What the CEO Really Wants from You

What the CEO Really Wants From You By R Gopalakrishnan Publisher: Harper Collins Publisher, 2012, Pages: 209, Price: 399 ISBN 978-93-5029-361-4The best organizations reward bosses for developing leaders - but these organizations are rare. You must take responsibility for your own development.-Prof. Jay CongerR Gopalakrishnan has worked in leading positions on the boards of the world's finest national and international organizations for more than 45 years. It is no wonder then that this book comes with the authority and the expertise of his illustrious career.He has been Chairman at Unilever Arabia, Vice Chairman at Hindustan Lever Ltd., Managing Director at Brooke Bond Lipton India, and is currently Director at Tata Sons Limited after having worked there for 14 years. His celebrated corporate graph rests on the shoulders of a stellar education. R Gopalakrishnan studied at St. Xavier's College in Kolkata, moved on to engineering at Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and completed his academia with an Advance Management Program at Harvard Business School.This is the third book by the author on the topic of management, the first being "The Case of the Bonsai Manager: Lessons for Managers on Intuition" (2007) and second, "When the Penny Drops: Learning what is not Taught" (2010). Like his earlier books, this book has been appreciated in corporate circles. Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, says in his foreword in this book, "Partnerships with others, but above all with your direct boss and organizations, are more important than ever before." Other forewords in the beginning from Ram Charan and Shantanu Narayen express similar praise.This book is directed towards budding professionals. There are a plethora of books in the market on how to become successful leader or a CEO but very few on how to climb the corporate ladder faster by becoming an efficient subordinate. This book does just that. It stresses on 'deserving' before 'desiring'. On an average, any subordinate spends more than 20 years at an organization before he reaches a level of leadership. In that, approximately 20 people influence his career, directly or indirectly, from his bosses to other superiors. So, it becomes imperative for a subordinate to have perspective on what is expected of him. The book shows the path to that with suggestions, which are supported by illustrations in the form of case studies. This book serves as a lighthouse to upcoming professionals and guides them to channelise their energy and strategise their careers. The author strongly tells us to work on two assumptions: one, that the company and our bosses owe us a good career and two, that we owe our bosses respectable work and loyalty. He stresses on the art of disciplining the mind, and evolving management of tasks, relationships, thought processes and finally, self- awareness. In today's globalised, competitive, ever-changing environment, qualifications need to be backed with the guidance to use these skills in order to achieve goals.The book is divided into four chapters, each describing the 4 'A's that the author recommends in order to be a superior manager with high potential: Accomplishment, Affability, Advocacy and Authenticity. …