lies an extraordinary leader. The tenact of this book is to awaken that leader in you. Replete with inspiring leadership stories, exercises and simple-to-apply strategies, this is a step-by-step guide for the spiritual individual to develop the entrepreneur mindset and become a leader in his professional as well as personal life.

My View 

There was a time when I was heavily into self help books. Then slowly, I began discovering the same wisdom with a different garnish in most books. So, when I received this book, I was having my own set of doubts. However, the publisher too knew this about most readers, for one look at the cover was enough to awaken my curiosity - The foot on the burning coal.

I flipped few pages and my curiosity got deeper – a corporate trainer who fire walks! Not just himself but along with his learners during the training sessions! Now this was different and I had to read the book to understand the author’s views.

In the 11 chapters, Mitesh and Indu have made a decent attempt at sharing the tips for effective leadership. To prevent the book from becoming all preachy and boring, they have smartly incorporated various examples from corporate life, which I found very interesting. To kill the preconceived notions in the reader’s mind, the author actually begins the book by discussing why one should read the book when there are various others on the same topic donning shelved of bookstores. And from there, the reader starts to feel as if he is actually participating in a live training session!

I especially liked the way they have shared how the difference between leaders and others lies between the “employee” and the “entrepreneur” mindset. It made me stop and ponder, for the principle holds true in all aspects of life. Also, the chapter on emotional intelligence has been beautifully done, with simple tips on how to manage our emotional patterns, for the person who has achieved a control on emotions has cleared a big hurdle in the path to professional success. The concept of trust bank accounts introduced by the author exposes reader to the advantage of building trust with people since the level of trust we create within our people is directly proportional to the effectiveness of our leadership effectiveness.   

Why I liked the book 

• The language is simple and the tone non preachy (unlike most self helps)
• There is a bouquet of examples from corporate life which holds the reader’s interest
• After every chapter, there is a recap section, just in case, one wants to highlight future main points for future reference.
• Just like live training sessions, there are various exercises for the reader to take. The author has given a personalized touch by asking readers to mail their filled forms to take the exercise forward.
• There are various references to Youtube videos on leadership which one can see to have a deeper understanding of the topic.

What could have been better

At some pages, it felt like I was reading an endorsement of the training programs, not a book, and in order to understand the tips for effective leadership, one would have to undergo a session by the authors.

I would still recommend this as a very useful book for people who can’t afford the expensive leadership trainings, yet want to make that important transition from an employee to a leader. I have heard about his unique method of using fire walk activity in his sessions and am all eager to attend a session myself! Follow the exercises mentioned in the book and you will definitely feel more enlightened in your journey to effective leadership, once you would have flipped the last page.  

About the authors – Mitesh Khatri is an international leadership trainer, firewalk expert and motivational speaker. He is the founder of Guiding Light Consultants along with his wife, Indu Khatri, who is also the principle content designer for all their corporate training programs and coaching sessions. You can read get more insights at their website www.miteshkhatri.com

A big thanks to BecomeShakespeare.com for sending me the book for review.