Delegation

• A lot of managers and supervisors frequently complain that they have too much to do and too little time in which to do it. Unchecked, this feeling leads to stress and ineffectiveness. In many cases, executives could greatly reduce their stress by practicing a critical management skill – Delegation. It is the key that allows you to spend more time managing and less time on repetitive, non-essential tasks. Delegation also prepares you to be delegated to…Preparing you for greater responsibility and higher levels of experience.
• Historically, delegation has been a vertical process, with managers delegating to subordinates in a clearly defined hierarchical structure. Today’s successful leaders are emphasizing both horizontal and vertical delegation. With the growing emphasis on teamwork, the ability to influence and delegate to others over whom you have no direct control is critical to the team’s success.Further, delegation trains others for the opportunity to move into your job when you are on vacation or for other reasons. Perhaps most importantly, it prepares your possible replacement for the time when you are ready to move up or out for more responsibility. Delegation may be the most important skill a manager can develop.
• Poor delegation can negatively affect the overall productivity of an organization. Both leader and employee are likely to suffer. Some leaders “over delegate” and are prone to ‘abdicate’ all responsibility onto their team regardless of capabilities and resource constraints. Delegation is not abdication. The manager still has the ultimate accountability for the assignment. That’s why it is important for you to establish appropriate controls and checkpoints to monitor progress. Besides, managers should give delegatees the appropriate authority to act along with clear expectations including any boundaries or criteria. The manager, however, should try to avoid prescribing HOW the assignment should be completed.Some leaders “under delegate” thereby giving their teams no room to grow and contribute to the welfare of the firm and creating an unsustainable workload for themselves in the process. Other leaders delegate the wrong task to the wrong person resulting in mistakes, inefficiencies and feelings of self blame and uncertainty amongst team members’ vis-à-vis their skills and capabilities. Organizational morale suffers, productivity drops and chaos and inefficiencies are often the result of poor delegation.

• Delegation must be accompanied by effective coaching. Delegation will not be effective unless managers and other designated supervisors and coaches work with employees to help them develop the skills needed to get the job done. Effective delegation also requires good communication and a high degree of trust between the two parties.

• Delegation is not “dumping.” Managers should take special care to make sure that the employee does not think he is trying to “dump” unpleasant assignments on him. If delegation is not done properly, employees feel put upon and resent what they perceive as ‘I’ve to follow the boss’s order ’.

• The process of delegation accomplishes two tasks that are essential to becoming a better manager. The first is that it gets your desk clear for you to perform more managerial and fewer clerical or routine tasks. Second, it creates an opportunity for you to interact with your employees on a less structured and routine basis, opening the door for more motivational interactions and training. Needless to say, there is no effective delegation without proper follow-up. You will need to evaluate the improvement in your delegation skills on an ongoing basis.

To Dianeme

SWEET, be not proud of those two eyes 
Which starlike sparkle in their skies; 
Nor be you proud that you can see 
All hearts your captives, yours yet free; 
Be you not proud of that rich hair 
Which wantons with the love-sick air; 
Whenas that ruby which you wear, 
Sunk from the tip of your soft ear, 
Will last to be a precious stone 
When all your world of beauty's gone.
                                 -Robert Herrick 

Expression

There is a world within all of us, hidden from almost everyone, that is looking for a way to find expression. While some of us are able to express our true feelings the way we really feel, the majority of us lack that ability. When I listen to Galib, I wonder not only at the depth of feelings that this man possessed, but I also marvel at the beautiful manner in which he was able to put it all across. Was this man able to do it impromptu, or did he write, edit and then finally refine. I for one would like to believe that he must have been able to do it without really doing what most of us lesser mortals need to do. Richness of Urdu language, besides the fact that he wrote in a language that was his mother tongue must have helped for sure. Same was the case with Shakespeare, Keats, Wordsworth, Milton and many others. Does that mean that we can do better if we restrict ourselves to one language, preferably the mother tongue? Is this also the reason for there being so much of creative writing by people who write in their mother tongue? We mess it up, or at best do a sub-optimal job every time, because our thoughts are in the mother tongue, while we try to write in a different language.But then, what is our confidence level in the mother tongue itself? 

