What if your boss is wrong; Secrets to business success

This time around, there are some expert tips on how to manage stress at workplace, on dealing with co-workers and on what to do if the bosses are wrong. Take a cue from ancient literature for success in business. Also, embark on a revolutionary route to ultimate fitness. Here’s what the IANS bookshelf has in store for you this weekend. Read on!

1. Book: Match the Age to Keep them Engaged: Decoding the Secrets of Creating a Happy Workplace; Author: Deepak Malhotra; Publisher: Bloomsbury; Pages: 204; Price: Rs.350

Our forefathers were happy with one job that they had. But today, almost all of us would agree that we have had problems with co-workers, seniors or heads of the organizations at some point of work lives. There are times when the Human Resource (HR) teams fail to pacify the situation.

This book gives some key tips on ‘keeping engaged’ and the ways one can do it. Malhotra elaborates on the benefits of the practice, supporting it through research. For those seeking more satisfaction from work, the book could be a good partner.

2. Book: When the Boss is Wrong: Making and Unmaking of the Leader Within You; Author: Sibichen K. Mathew; Publisher: Rupa; Pages: 270; Price: Rs.295

Coming from a sociologist and policy researcher, this book throws light on the psychology behind the perspectives of leadership through Sigmund Freud’s and Carl Jung’s theories. It offers insights on understanding the dynamics of leadership in an organization. With data consisting of anecdotes and interviews with employees, managers and CEOs of various organizations, the author offers tips on how one can become a successful leader. Interviews with Infosys co-founder S.D. Shibulal, Biocon chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and Vodafone-India head Marten Pieters point to how they empower their teams.

3.Book: Chanakya in You: Adventures of a Modern Kingmaker; Author: Radhakrishnan Pillai; Publisher: Jaico; Pages: 246; Price: Rs.299

Pillai takes his readers on a journey with a modern-day disciple of Chanakya – a tale where the disciple goes from being an aimless youth to the richest man in the world. The book depicts that the roots for achieving business success can be found in ancient Indian literature.

It would like the readers to put themselves in the shoes of the characters in the book, but interestingly, none of the characters is named. The subjects chosen make it possible for anyone to read the book – be it a young adult, an academic or a business tycoon. Pillai was also awarded the Sardar Patel National award in 2009 for his research on Chanakya and his principles.

4. Book: Natural Born Heroes: The Lost Secrets of Strength and Endurance; Author: Christopher McDougall; Publisher: Profile books; Pages: 337; Price: Rs.399

The author happens to stumble across the story of Churchill’s ‘dirty tricksters’, a crew of English poets and academicians who helped resist the Nazi invasion of Crete. This intrigues him to find out more.

The tricksters had an ancient style of fitness – the lost art of heroism. They replaced calories with stored bodily fat and used their fascia, the network of tissue which criss-crosses the body, to develop endurance.

McDougall takes readers through a modern fitness revolution taking place everywhere from Parisian parkour (obstacle-based) routes to cutting-edge laboratories. The book packs inspiration for the readers to dump their gym memberships to free-run in the mud.