A Guide for Practicing Managers

With liberalization and globalization, modern management principles and practices are being implemented across India’s corporate sector. Business schools are mushrooming all over and prospective managers are being churned out in thousands. Fresh graduates from leading institutions including Indian Institutes of Management are being offered unprecedented salaries. Yet, after the initial euphoria, there is a crisis of confidence at the middle management level. Burnouts, disillusionment leading to frustration and high rate of attrition have become common features.

Businesses, particularly start ups and first generation entrepreneur driven firms, are finding it difficult to grow without the vision of management and abilities of its people. The manager of today has to enable the creation, acceptance and implementation of this vision. The consumer needs, competition, technology and environment are changing at a fast pace. The business leaders have to be observant, creative and proactive in their search for quick responses to the changes.

‘Management by Walking’ by Dr A K Agarwal, a first generation entrepreneur, focuses on the qualities and process that need be imbibed by practicing managers, especially middle level and above, to keep ahead in the race for excellence. The book gives practical insights and tips to enable management professionals to introspect and realize their growth potential.

Desirable leadership qualities such as power of observation; ability to analyze and interpret; being creative and innovative; being proactive etc. have been discussed in detail in the book. ‘Management by Walking’ facilitates the practicing of these qualities in a non-obtrusive manner.

As instances of corporate malpractices and manipulations surface, the book offers a strong message that war cannot be won from the boardroom. It can only be won on the battlefield. The battlefield for the management is the marketplace or production area or technology development area or customer support area; depending upon the task assigned.

According to the author, an integral role of the management professionals is to encourage and facilitate the contribution and collection of inputs from all the team members through collaboration. Motivation and loyalty are the other byproducts of collaboration.

With a rich industry experience of over three decades behind him, the Engineer turned CEO emphasizes that motivational leadership goes a long way in inspiring and achieving high levels of productivity and loyalty from not only one’s teams, but from business partners as well. Time spent in understanding the motivational criteria are like a fixed deposit that continues to give you returns for a long period, says the book.

As the country emerges as a leading economy of the world, the book initiates the reader into a journey of learning and adapting to the dynamically changing needs of the businesses.