I Pulled the Chain!

Being jettisoned into the hot and humid weather of Coimbatore was not the only misfortune to strike me, after I left the salubrious climes of Wellington behind, on completion of the Air Staff Course in the summer of 2006. On this warm balmy day in April, I was to catch a train from Coimbatore for Bangalore. I had spent the previous night at Air Force Administrative College, and awaited the arrival of an auto rickshaw that was to take me to the railway station. As often happens in this part of the world, the auto came late, and we had no choice but to rush to the railway station at a breakneck speed. I was heavily loaded with luggage, and the burden appeared even more, because I was recovering from a broken knee that was a result of the misplaced composure of the steed, during one of the hack rides in the virgin Ooty hills. I reached the station about 2 minutes late, and as I entered the platform from where my train was to depart, I saw a train rumbling along. Considering myself extremely lucky at having executed the RV despite being late, I struggled on to the train with a limping gait. Since the bogies were connected, I decided to find my way to the AC coach later, and therefore boarded the first bogie that was rushing along. I was much relieved at having made it, or so I thought...

The train would have just left the station premises, when in an effort to strike a polite conversation I asked a fellow passenger the arrival time at Bangalore. “Bangalore, what Bangalore? This train doesn’t go there ...”The impact of this statement was nothing short of a ton of bricks falling on my head. “Oh! My God!,  I have boarded the wrong train...and that too at this stage of life”, I thought to myself. I could never ever imagine myself doing such a stupid thing. But then life has a way of reminding us that you can never be too smart. So what next? Well, I decided to pull the chain and that too with all the passengers looking at me.  The train screeched to a halt-thankfully. I managed to get down with a lot of difficulty, since the ground was lower now without the platform. The broken knee only complicated the matters. I wonder if the brains of Faujis reside there. Mine for sure on this day must have been there, and I do not know if it was still there, as the knee was broken...

 I had a hearty laugh over myself, but then I had to worry about boarding the right train. So, here I was once again limping along towards the platform, though at a faster speed. The platform would have been about 300-400 meters away, and was fortunately in sight. As I was making my way towards the platform, I saw the TT and the Guard making their way towards the bogie from which the chain had been pulled. They were hoping to catch the offender. After they had crossed me and were at least 50 metres away, my conscience pricked me and said, “Have you not caused enough inconvenience to the passengers by doing what you did. Why don’t you own up now, and reduce this pain for the Indian Railways?”So I turned back in the opposite direction, called out on top of my voice to the guard and said, “Excuse me, I pulled the chain.”

On hearing this, the TT probably experienced something which he would have never ever experienced in his life. His joy knew no bounds, while I was about to face the impact of almost falling from the top of a skyscraper. The TT lost no time in snatching my ticket, and decided not to give it back to me, despite all my pleadings. By this time the right train that I was to board had just pulled in. Well! By now I was all drenched in sweat from head to toe, more from the worry on account of missing the train that I was to really board, and less from the heat.  The TT had missed seizing me for good, and wouldn’t have been able to catch me if I had not owned up. But he didn’t seem to appreciate this fact, and was intent on showing me his power. On seeing my helpless situation, a Good Samaritan who looked like an NRI intervened on my behalf, in what seemed to be chaste Tamil to me, and only then did I get my ticket back. I was really relieved and thanked this angel who turned up out of thin air at a time when I needed him the most. I thanked him profusely. His parting advice to me that I have still not forgotten was, “Why did you have to be so honest. This is India and honesty doesn’t work here.” Well! It will remain a moot point whether honesty works or not. My own experience barring this one has been that it always does. But whether a person should own up after pulling the chain, lesser said the better.........

