My first book Puppet on the Fast Track, the closest to my heart: Somewhere my journey as an author and an entrepreneur began from here.
A lot has been said and written about corporate culture. My seven years of working in MNCs has made me realize that the real problem of corporate world is the lack of adept leaders. The book is a satire on the leadership of today and a wake up call for all young management students/ professionals, that despite their outstanding educational qualification, they blindly follow what is brought to their table at work place. Very few question the relevance and in turn become PUPPET TO THE FAST TRACKERS !!
Glimpse of the book : The Introduction : Puppet on the Fast Track. (Published by Leadstart Publishing)
Welcome to the gang of thinkers; the gang that strategizes, focuses, creates, directs and innovates – the Product Management Group in the ‘Haute bank’. Mission of the bank – ‘To Excel and Sell’. ‘Sell’ is the keyword. We shall talk about the theory of strategy, innovation and direction, and the ‘subtle linkages to sales’ later. I am Pulak or as people in the bank call me ‘Holier than thou’ (I am a sharp, successful, straightforward and hardworking guy). After a very successful stint in sales at Haute Bank, I decided to join the gang of thinkers.
Today is the first day in my Product Management role.My boss, Anurag or, as people call him, ‘Love me all’, has handed me my goal sheet. ‘Love me all’ has recently been made the Product Head.Actually my ‘should have been’ boss could not join due to unforeseen circumstances and the only suitable and available – candidate was ‘Love me all’. My little past interaction with him had been decent. He is a good guy, no necessary or unnecessary aggression.Enough of digression. I should focus on my goal sheet. Wow the role sounds ‘very interesting’, ‘challenging’,‘huge scope of learning’ –‘big enough for my next promotion’. I am passionate about numbers. Post going through my Goal sheet, I hungrily and promptly walk to my boss, the captain of the ship. Some questions were dancing in my head, eager to get their answers:
Acquire… how?
Retain… what and how?
Train… Whom, about what?
When will I get the training myself?
Enhance customer relationship? Hmm?
While some questions had obvious answers, but the enthusiastic me wanted specific guidance to deliver the best results.
My boss ‘Love me all’, lovingly smiled and opened an excel sheet named ‘The handover note’. My predecessor had left a note and his phone number. “The 30 point sheet and the phone number will give you clarity on all that you need to do,” smirked Anurag, the ‘Love me all’. I called my predecessor who surprisingly was very excited receiving my call. We had met in one of the training sessions. His only feedback for me was that it was the worst possible job that he had done and that had he not moved to another role, he would have quit the bank. He cribbed about the role, about Anurag and about people I was yet to get introduced to. Anurag apparently was his contemporary who had no clue about products
and systems. He also took the credit of nicknaming Anurag as the ‘Love me all’. His last sentence before I disconnected was, “You must check out the way he letches at women.”
Negativity kills me and I detested the inputs that he gave. My mind was like a clean slate ready to colour the product role through my breakthrough creativity. I am an extremely positive person. I liked my boss’ hands-off attitude. Learning by yourself is the best way
to learn through ‘the trial and error method’
Publishers: Leadstart Publishing. Frog Books.
The book is available at Flipkart, Infibeam and all major online portals and Retail outlets.
