R. Gopalakrishnan is corporate advisor, The Mindworks. He is the author of bestselling books such as
The Case of the Bonsai Manager,
When the Penny Drops: Learning What's Not Taught, and
A Biography of Innovations: From Birth to Maturity. He studied physics at Kolkata University, engineering at IIT Kharagpur and attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. He has served as the chairman of Unilever Arabia, MD of Brooke Bond Lipton, vice chairman of Hindustan Lever, and as the executive director of Tata Sons and several Tata companies. He also serves as an independent director of listed companies like Akzo Nobel India, Castrol India and Hemas Holdings PLC, Sri Lanka. Gopal mentors a start-up called Mapmygenome Private Limited, the board of which he chairs. He is actively engaged in both instructional and inspirational speaking.
While many people talk about the path to the top of organizations, very few are honest about how difficult it is to stay at that position. R. Gopalakrishnan analyses the 'software' challenges, which leaders confront every day, and shares the insights he has gained developing, managing, investing in and supervising a variety of companies. The author shows that great leaders continue to excel not just because of their skills and intelligence but also by connecting with others using emotional competencies like empathy and self-awareness.
Filled with anecdotes, analysis of various situations CEOs may find themselves in and unconventional advice to help them, Crash: Lessons from the Entry and Exit of CEOs is for veteran leaders as well as for those who aspire to start their own ventures.