Atttachment

Buddha has said, and so has Krishna that attachment is the cause of all sorrows, and if a person wants to live a happy life, he must learn to be detatched.Many years ago when our son was under treatment for a heart ailment and we used to find ourselves absolutely helpless, I often used to wonder that is it really possible for  a person to be detached from what is happening to his world. I have realized over the years that although a person may cultivate a degree of detachedness towards the material aspects of life , and I feel that I have been able to do so to  a great extent,yet doing the same towards those whom you love is next to impossible. It is like one of those advices that are so impractical. If it were so easy to be detached towards your kith and kin, won't you attain Nirvana?

One of my Favourite Poems

Absence, hear thou my protestation Against thy strength, Distance and length: Do what thou canst for alteration; For hearts of truest mettle Absence doth join, and time doth settle. Who loves a mistress of such quality, He soon hath found Affection's ground Beyond time, place, and all mortality. To hearts that cannot vary Absence is present, time doth tarry. By absence this good means I gain, That I can catch her Where none can watch her, In some close corner of my brain. There I embrace and kiss her, And so I both enjoy and miss her.                    -John Moses Hoskyns

Candour at Work

Candour at work is considered to be a desirable trait by Jack Welch,and as per him it is responsible for much of the success achieved by GE, while he was at the helm of affairs.He recognises the social factors that make us reluctant to make harsh judgement, or to deliver honest truth in day-to-day life: the human tendency to sugar the pill and to put a gloss on unpalatable issues. This, says Welch, happens in business too. But how much more exciting would it be, he says, if we were to throw all of that away; to address issues head-on and to ask some tough but interesting questions on every possible occasion. 

Being candid and forthright in expressing opinions is easier said than done.Firstly,most of the superiors, or the victims of your candour don't really appreciate it. It tends to spoil relationships,and is at times considered unsophisticated behaviour.A smooth talker is generally prefered over such a person. My own opinion is that a person who is a glib and smooth talker does damage to the organisation as he hides the truth, and does not mean what he says, and says what he does not mean,thus creating confusion and inconsistency. Since his focus is on relationships and not results, he sugarcoats everything,leading to dealayed action. Eventually what is not good for the organisation will show up, but with more candour, the process takes lesser time,and the organisation loses less money and resources. 

Therefore, cultivate a culture of candour in the organisation by rewarding those who are candid, and by setting a personal example. You will need to overcome the SOCIAL DOs that have been taught to you since childhood in the interest of your organisation.In a nutshell,not being candid at work is not being true to the organisation,to yourself,and to those who need to know the truth .

Work

Autonomy, complexity,and a relationship between effort and reward are the three qualities that work has to have if it is to be rewarding.All of us need to be independent, and be responsible for making our own decisions, and living with their consequences.This is what gives us power to determine our own destiny.The work that we do should be complex, in the sense that it should engage our mind and imagination sufficiently.A routine job , even at a high salary is boring. Lastly, the individual must see his efforts being rewarded. That is  the nature of humanity.No one wants to work without a reward, although the definition of reward varies as per the life stage of an individual, and the environment that he lives in. For a person who is lower on the Maslow's hierarchy, a hike in salary would be an appropriate reward, while for someone who is close to self-actualization, or in simpler terms close to achieving his potential, it could be something absolutely intangible that may constitute a reward.  

Brainstorming

Idea generation is essential  for any good organisation to survive in the knowledge economy.More often than not,you will find that not enough freedom is given to employees to express their ideas, without the fear of being ridiculed or scoffed at.Even when these concerns are not there, the process of idea generation is not conducive to the environment in which an independent mind prospers. People come to meetings with preconceived notions and then utilize all the time of the meeting in pushing their own idea to the fore.We must remember that ideas belong to no one once expressed, and all the members should brainstorm on the pros and cons of the idea.The Six hats thinking methodology propounded by Dr Edward De Bono may prove to be an ideal tool for this.If you want your brainstorming sessions to succeed , you must follow/remember the following rules:

