You may have heard of Robin Sharma as being a prolific author whose work has touched many globally but the man has also done many other interesting things in his life, such as graduate from Yale. Whether you’re a fan of his books and other bodies of work, here are 20 unknown facts about Robin Sharma, to help you know him a little better.

Robin Sharma: 20 Interesting Facts About The Author

Who is Robin Sharma?

Robin Sharma is a well-known Canadian author who gained fame after writing the book series “The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari.” 

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari is a self-help book that he wrote after becoming a writer and motivational speaker. “TMWSHF” is a business fable inspired by Sharma’s personal experiences and stories upon leaving his career as a litigation lawyer at the age of 25. Before quitting, he would have been a lawyer or attorney representing a client by defending them in a court of law or in legal proceedings, before a judge. The responsibility of a young Robin Sharma when he was a litigation lawyer would have been to research legal issues, draft legal documents and present the case before the court. The lawyer would also be required to make lots of courtroom appearances and handle cases of the civil variety. Sounds like a wild ride for the man who turned into a motivational speaker, if you’re like me and wondering how he came to be such an insightful writer, let’s get into these 20 facts: 

1. Robin is one of the highest experts on leadership:

The lawyer turned motivational speaker is a famous leadership catalyst specialized in his knowledge such that even some of the most famous people on earth are inspired!  In fact, Robin Sharma is rated among the top 5 experts on the topic in the entire world. As a motivational expert, Sharma personally gives consultation to royalty, famous rock stars and other celebrities.

2. Sharma wrote another phenomenal bestseller: 

Sharma is the author of a book titled “The Leader Who Had No Title.” Yes, we all know about The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari and presume that’s all he wrote but his other book is perhaps one of his greatest making it to the top of bestselling book lists across America and in other countries as well.  As you can tell, the man is a wizard with a pen so we can add this to the many books that he has written but this specific book has received numerous accolades and high praise for its contents. (adding it to your Amazon basket? me too!) 

3. Robin Sharma is in high demand in the business world: 

The motivational speaker has been speaking for almost two decades, promoting his insights on effective leadership to such an extent that Sharma is considered to be a world-class speaker and expert on leadership principles. So it’s not hard to believe that man has been invited to speak at several large organizations including PwC, FedEx, Oracle, HP, Nike, Microsoft, GE, and even NASA.

4. He’s in the ivy league class:

When most prestigious institutions of higher learning have an important event coming up, Robin Sharma is a familiar name and familiar face as he is regularly scheduled to speak. The author has been invited to speak at Yale University at important gatherings because of his status as a world-class expert. Even his name carries a lot of weight because he always has something to say that is useful for both current business leaders and more importantly for the business minded seedlings fresh out of college. 

5. He was born in Uganda, not India:

Robin Sharma was not born in India, instead he was born on March 18, 1965.

Uganda is a country in East Africa and although this was the place of his birth, his nationality is Canadian. The Indian name, the Ugandan birth certificate and now Canadian citizenship make Robin Sharma a man of many races and cultures. He currently lives in Winnipeg, in Manitoba, Canada making him a Canadian citizen.

6. Sharma has an audience of millions with his message: 

The author has reached his audience of more than six hundred million people annually and the motivational guru does this through his books, his speaking engagements and his posts on social media. His primary goal is to help people to do their best work in a world that is constantly changing. His powerful words help to realize leadership capacities and to perform to the peak. Some of the topics that Sharma covers includes personal responsibility, ingenuity, mastery, and productivity. 

7. He self-published his own book: 

Even wanted to write your own book, but shied away from the process because of all the drama involved in publishing it? Not only will you spend countless hours writing the book, but you’ll also have to wait for the book to get published, if it happens at all. Publishers are very selective about working with unsolicited manuscripts making  it difficult for writers who are not already published.

So this is what Robin Sharma decided to do- he penned down his book “Mega Living” in 1994, and he self-published it. Later, he applied the same technique with “The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari” series, but fortunately, after it was published, Harper Collins publishing picked it up for distribution. HarperCollins interest in his work was a huge break that he needed, but prior to that he did almost all the work without worrying about publishing and never gave up. 

