Uma Vanka’s debut non-fiction book I am a Rockstar: An Expert Guide to Success, which might be kept in business, motivation or self-help group, is a wonderful book that has recently been launched to the reception of global audience and well-earned applause by the readers around the world. I am a Rockstar is a book of its kind because no other author, in my careful observation, has tried to keep things this simple but delivered way more than usual self-help books in the business domain deliver. Uma Vanka’s book is meant for readers across interest areas and especially for those who are young, ambitious and want someone experienced and successful person to guide them on their path to achievements.

“Instead of preparing yourself for all possible scenarios that you could face, just take the two scenarios: the best case and the worst case.”

To start the book review, let me begin with this interesting extract from the book by Uma. Taken from the very first chapter of the book, Life is Simple, Keep it Simple, the line means too much – and yet, it is a very simple line. We often confuse ourselves with too much information (Uma defines it in his book later on as TMI) and lose our control on life. However, here, the author shares his personal experiences with us and tells us that we should only think about two possible aspects of any situation – the best case and the worst case. And I find this theory quite practical and wonderful!

Likewise, the book progresses with many other instances from the life of Uma Vanka, mostly in the US. One good thing about the book is that it seems logical as you read it and at the same time, it also seems very much practical. Nevertheless, the presence of stuff that motivates you in a non-fiction book is not totally overlooked. You can find those instances when Uma plays the role of a motivational speaker and he delivers his verdicts, with an authoritative tone, about the experiences that he had and tries to relate them with real-life situations of his readers.

Uma has focused most of the times in the book to personal as well as professional qualities of a person equally. For example, when talking about the qualities of a true leader, he makes it fairly simple for any person to understand:

“The most critical quality of any leader is effective communication. All successful leaders are excellent communicators, both verbal and non-verbal.”

And he is right! If a leader fails to communicate, he cannot lead. He goes on to explain the power of quality communication and its role in our personal as well as professional life. It is a very interesting thing to note that in his book, I am a Rockstar, Uma Vanka relates the lessons of communication in professional life with the instances from personal life and things usually found around us. It makes the chapter even more effective than it could have been without these things. However, most of his effective communicator examples come from the political scene and most of the leaders featured are from the USA. It can be understood because he himself has been in the USA for almost two decades now.

Uma introduces the concept of Nuclear Leadership. He explains the same in his own terms and takes things to their best logical conclusions. In short, the book will take the readers from clarity of mind to a clear vision and then to the step-by-step guide of acting with a quality plan and translate that vision into reality… I liked this approach by the author.

I would recommend this book to young readers, especially. They will understand many things by reading this book. I am a Rockstar may not be the ultimate guide to success for sure but this book does give wonderful ideas of how to do your best and how to understand what’s appropriate and inappropriate for you… in terms of many things. Uma Vanka gets full marks for his efforts!

You can get a Kindle copy of this book at just RS 50 for a limited time and you will certainly find the book useful. Enjoy your read. Get a copy from Amazon India by clicking the direct link to Amazon book’s page below:

Buy the book – click here to buy

Review by Ravi for Intellectual Reader Book Reviews