• Let there be no hierarchy, at least for the duration of the session.There are some people like yours truly, who lack the skill of being able to think on their feet.To overcome this limitation. the agenda should be circulated well in time, and some post session time should be a part of the process.
• There are no bad ideas
• There are no bad questions
• Be prepared to kill your own babies.It means that you should be ready to see your ideas get shot down, or be ready to pull the trigger yourself.This is the most difficult part,and only those with a highly flexible mind will be able to overcome this barrier 
• Wisdom may or may not be related to the age/experience of the participants. Remember that most of the great minds till now achieved excellence very early in life.
• Do not let the brainstorming drag beyond the point of diminishing returns.
• Lastly, do not forget to take notes.

Job Description

A Job Description (JD) is a lucid and detailed explanation communicating to a new recruit about his/her responsibilities, functions and where and how the candidate fits in the larger scheme of things.  Detailed Job descriptions are important as they act as pointers and can be the point of reference while identifying the competencies for a particular position as well as for selecting the right candidate. It minimizes the chances of expectation mismatch.
Clarity and transparency should be primary features of a JD to minimize fitment problems. An unclear JD can affect productivity adversely. Different organizations have different kinds of JD as per their needs, but irrespective of industry or position a JD has to be clear so that it can get the most out of a candidate..
A well charted JD also aids the goal setting and appraisal process. It helps both the organization and the candidate to assess whether the latter has delivered what s/he had been hired for.
Go through the JD in great detail to ensure that you know what is expected of you and so that you  are not caught unaware. Freshers especially need to make sure that they know all the fine points before taking up an offer.
Freshers often come armed with jargon and don’t know what they are getting into. Candidates should not feel apprehensive about asking questions. Everyone has a career plan and it is best to find out whether the offer is in keeping with their plans.
So, it is best you clarity your doubts before signing on the dotted line, else it can leave you wondering about your responsibilities and your boss about why the promising new recruit is not performing.
There is no ideal JD, it is subjective to the industry and organization. However, here are a few items which should feature in your JD.
1) About the organization: An overview of the organization.
2) Job title: Designation and grade: do not mistake the job profile / role with the designation. These are not inter-changeable terms. Designations do not mean the same in all organizations.
3) Statement of purpose: A general idea about the objective of the position and how it contributes to the overall objective of the organization.
4) Functions: A detailed list of duties and responsibilities depending on their importance, pending on their importance your accountability and the time needed.
5) Eligibility criteria: Details of the required skills, technical or academic qualifications as well as other requirements like soft skills, leadership skills, etc.
6) Experience: should be as specific as possible.
7) Reporting structure: A comprehensive account of any and all your roles. This should include who you will be reporting to (directly and in directly) as well as your own supervisory roles (if applicable) as well as the team strength).
 Work location and schedule: The physical location of the job and whether it entails traveling and /or relocation. Also, of there are any exceptions like working in shifts then the timing has to be mentioned as well.
You need not be familiar with or have dabbled in everything that is mentioned in the JD. A new job or position should be such that it not only utilizes your current skills but also enhances your knowledge and field of expertise. So as long as you have your basics right and are willing to learn you can take it as a challenge and leave certain things to be learnt on the job.

Who Moved my Cheese

I had read this book by Dr Spencer Johnson long ago. Since the lessons are timeless, I would like to recommend it to all my friends.The book deals with managing change.Often things happen to us,and we continue to fret and fume about it,rather than just moving on with our lives. Cheese is a metaphor for all that we desire, and could be related to your organisation, your job or the relationship you are in.Change happens all around us.In fact it is the only permanent thing in life. Everyone is forced to deal with it sooner or later.About 40 pages of wisdom packed in this book will prepare you for the inevitable change that is bound to affect you. Given below are some of the principles given in the book that you need to remember.

