Leadership for Colonels and Business Managers
This book, "Leadership for Colonels and Business Managers" (book cover attached), stems from my strong conviction that middle-level leaders in the army and similar business managers are not maximizing the potential of their teams as effectively as possible. With 26 years of experience in the army and 16 in the business world, I have witnessed numerous instances of reduced effectiveness and efficiency simply because readily available knowledge and techniques were not utilized. So near and yet so far.
With firsthand experience in both military and business environments, combined with three instructional tenures at top leadership academies, I found myself uniquely equipped to address this critical need. Hence, this book. Both military and business sectors require the same competencies in their leaders. Both need their leaders or managers to ensure their teams are effective in their tasks. While these two domains are employed differently, this only necessitates different equipment and functional skills, not different leadership competencies. There might be some domain-specific nuances, but fundamentally, they are the same because both involve human beings. People are people everywhere, aren't they?
What Leaders Need to Jumpstart Their Teams
Leaders need two things: Knowledge and Skills. Knowledge is required in Organizational Behavior (OB), Organizational Development (OD), Group Dynamics, and Social & Organizational Psychology, which answer the 'Why' questions of individual and organizational behavior. However, knowledge alone is not sufficient to achieve results. Skills are needed to operationalize this knowledge. These skills come in the form of techniques that answer the 'How to' question of influencing behavior in groups. This book contains the knowledge and skills necessary for leaders and managers to extract much more from their teams than what most are achieving today.
Sample Topics of Knowledge
Some topics covered include: how group structure affects its processes, the effects of group cohesiveness on group dynamics, how interpersonal relationships affect productivity and satisfaction, what truly motivates people, and the effects of excessive consensus on the quality of group decisions. Flowing directly from these knowledge points are 'how to' techniques, such as how to praise, reprimand, and punish, how to use a leadership style that suits the followers, how not to let great team spirit or groupthink spoil your team, how to delegate, how not to end up doing the work of subordinates, and how to integrate Game Theory in decisions under uncertainty.
Book Structure and Relevance
The book is divided into six sections, each dealing with a natural grouping of chapters.
Section 1: Seven chapters on One-to-One relationships in a group, with techniques derived mostly from Social and Organizational Psychology.
Section 2: Seven chapters on One-to-Many relationships, with techniques derived mostly from Group Dynamics.
Section 3: Eight chapters offering advice on Organizational Development.
Section 4: Seven chapters on the essentials of Leader behavior.
Section 5: Five chapters on techniques for better thinking and decision-making.
Section 6: Nine chapters on topics of specific interest to combat forces.
Combat leaders will find all six sections highly relevant and useful. Business managers will find sections 1 through 5 extremely beneficial, perhaps even more so than combat leaders, though some may question the applicability of section 6. This skepticism is often more a preconceived notion than a reasoned argument. Why not explore how the military accomplishes seemingly impossible tasks?
Practical Focus and Training Needs
Having real-world experience, I have consciously worked to make this book practical for practitioners rather than academics. The focus is on middle levels, i.e., Captains to Colonels in the armed forces and managers to departmental heads in the business world. These are the levels that directly interact with soldiers and employees and engage closely with the organization. Unfortunately, these are also the levels that receive minimal training on these crucial matters. In the army, they receive virtually none. Surprisingly, this training is available in the army but is offered only to select Colonels after completing their command tenure. Before that, it is left to regimental grooming.
For business managers, the situation varies by organization. However, even in reputable ones, there is often little emphasis on specific techniques. This serious anomaly has troubled me for decades. In the army, I served in several command tenures from Captain to full Colonel, almost always in operational conditions. I was also fortunate to be tasked with raising a new combat unit, 8 Rashtriya Rifles (RR), in just three months. Alongside, I enjoyed three tenures as an instructor at Class A training establishments of the Indian army, including one at the Senior Command Wing of the Army War College. Throughout, it bothered me that we are not training our officers in what matters most—leadership and man management. So, I kept notes of what I observed in units and with officers. My notes filled three army-sized boxes. I also authored 16 articles on these topics in army journals.
Later, I joined the business world as Head of OD & TA (Organizational Development & Training Academy) and then moved as Director of Executive Development. Here, I further grounded myself in concepts of OB, OD, Group Dynamics, and Organizational Psychology, and closely observed the training needs of business managers. It was here that I realized the training needs of military leaders and business managers are largely the same.
After receiving specialized training at IIT Mumbai in innovation and TRIZ, I started my consultancy in innovation and leadership (Innovators & Leaders | Innovation meets Management), which led me to train and consult companies like Tata Power SED, Blue Star, Thermax, Bharat Petroleum, SKF, Asian Paints, Merck India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, National Productivity Council, Tata Motors, and Mahindras, among others. I also trained Accenture in the Philippines and Marico in Dubai. Subsequently, I was requested by the Army Training Command (ARTRAC) of India to present on how officers can be better trained to deal with complexity, fuzz, and uncertainty. This presentation sparked my desire to compile all my insights and experiences into this book.
Conclusion
This book is meant to meet a daily need, not be a monthly vitamin. Each chapter is complete in itself and should provide at least five recommendations on the topic concerned. The book will be available in print and e-book formats by the first week of March.
