February 21, 2013 1 Book Peek

Quick look at a few books

BOOK PEEK

February 21, 2013 2 Book Peek

Contents of Book Peek dated February 21, 2013

Reviews

‘Leading without Licence: Leadership the Anna Hazare Way’ by

Satheesh Namasivayam and Sivaram Bandhakavi – Landmark

‘I have a Dream: The inspiring stories of 20 social entrepreneurs who

found new ways to solve old problems’ by Rashmi Bansal

‘A Bank for the Buck: The new bank movement and the untold story

of the making of India’s most valued bank’ by Tamal Bandyopadhyay

‘Insanely Simple: The obsession that drives Apple’s success’ by Ken

Segall

‘Nike: The vision behind the victory’ by Tracy Carbasho

‘Digital Wars: Apple, Google, Microsoft & the battle for the Internet’ by

Charles Arthur

New arrivals – From Sage, Jaico, Harper

Short snatches

‘Management Tips: From Harvard Business Review’ – Landmark

‘Bonsai Kitten’ by Lakshmi Narayan

‘Digital Companies that Changed the World’ by David Lester

‘Great by Choice’ by Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen

‘What Matters Now’ by Gary Hamel

‘The Yellow World: Trust your dreams and they’ll come true’ by Albert

Espinosa

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February 21, 2013 3 Book Peek

Appoint yourself

If you are leading on the problem of corruption, it is not

enough to stop with what you are ‘against,’ you have to

also wrestle with what you are ‘for,’ the alternative set of

values and behaviours, say Satheesh Namasivayam and

Sivaram Bandhakavi in ‘Leading without Licence:

Leadership the Anna Hazare Way’ (Landmark). “For

example, Gandhi did not stop with what we should avoid –

himsa, violence; he also articulated what we should aspire

for – ahimsa, non-violence,” they explain.

A chapter titled ‘What does leading mean?’ instructs that, to lead, you have

to perform both procedural and evolutionary work, both of which require

you to mobilise other people. Emphasising that galvanising people for

collective action is a fundamental requirement of leading, the authors note

that, if you know how to mobilise, as Anna has done, you are already taking

a leap forward in your leadership work. “The evolutionary component of

your leadership work, because of its comprehensiveness, could take a very

long time to happen. Change in behaviours may, sometimes, take multiple

generations of work…”

February 21, 2013 4 Book Peek

The foremost lesson that the authors see in the Anna Movement is to forget

licence. Posing the question, “How did Anna Hazare – holding no formal

position in the government or a political party and with apparently few

resources at his disposal – succeed in mobilising people for a nation-wide

campaign?” they aver that Anna’s success exposes the misconception that

we cannot lead without holding an office or title. “In fact, contrary to what

many think, holding a position, a title or an office – a formal licence – does

not always make it easy to lead.”

While one of the constraints when you hold an office is to maintain stability

and preserve order in your group, a freedom resulting from not holding a

formal office is the leeway for extreme actions, especially for societal

problems, one learns. “When you are leading without licence, attention is

what you lack the most – the attention of your target groups and of the

authorities whom you would like to influence. People may call it

blackmailing, but without extreme action, you would perhaps not get the

attention you need to make progress.”

Adding that social and biological systems rarely evolve without disruptions,

the authors advise that if the current order is not working you have to go

through chaos to mutate to another state of order.

Urges you to appoint yourself as leader!

February 21, 2013 5 Book Peek

Social entrepreneurs

Rainmakers, change-makers, and the spiritual capitalist –

you can find them all in ‘I have a Dream: The inspiring

stories of 20 social entrepreneurs who found new ways to

solve old problems’ by Rashmi Bansal. In the first category

are social entrepreneurs who generate revenues though the

primary objective is not profit. “This is a new breed of

entrepreneurs, a new model of ‘doing good’ and not mere

charity,” writes Bansal. Examples are Bindeshwar Pathak

(Sulabh International), Anita Ahuja (Conserve India),

Vineet Rai (Aavishkaar Social Venture Fund), Sumita Ghose (Rangsutra),

Saloni Malhotra (DesiCrew), Ishita Khanna (Spiti Ecosphere), Harish Hande

(SELCO), Santosh Parulekar (Pipal Tree), Dinabandhu Sahoo (Project

Chilika), Anand Kumar (Super 30), and Dhruv Lakra (Mirakle Couriers).

The change-maker is a single person who starts a movement, even “while

the world laments ‘what is’.” Examples include Madhav Chavan (Pratham),

Anshu Gupta (Goonj), Trilochan Sastry (Association for Democratic

Reforms), Shaheen Mistri (Akanksha), Arvind Kejriwal (Parivartan), and

Bhushan Punani (Blind Person’s Association).

February 21, 2013 6 Book Peek

As for ‘the spiritual capitalist,’ the author notes that though the ideal of

service may be old-fashioned, there are individuals who still choose to live

by it, because they believe purity of purpose and selflessness of spirit can

transcend every limitation. She includes in this category Madhu Pandit

Dasa (Akshaya Patra), Vinayak Lohani (Parivaar Ashram), and Shreesh

Jadhav (Belur Math). A valuable takeaway is ‘advice to young entrepreneurs’

at the end of each chapter in the book. For instance, Bindeshwar Pathak of

Sulabh underlines the importance of creating your own identity, leaving

your own stamp on whatever you choose to take up. Saloni Malhotra of

DesiCrew counsels entrepreneurs to remain dedicated. “You just have to

hang in there. If you are really passionate about it, just hang on, and do

whatever it takes. You can’t do it half-heartedly as it won’t take you

anywhere. So don’t put in half-hearted attempts.”

Madhav Chavan of Pratham confesses that he likes to revisit his ‘what’ and

‘why’ every now and then. It is the ‘how’ of things that tests whether you

have been honest to yourself in deciding the ‘what’ and the ‘why,’ he

reasons. “Ignore superficial praise and superficial criticism. Both are

harmful, if taken seriously. I feel good within when I have done something

good and right. If do not feel good, I must do better.”

Imperative read.

February 21, 2013 7 Book Peek

‘Leadership Wisdom: The 8 rituals of visionary leaders’ by Robin Sharma

‘Voices from Chernobyl’ by Ingrid Storholmen – Harper

Address for sending review copies of new books

New arrivals

February 21, 2013 8 Book Peek

‘Organisational Schizophrenia: Impact on customer service quality’ by Gopal

K. Gureja – Sage

New arrival: Organisational Schizophrenia

February 21, 2013 9 Book Peek

Published by: Shrinikethan, Chennai http://bit.ly/ShriMap

Edited by: D. Murali http://bit.ly/dMurali http://bit.ly/TopTalk

February 21, 2013