Quitting is not the attitude of a true leader. His spirit was a steely resolve that helped to overcome obstacles like getting a book published on his own, regardless of the circumstances.

8. Sharma has a unique perspective on leadership: 

One of the most unique characteristics of Robin Sharma’s approach to leadership is that he insists that there is no title needed to be a leader. Being a leader can happen within the workplace, and in our own personal lives. 

A holistic approach to realizing one’s true leadership helped Sharma earn millions of followers who have finally understood how to put leadership into action and improve their lives.

9. Robin Sharma is a CEO:

The author founded a global learning firm that is called Sharma Leadership International Inc. 

At Sharma LII, he bases the headquarters and operations for the work that he does teaching people about his highly effective methods of transformation and personal growth. His large company also has an international client base. The training company is also known for conducting sessions for the employees and managers of some top companies in the world. 

As of 2020, Robin Sharma has a net worth of $10 million thanks to his company and authoring 15 global best-selling books.

10. He became a lawyer at a young age:

These days the 56 year old is an established CEO thanks to Sharma Leadership International, but before that he was working for the Supreme Court as a litigation lawyer. He graduated from the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University in Canada which helped him earn 2 law degrees including his Masters. 

Back then, Sharma could have opted for a career in law, but his passion for leadership and for helping attain elite performances took off. He helped people find their own true passion, success and financial gain. 

11. He’s a single father:

Robin Sharma was married to his ex-wife Alka Sharma, and they both had two children together. Their relationship didn’t work out and the two divorced. In fact, Sharma’s book  ‘Family Wisdom from the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari’ was sort of based on the difficult family situations he went through in his marriage. 

As mentioned above, the ex-pair of Robin Sharma and Alka Sharma have two children together. Their son is named Colby Sharma and their daughter is named Bianca Sharma. Robin Sharma’s son Colby was born in 1993 whereas Bianca was born in 1995.

The motivational speaker once publicly mentioned that he and Alka Sharma separated in 1998 but divorced properly in 2000. As this divorce was difficult for him, Robin has mentioned that some of his pain was reflected in his book and allowed him to connect with his readers. 

This led to his third book “Who Will Cry When You Die?” when he was going through the end of his marriage.  After the divorce of Robin Sharma and Alka Sharma, both of their children lived with Robin, their father, who has often said that his children are his first priority. He seems to be a loving and supportive father to his children.

On the other hand, there isn’t much information about Alka Sharma’s details or personal life unlike her previous husband who has earned a big name for himself – by going as public as possible. It seems like Robin Sharma’s ex-wife Alka is a secretive person and likes to live her life away from the spotlight of the media and so her pictures, her biography and career is seriously kept under wraps. But in a stand-up comedy video posted on YouTube in 2012, people have speculated that the comedian who goes by the name of Alka Sharma is Robin Sharma’s wife. But whether she really is Robin’s wife or a different person with the same name has not been confirmed yet. 

12. His father was an inspiration for him:

Robin Sharma came into this world in 1964 to Shiv and Shashi Sharma. He was just one year old when the family moved to Canada as his mother bagged a teaching job and his dad a physician’s job. 

Robin Sharma’s father inspired him to follow his dreams and gave him lots of encouragement to hold onto ideas that were good and not just think about them, but to actually put it into action. We can tell that he took this advice to heart because Robin Sharma is definitely a man of action.

13. He’s from a family of professionals:

His parents are Indian making Robin of Indian descent as well. As Indians usually tend to be high achievers in the academic field it’s not surprising that both his parents were educated professionals. 

Therefore, their eldest son Robin went off to become a lawyer turned CEO, and their younger son (Robin’s brother) Sanjay went on to an eye surgeon in Canada. In a way, both of the sons followed after their father, and although Robin is not a physician he did complete his education with a graduate degree in law.