[Email Removed For Privacy Reasons] [Phone Number Removed For Privacy-Reasons], [Phone Number Removed For Privacy-Reasons] Thane, Maharashtra, India
From India, Mumbai
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13This book, "Leadership for Colonels and Business Managers" (book cover attached), stems from my strong conviction that middle-level leaders in the army and similar business managers are not maximizing the potential of their teams as effectively as possible. With 26 years of experience in the army and 16 in the business world, I have witnessed numerous instances of reduced effectiveness and efficiency simply because readily available knowledge and techniques were not utilized. So near and yet so far.
With firsthand experience in both military and business environments, combined with three instructional tenures at top leadership academies, I found myself uniquely equipped to address this critical need. Hence, this book. Both military and business sectors require the same competencies in their leaders. Both need their leaders or managers to ensure their teams are effective in their tasks. While these two domains are employed differently, this only necessitates different equipment and functional skills, not different leadership competencies. There might be some domain-specific nuances, but fundamentally, they are the same because both involve human beings. People are people everywhere, aren't they?
What Leaders Need to Jumpstart Their Teams
Leaders need two things: Knowledge and Skills. Knowledge is required in Organizational Behavior (OB), Organizational Development (OD), Group Dynamics, and Social & Organizational Psychology, which answer the 'Why' questions of individual and organizational behavior. However, knowledge alone is not sufficient to achieve results. Skills are needed to operationalize this knowledge. These skills come in the form of techniques that answer the 'How to' question of influencing behavior in groups. This book contains the knowledge and skills necessary for leaders and managers to extract much more from their teams than what most are achieving today.
Sample Topics of Knowledge
Some topics covered include: how group structure affects its processes, the effects of group cohesiveness on group dynamics, how interpersonal relationships affect productivity and satisfaction, what truly motivates people, and the effects of excessive consensus on the quality of group decisions. Flowing directly from these knowledge points are 'how to' techniques, such as how to praise, reprimand, and punish, how to use a leadership style that suits the followers, how not to let great team spirit or groupthink spoil your team, how to delegate, how not to end up doing the work of subordinates, and how to integrate Game Theory in decisions under uncertainty.
Book Structure and Relevance
The book is divided into six sections, each dealing with a natural grouping of chapters.
Section 1: Seven chapters on One-to-One relationships in a group, with techniques derived mostly from Social and Organizational Psychology.
Section 2: Seven chapters on One-to-Many relationships, with techniques derived mostly from Group Dynamics.
Section 3: Eight chapters offering advice on Organizational Development.
Section 4: Seven chapters on the essentials of Leader behavior.
Section 5: Five chapters on techniques for better thinking and decision-making.
Section 6: Nine chapters on topics of specific interest to combat forces.
Combat leaders will find all six sections highly relevant and useful. Business managers will find sections 1 through 5 extremely beneficial, perhaps even more so than combat leaders, though some may question the applicability of section 6. This skepticism is often more a preconceived notion than a reasoned argument. Why not explore how the military accomplishes seemingly impossible tasks?
Practical Focus and Training Needs
Having real-world experience, I have consciously worked to make this book practical for practitioners rather than academics. The focus is on middle levels, i.e., Captains to Colonels in the armed forces and managers to departmental heads in the business world. These are the levels that directly interact with soldiers and employees and engage closely with the organization. Unfortunately, these are also the levels that receive minimal training on these crucial matters. In the army, they receive virtually none. Surprisingly, this training is available in the army but is offered only to select Colonels after completing their command tenure. Before that, it is left to regimental grooming.
For business managers, the situation varies by organization. However, even in reputable ones, there is often little emphasis on specific techniques. This serious anomaly has troubled me for decades. In the army, I served in several command tenures from Captain to full Colonel, almost always in operational conditions. I was also fortunate to be tasked with raising a new combat unit, 8 Rashtriya Rifles (RR), in just three months. Alongside, I enjoyed three tenures as an instructor at Class A training establishments of the Indian army, including one at the Senior Command Wing of the Army War College. Throughout, it bothered me that we are not training our officers in what matters most—leadership and man management. So, I kept notes of what I observed in units and with officers. My notes filled three army-sized boxes. I also authored 16 articles on these topics in army journals.
Later, I joined the business world as Head of OD & TA (Organizational Development & Training Academy) and then moved as Director of Executive Development. Here, I further grounded myself in concepts of OB, OD, Group Dynamics, and Organizational Psychology, and closely observed the training needs of business managers. It was here that I realized the training needs of military leaders and business managers are largely the same.
After receiving specialized training at IIT Mumbai in innovation and TRIZ, I started my consultancy in innovation and leadership (Innovators & Leaders | Innovation meets Management), which led me to train and consult companies like Tata Power SED, Blue Star, Thermax, Bharat Petroleum, SKF, Asian Paints, Merck India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, National Productivity Council, Tata Motors, and Mahindras, among others. I also trained Accenture in the Philippines and Marico in Dubai. Subsequently, I was requested by the Army Training Command (ARTRAC) of India to present on how officers can be better trained to deal with complexity, fuzz, and uncertainty. This presentation sparked my desire to compile all my insights and experiences into this book.
Conclusion
This book is meant to meet a daily need, not be a monthly vitamin. Each chapter is complete in itself and should provide at least five recommendations on the topic concerned. The book will be available in print and e-book formats by the first week of March.
[Email Removed For Privacy Reasons] [Phone Number Removed For Privacy-Reasons], [Phone Number Removed For Privacy-Reasons] Thane, Maharashtra, India
From India, Mumbai
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The Development of Management and Leadership.pdf
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