• Change happens-Someone keeps moving the Cheese
• Anticipate Change-Get ready for the Cheese to move.
• Monitor Change-Smell the Cheese often so that you know when it is getting old.
• Adapt to Change quickly-The quicker you let go of the old cheese,the sooner you can enjoy the new Cheese.
• Change-Move with the Cheese
• Enjoy Change-Savour the taste and aroma of the new Cheese
• Be ready to change quickly and enjoy it again and again-They always keep moving the Cheese  

Virtue or Vice

My father has got this habit of saving every penny that he can, and he can go to any trouble to do this. He often goes to the ‘Mandi’ to buy vegetables that cost a trifle less there, than in the nearby market. He is now nearing 70 and despite our best efforts at dissuading him from doing so, he does not listen to us, and insists on doing things in his own way .At a time when we would like him to enjoy the conveniences of life, and lead a life devoid of stress, he takes a lot of stress and frets over small matters. A telephone bill kept at a place other than the one designated by him could lead to loss of temper. Despite our best efforts at changing him, he doesn’t seem to bother. Unnecessarily worrying about things over which he has no control, and which do not really matter has led to his suffering a mild neurological disorder for almost an year now.

On thinking deeper about his habit of being too cautious with money, and also of having an obsessive compulsive disorder about minor issues, I realised that this was  a virtue once upon a time, when our family income was not too much. In my heart of heart I thank God for this habit of his, which led to me getting the best of education, and other things that the family needed. But why is it that now when money is not too much of a problem, that this virtue seems a vice to me? I think I need to be patient with him, just like he must have been when I was a small child. When I look into his once bright, but now almost sleepy eyes, I wonder at the ways of the almighty...  

Revenue Deficit

While the Fiscal deficit ratio is hopefully slated to come down in the years to come, what is worrisome is that the Revenue Deficit is on the rise. As per the reports appearing in the newspapers, this ratio has gone up from about 42% in 2007-08 to 73 % now. For starters, the ratio signifies the amount of money that is used for consumption out of the total govt borrowing. 
Borrowing for investing is a good thing, but when you start borrowing to consume, it really is a cause for worry. What is true at a personal level is also correct at the national level. With this ratio at 73%, it means that only Rs 27 is invested out of 100 that the govt borrows. Considering the cost of capital to be 8%, the govt would need a return of at least 30 % on the Rs 27  invested to just meet the interest liability. That kind of a return is even beyond the private sector, and is just not within the reach of the Govt. So the short point is that, it is the revenue deficit that is a better indicator of a nation’s finance than the fiscal deficit. Do not cheer too much at the proposed finance bill. It is always a good habit to go in depth and read the fine print.

National Shame

Ever since we unshackled the Hindu rate of growth, we have been continuously growing at an average rate of growth of about 7-8%, which leads to our GDP doubling every 10 years or so. By purely looking at the statistics you could easily fool yourself into believing that we have arrived...truly. But you just have to go to a railway station anywhere in the country to gauge the actual progress. The squalor and utter poverty will stare you so hard in the face, that if you are a thinking man like me, the sight would continue to haunt you for many days. 

Every time I go to a railway station, the socialist in me thinks as to why there can’t be equality, the communist in me wonders as to why there is no ‘survival of the fittest’, the humble intellectual in me reflects as to why this nation of 100 Crores is not able to find  a solution to this blot on our great country, the economist in me worries, that we would continue to be a developing country for another 100 years, and the pragmatist in me coaxes me to move on regardless of all this, or just poke my nose deeper in the book that I am reading sitting here, and thus hide from reality. But no, that is not what I intend doing today. Let me apply myself a little, and see if a method could be applied to this madness around us. First the causes...Most of the reasons are well known, and those that come to my mind are listed here for easy application of thought for finding a solution:

• Our population is too much
• The literacy levels are too low. Even the educated people do not give a thought before littering.
• The country is dispersed geographically, and people need to travel overnight, unlike in most of the European countries.
• The number of trains are too few, and are not able to meet the demand leading to overcrowding.
• The number of trains are too many, when you think about the supporting infrastructure.
• Indians, even the best of us, have poor hygiene habits.
• Lack of automation in toilets,  and at the stations.
• Poor work ethics of the people who are responsible for the cleanliness of the trains and stations.
• Lack of accountability,  and discipline- enforcing mechanism.  

