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There are many books on leadership. What the CEO Really Wants from You is one of the few to address the question that is uppermost in the mind of any manager: What he should be doing to make his or her boss his partner rather than his opponent.
We spend most of our lives at work or thinking about it. Starting from a young age, fired by boundless energy and optimism, we launch into our careers sure of our abilities. Yet, things do not always turn out as we expect they would. It is not our abilities alone. The business environment is one of change and ambiguity.
It is no easy task for any manager to negotiate the journey to success. As Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, points out in his foreword, partnerships with others, but above all with your direct boss and organization, are more important than ever before. Not only that, a good boss has an instinct for the right people, and getting them to do better. A good manager, by eliciting his help, helps himself.
Few people are better qualified to guide on this journey than R. Gopalakrishnan. He brings forty-five years of experience to this subject in some of the most challenging jobs. In this immensely practical book informed by the wisdom he has gleaned over the years, he offers the reader the benefit of all he has learnt, summarized in the four As - Accomplishment, Affability, Advocacy and Authenticity. This is a book that will be of immense use to any manager, and one that just might bring him the answers it takes years to find - what the CEO really expects from him.
About the Author
R. Gopalakrishnan has worked for forty-five years as a manager - thirty-one years at Hindustan Unilever and fourteen years at Tata. Currently, he is a director at Tata Sons, the chairman of Tata AutoComp Systems, Rallis India and Metahelix Life Sciences, and vice-chairman of Tata Chemicals. He also serves as a director for Tata Power and Tata Technologies. His earlier books, The Case of the Bonsai Manager and When the Penny Drops: Learning What is Not Taught, with Penguin India were very successful.
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