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Kabeer in Korporates, is Gurucharan Singh Gandhi’s unique take on discussing various challenges faced by the employees in corporate. Centuries have gone by but couplets and poems by Kabeer demystify the wisdom. People in the corporate do face lot of challenges, be it in terms of meeting the deadline, fulfilling the target, keeping one’s productivity high, competing the competent at par, delivering optimum performance, achieving work-life balance etc. It is so nice to read that the age old couplets by Kabeer have answers to many of these challenges. The book does balance philosophy with action and theory with practice. The book talks about making one’s own self as an instrument of change prior to becoming a change catalyst. Through Kabeer’s couplets which are full of wisdom, the book facilitates people to ask pertinent questions so as to drive self to design the solutions on their own. Also, the dilemmas of life and tips to deal with them are also covered in this book. That is the beauty of this book since it makes one learn so many philosophies of life which can very well be made practical too. This certainly helps one to take practical steps in his or her pursuit towards excellence. The book also shares lot of Leadership Mantras which can be very well applied at workplace and life. Another point which is worthwhile noticing is that each couplet mentioned in this book are explained in very simple language and wherever suitable, relevant corporate examples are also integrated alongwith.
The book begins with the basic concept of being a good leader, how a leader emerges during adversities. To explain this concept, it is explained through a couplet:
हीरा पाया पारखी, धन मह दिन्हा आन
चोट सही फुटा नही, तब पाई पहचान
It means that how a diamond is recognized by hitting it with hammer, and only when it does not break on being hit, it proves itself to be diamond. The concept is further explained by quoting about great leaders all across the world, i.e. how adversities like World War II, India’s freedom struggle, apartheid, black rights movement etc. brought Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King respectively to the forefront. If Mr. Gurucharan quoted examples from history, he also correlated the concepts with the corporate. In this case, he quoted how Ambanis rose past economic controls, Ratan Tata made the languid Tata group into an international behemoth, KV Kamath transformed ICICI into a financial superpower of sorts etc. This is just one example which has been mentioned here. Throughout the book, various concepts of leadership, attributes of leader, different types of leaders, leader as a coach, how to be a good coachee, wisdom in life / workplace etc. are explained through couplets, its translation in English, its interpretation, contextual examples from history or corporate.
Although, various couplets which are chosen to explain the concepts are very nice. But let me quote one, which I absolutely loved:
भीतर तो भेदा नही, बाहर कथै अनेक
जो पै भीतर लखि परे, भीतर बाहिर एक
This couplet means:
You speak of what is outside, not dwell on what is within;
Should you connect within, there shall be unity (within and outside)
This is a very beautiful concept, which is explained in the book i.e. how important it is for a leader or any individual to focus on self. Ethos of a leader is dependent on this fact that whether he / she are able to be a role model for the rest through their thoughts, emotions and actions. Besides, it is also important to bring balance between self and the world. This couplet is so relevant, since any transformation has to begin from self. And this transformation is possible only when one is having enhanced self-awareness.
The chapters Wisdom in the Workplace and Wisdom in Life are full of various mantras which are essential.
The book is written in a very simple language which can be easily understood by all. Consolidation of Key Lessons at the end of each chapter summarizes it beautifully and gives a clear cut idea to the reader to infer what has been read.
What I missed in the book is visuals. Visuals could have added lot more value to the book.
Kabeer in Korporates beautifully conveys various concepts related to Self, Leaders, Leadership Attributes etc, using Kabeer’s couplets by demystifying his wisdom. Happy Reading !!!
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)
Author: Gurucharan Singh Gandhi
Genre: Fiction / Romance
Publisher: Leadstart Publishing Private Limited
Publication Year: 2016 (13th June)
Language: English
Number of Pages: 264
ISBN: 978-93-52015-77-1
Price: Rs. 295
About the Author: Mr. Gurucharan Singh Gandhi is currently Vice-President, Head of Learning and Development with a premier corporate. His interests include individual and organizational change. Apart from this role, he is an author and a blogger too.
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Blog – www.mondaymusingsbyguru.blogspot.com
Website – www.gurucharangandhi.com
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Linkedin – https://in.linkedin.com/in/guruchrangandhi
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