Now the proposed solution...

• Increase the number of trains,  but before doing that improve the supporting infrastructure of rails, stations, manpower et al.
• Do not issue more tickets than the seating/berth capacity of the train.
• Have adequate dedicated cleaning staff and supervisors on board the trains to keep the bogies clean.
• Have cleaning staff at the railway station round the clock. If it is possible to have them on the airports,  then why not at the stations?
• Subsidise air travel for the masses. Some of the subsidy that is presently given towards coal and fuel could be used for this. This would give an impetus to the airlines as well, and reduce the pressure on long distance trains.
• Institute and implement heavy fines. Deterrence will work for sure.
• Do not allow beggars within the precincts of the station, and on the trains
• Conduct a public awareness campaign regularly.Lay lot of emphasis on the children as it is there that the future is.

I am fully aware that what I have suggested is a tall order. But I feel that is about time that we did something about this national shame. Please give the issue a thought and suggest something.

Too Much TV

Just about the time when LCDs were moving into the drawing room, and the CRT owners were trying to hide their unwieldy contraptions in some unseen corner of the house, we decided to dispose of ours. That was three years ago, and believe me when I say that Life has never been the same again. Do we miss anything? Well not at all. In fact there is so much time available now that 24 hrs seem enough to do whatever you want to. Let me list a few of the many advantages that we have experienced , of not having a TV in the house.

• My children have become very fond of reading, which I consider to be  a life-long gift.
• Both of us do not have to bear the nonsense of TRP rating hungry stupid news channels .Instead we have so much more time to read not only the news, but views as well.
• We do not rue the arrival of guests in our house at the soap opera time.Dinner is always ready at Nine.
• Each of us has different taste of music/movies/documentaries. We watch what we want to, at our convenience, on the internet, or offline downloaded content.
• No time at all is wasted watching advertisements that take up so much of our quality time these days.
• Phone calls can be easily attended without missing a crucial scene/dialogue by just pressing the pause button.
• It is now possible to control the content that children watch. There is a lesser risk of their eyesight going bad
• We can choose to watch movies/programme that are rated higher by the viewers,thereby ensuring the quality of content.
• Gone are the days when I was an avid sports lover, and watching sports action live was a passion. Therefore none of us miss any of it on that count as well.BTW even this is now available on youtube.

Do we spend more money on the internet than we would possibly do on TV. No, not at all since our time, and the ability to choose, has more value than money. By not investing in a TV, we have also saved on its acquisition cost, recurring higher power bill, dish charges, and risk of technology obsolescence. In any case paying for a HD TV does not make any sense, as affordable HD content in India is still a long way to go. For the content to be HD, it has to be shot using HD equipment, processed using HD technology, and transmitted over a HD channel that takes much more bandwidth. As of now all this is costly, and is not in the reach of the mass market.

Those of you who have already invested in an LCD may consider connecting it to their computers, and those who have not, may like to experience the freedom of choice, that not having a TV offers. 

Performance

We often judge a person’s capability at work by his exhibited performance in some previous assignment. We need to remember that the performance of a person is dependent on three factors that play an important role on the results that he achieves. So what are these three factors?

• Motivation
• Knowledge, Skills, Attitude(KSAs)
• Environment

No matter how much of KSAs your subordinates possess, their performance will be sub-optimal if they are not motivated to perform the work. Motivation itself depends on a lot of factors, the primary one being-“What is in it for me or what need of mine does it fulfil?”

Sometimes the environment sends wrong signals .It either does not support the activity or it blocks the same. Before designing a training curriculum for the subordinates who exhibit bad performance, it is necessary to find out the real reason for the same. Many of the capable individuals whom I know do not write a particular exam as the organisational environment has been sending wrong signals for a long time. It is important to go deep to the root of the problem, rather than addressing just the symptoms.  

