Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | NXg | Friday Review | Cinema Plus | Young World | Property Plus | Quest |

Path to success

Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.

Balancing work and emotions Author Umesh Ramakrishnan’s book talks about setbacks too

Umesh Ramakrishnan is vice-chairman of the global executive search firm CT Partners and provides consultation to the boards of directors and chief executives of global corporations. Umesh has recruited members for boards of directors, CEOs, and other senior management positions. He graduated from Bangalore University in India and holds a master’s degree from the University of Texas. He has currently authored a book, “There’s No Elevator to the Top” (Penguin). About the book, Ramakrishnan says, “I made an attempt to understand management principles and insights by travelling across the world and interviewing CEOs from across the spectrum ranging from the IT sector and the media, to marketing.”

He adds, “The book is a compilation of the path that many of these people took to reach their current positions. It puts forth the successful steps and also talks about their setbacks and failures .”

Umesh comments, “I hope that this book will help people refrain from committing the mistakes and thereby helping them in the path to success. The book is not a self-help guide and does not talk about a series of do’s and dont’s. It is a compilation of life stories that will help people in their quest for senior management positions. It talks about how to balance work with emotional factors that occasionally come to play.” He adds, “I have played the role of the medium, delivering the message to the readers.”

He refuses to fix a specific niche audience for the book, stating, “It can be read by anyone who wants to understand what makes a CEO in any company. It talks about leadership qualities, management lessons learnt outside B-schools and the vision that go in making a CEO.”

Umesh feels, “Over the last many years, as a part of my work and during the process of writing this book, I have met many CEOs and top officers. I feel that to reach the top, you need to have an ability to make people do work they do not enjoy and inspire them to like that job. If you manage to achieve this situation, you would be very successful.”

Umesh feels that with the advent of the communication revolution, communication is also a vital. “It is important to be a good listener too,” he sums up. There’s no Elevator to the Top is available for Rs.499 at book stores across the country.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail