Robin Sharma Biography

(Writer, Public Speaker)

Birthday: June 16, 1964 (Gemini)

Born In: Port Hawkesbury

Robin Sharma is a Canadian author of Indian origin, internationally acclaimed as a motivational and leadership speaker. He became a worldwide sensation with his second book, ‘The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari,’ and is known as a writer with a deep understanding of life. He holds a master’s degree in law and has worked as a litigation lawyer. However, he could not find peace or satisfaction in his work. At the young age of 25, Sharma decided to turn his life around and give writing a shot. The turning point in his life did not come in a moment’s epiphany. It was a long-drawn process, full of failures. After the international success of his second book, he quit law and gave in to his calling. What he did not foresee, however, was his popularity as a speaker. Currently, he is consulted by CEOs and top leaders from the corporate world, who seek his advice on how to keep employees inspired. He has consulted and conducted trainings for many ‘Fortune 500’ companies, including ‘Microsoft,’ ‘GE,’ ‘Nike,’ ‘FedEx,’ and ‘IBM.’ Organizations such as ‘NASA,’ ‘Yale University,’ ‘The Young Presidents Organization,’ and ‘Harvard Business School’ regularly invite him to deliver speeches.
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Quick Facts

Canadian Celebrities Born In June

Age: 59 Years, 59 Year Old Males

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Alka

father: Shiv Sharma

mother: Shashi Sharma

siblings: Sanjay

children: Bianca Sharma, Colby Sharma

Born Country: Canada

CEOs Lawyers

Height: 1.78 m

More Facts

education: Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University

Childhood & Early Life
Robin Sharma was born on June 16, 1964, to Indian (Kashmiri) parents Shiv Sharma and Shashi Sharma, in Uganda. His family moved to Canada when he was a year old. His mother is a teacher, and his father is a physician who set up his practice in Toronto. He has a younger brother, Sanjay, who is a well-known eye surgeon in Canada.
His father had a huge influence on him as a child. Sharma was inspired to follow his dreams, encouraged not to abandon good ideas, and act on them, instead of just pondering.
Sharma is a lawyer by qualification. He attended the ‘Schulich School of Law’ at the ‘Dalhousie University.’ There, he completed his LLB and LLM.
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Career
Robin Sharma worked at the ‘Supreme Court of Nova Scotia’ as a judicial clerk, before joining the ‘Canadian Government’ as a staff litigation attorney.
While working as a lawyer, he could not brush off his desire to write. Motivated by his father, Sharma wrote his first book, ‘Megaliving: 30 Days to a Perfect Life,’ in 1994. According to the writer, the book was motivated by the emptiness he felt in his work as a litigation lawyer. The book was edited by his mother and self-published in 1995. However, it did not see any success.
Sharma did not give up on his dream despite the failure of first book, which later paid off in a huge way. His second book, ‘The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari,’ was initially self-published but was later picked up by ‘Harper Collins Publishers’ after a chance meeting between Sharma and Ed Carson, former president of the publishing house. The book became an international sensation. By 2013, over three million copies of the book had been sold, and it had been translated to 51 languages. It was one of India’s top 10 bestsellers for 2 years. It also became popular in countries such as Japan, England, Dubai, Mexico, Singapore, Puerto Rico, South America, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Serbia, Romania, Russia, and Sweden.
In 1999, Sharma published his next gem, ‘Who Will Cry When You Die.’ The book was inspired by a life lesson from his father, who quoted Rabindranath Tagore, one of the most prolific writers of India, saying, “Robin, when you were born, you cried while the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a way that when you die, the world cries, while you rejoice.” The book offers 101 simple solutions to bring back inner happiness and peace into one’s life, despite various challenges. The book is one of the seven books of ‘The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari’ franchise that the writer has written over the years.
He was able to replicate the magnitude of his success in 2010, with his book ‘The Leader Who Had No Title.’ It topped many international bestseller lists. The book encompassed his thoughts and advices given to companies such as ‘Nike,’ ‘Starbucks,’ and ‘Coca-Cola.’
His other published works are ‘The Saint, the Surfer, and the CEO’ published (2002), ‘The Greatness Guide: 101 Lessons for Making What's Good at Work and in Life Even Better’(2006), ‘The Greatness Guide Book 2: 101 More Insights to Get You to World Class’ (2008), ‘The Mastery Manual’ (2015), ‘Little Black Book for Stunning Success’ (2016), and ‘The 5AM Club’ (2018).
He is the CEO of ‘Sharma Leadership International,’ a training company that conducts sessions for employees and managers of some of the top ‘Fortune 500’ companies in the world, with a single focus on “lead without a title.”
Award & Achievements
In 2007, he was named among the top five leadership gurus of the world in an independent survey conducted by ‘Speaking.com,’ ranking alongside Jack Welch, Jim Collins, and John Maxwell.
In 2011, he was awarded the ‘Golden Gavel’ honor by ‘Toastmasters International.’
Sharma holds the sixth position on the list of the ‘Global Gurus Top 30 Leadership Professionals’ of 2019.
He has a huge social-media presence, and he reaches almost 600 million people every year through his podcasts, ‘YouTube’ videos, and ‘Facebook’ posts.
Family & Personal Life
Robin and his wife, Alka, ended up getting divorced due to his hectic work schedule as a litigation lawyer. His children, Colby and Bianca, live with him.
His book ‘Family Wisdom from the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari’ was partly based on the difficult family situations he went through in his marriage. The book explains how to liberate the natural leadership potential of one’s children and how to strengthen the relationships between people and their loved ones.
He loves reading and claims to be addicted to books. His obsession with books goes beyond just reading. In an interview given in 2009, Sharma admits to buying the same book repeatedly, with different covers and bindings.
Trivia
Robin Sharma could not even manage to sell three thousand copies of his first written work.
He does not wish to retire from his work, ever. He wishes to speak and write to help people and to make a difference, till his last breath.

See the events in life of Robin Sharma in Chronological Order

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