Hedgehog Concept

These three questions are very important for any individual, business or organisation to figure out the area in which it should operate. You have to have a key understanding of what you can be best at, and more importantly what is beyond you. It needs a deep sense of self awareness to figure out your strength and weaknesses, and requires courage to come to terms with them. You may be good at something, but not having a passion for it, will in the long term hamper your goals. Thirdly whatever you do must drive your economic engine. Organisations and individuals who operate in the area where all three circle overlap, are the ones who are truly successful. If you are in a profession or in a business where you find yourself to be out of the common area, it is time to look outwardly for other opportunities.

Lest I forget

List of Books

1.     “The Mind of the Strategist” by Kennichi Ohmae.

2.     “The Borderless World” by Kennichi Ohmae.

3.     “Brand Warriors” by Fiona Gilmore.

4.     “Odyssey” by John Sculley.

5.     “Business @ The Speed of Thought” by Bill Gates & C Hemingway.

6.     “Every Business is a Growth Business” by Tichy & Ram Charan

7.     “The Hidden Persuaders” by Vance Packard.

8.     “Powershift” by Alvin Toffler.

9.     “Megatrends 2000” by John Naisbitt and P Aburdene.

10.  “Amazon.com - Get Big Fast” by Richard Spector.

11.  “Want Makers” by Eric Clarke.

12.  “Image Makers” by W Myers.

13.  “Positioning – the Battle For Your Mind” by Al Ries & Jack Trout

14.  “Marketing Warfare” by Al Ries and Jack Trout.

15.  “The Adaptive Corporation” by Alvin Toffler

16.  “Fortune @ the Bottom of the Pyramid” by CK Prahalad.

17.  “Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Competitive Advantage” by M Porter

18.  “Competitive Advantage of Nations” by M Porter

19.  “Management: Tasks,  Responsibilities and Practices” by P Drucker

20.  “Snapshots from Hell” by P Robinson.

21.  “Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco” by B Burrough and J Helyar

22.  “Liar’s Poker” by M Lewis

23.  “Monkey Business: Swinging Through the Wall Street Jungle” by J Rolfe

24.  “Den of Thieves” by James B Stewart

25.  “The Predator’s Ball – the Inside Story of Drexel Burnham..” by C Bruck

26.  “The Essential Drucker: The Best of 60 years of Drucker’s Essential…” by P Drucker

27.  “Made in Japan” by Akio Morita.

28.  “Jack: Straight from the Gut” by J Welch

29.  “Winning: The Answers Confronting 74 of the … in Business Today” by J Welch

30.  “Lee Iacocca: An Autobiography” by Lee Iacocca

31.  “The Warren Buffet Way: Investment Strategies..Worlds’ Best Investor” by R Hagstrom

32.  “The Essays of Warren Buffet: Lessons for Corporate America” by W Buffet.

33.  “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey.

34.  “The 8^th Habit” by Stephen Covey.

35.  “The One Minute Manager” by K Blanchard.

36.  “Who moved my cheese, an amazing…..your life” by Spencer Johnson.

37.  “First Things First. To Love….a Legacy” by Stephen Covey.

38.  “Six Thinking Hats” by Edward De Bono

39.  “Teach  your child how to think” by Edward De Bono.

40.  “Dr. Deming: The American who taught the Japanese about quality” by R Aquayo

41.  “Juran on Quality by Design… Goods and Services” by JM Juran.

42.  “The 22 immutable laws of Branding” by Al Ries.

43.  “Emotional Branding: The New Paradigm…People” by M Gobe and S Zyman.

44.  “HBR Review on Brand Management” by E Joachimsthaler et al.

45.  “Building Strong Brands” by D Aaker

46.  “Fooled by Randomness” by N Taleb

47.  “Freakonomics” by S.Levitt and S.Dubner

                                               

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