14. Sharma took a chance on a change of career: 

What do you do after you quit a career in law? Do you sit down and write a book? In Robin Sharma’s case – yes. He was so dedicated that he wrote his first book and had his mom do the editing. Robin used a Kinko’s shop to make the copies – printing out 2,000 copies of the book and storing them at his home. 

His change of career inspired the man so much that a second book followed ( both published by himself) and he was able to forge a new life for himself. His vision and dream were necessary to shape the person and motivational speaker that he is today. 

15. He likes to get out and enjoy recreation:

Robin Sharma gives so much that he has to go out and recharge his own batteries every now and then. The CEO and leadership expert takes a break to be a regular guy to get away to relax and be himself without all the demands of his clients and business affairs.

As he spends most of all of his time teaching or running his business, we were shocked to discover some of his recreational activities included travelling, he loves to go backpacking, he enjoys being out in nature, sailing, skiing, having a great conversation, reading, and music. 

16. Robin has a few favorite movies:

There is a lot that you can tell about someone by knowing what movies are their favorites. We learned from Nightskymine Blogspot that he’s a fan of some really movies including “Dead Poet’s Society,” “Life is Beautiful” , “Gladiator,” “Scent of a Woman,” “The Shawshank Redemption,” “Braveheart,” “Million Dollar Baby,” and “The Matrix.”

If you have been lucky enough to see any of these movies, they are both inspirational and emotionally get the viewers stirred up inside. But there are two that stand out as elite performances- Gladiator and Braveheart, two men who were born leaders and they were placed at a disadvantage, but it made them no less brave and no less were they true born leaders. Both rose above their circumstances and maintained their sense of right and wrong to death.

17. Robin Sharma is respected by world leaders and royalty:

We were impressed to discover that Mr. Sharma has made an impact on people with different backgrounds and different walks of life. The Ugandan born, Indian Canadian has a lot of things he can talk about with different races and different people as he can expand on most topics. No wonder why he’s endorsed by dignitaries, heads of state and by the British Royal Family. In addition to that, Desmond Tutu a Nobel Prize winner and Jon Bon Jovi, the rock star have both found Robin Sharma inspiring. People gravitate to his energy and they have a high level of respect for the man and for the professional.

18. He knows what it feels like when success is elusive: 

When you look at Robin Sharma currently, you see a highly successful professional who seems to have it all – money, power, expertise and respect on an international level. In addition to this, his past shows us that he is well educated, is an expert in law, and his opinions are solicited. 

There was, however, a time in his life when things were not as perfect as he had envisioned. When he quit his job to become a writer, his first book didn’t go over and it wasn’t a success. It was his first attempt at professional writing and this is not unusual, but he went through a period of time when he felt empty. His work as a litigation lawyer didn’t give him the sense of fulfillment that he knew was out there for him. Instead of continuing in a job for which he had no passion, he followed his heart and didn’t look back, but it wasn’t an easy time for him.

19. He’s learned a lot in his 56 years:

The best-selling author has had his ups and his downs throughout his lifetime. 

Robin Sharma always knew he had a lot to offer the world, but he never thought about the world offering him opportunities – such as valuable experiences in life. 

For nearly six decades, Robin has learnt a lot and shares these with all who will listen in hopes that they will be motivated to find their inner resources and draw upon them. Robin is a skilled teacher at heart and his teachings are easy to understand. He doesn’t talk above his audience, but rather in a manner that is easy to comprehend.

20. He’s a master and he can show you how to do likewise:

Robin Sharma was named on the list of International Leadership Professional Gurus and has won a Golden Gavel award by Toastmasters International. Prior to these accolades, he had to learn how to master a great many things, including his self-concept.

Perhaps this is why he has written many self-help books on leadership and personality development. His unique experiences helped to teach others how to gain mastery in their lives and to tap into their inner resources and build upon what is already there. Of course, we continue to learn until the day we die, and sometimes we just need someone to tell us the things that we already knew but might have forgotten. Robin Sharma is a phenomenal human being and we owe him thanks for sharing his knowledge for the betterment of all.