Dr. B. Karunakar is Professor of Strategy & Leadership Development at Narsee Monjee, Hyderabad. He is author of "Corporate Champions: Excellent companies of India".
During his career, spanning 30 years, he has held responsible positions in the banking, manufacturing, IT and education sectors.
He is an alumnus of IIT-Bombay and IIM-Calcutta and has a Ph.D. in Management from Osmania University. For more details click here: https://in.linkedin.com/in/karunakar-b-dr-640a60a or http://www.nmimshyderabad.org/faculty-and-research/faculty/full-time/karunakar-b/
During his visit to Amar's Pensieve on August 9, 16, we started talking about Leadership. Here are some excerpts of our conversation:
Amar: ‘Leadership’ as a concept is gaining, currency over the concept of ‘Management’? Why is this so?
Dr. Karunakar: Nowadays, one expects far more initiative and influencing in an individual in getting things done.
Basically, leadership is about Vision and translating that into reality.
Amar: Do ‘Leadership’ and ‘Management’ inform each other; are they the same; are they different?
Dr. Karunakar: Well! They are not the same. They are different and overlap also. A leader can always become a Manager, but for a Manager to become a Leader is an uphill task. You have to work a lot on yourself to become a Leader.
Manager looks at the woods, Leader looks at the forests.
Amar: Your book on Leadership – "Corporate Champions: Excellent companies of India" (http://www.amazon.in/Corporate-Champions-Excellent-Companies-India/dp/8132107128) – can you share the theme and the highlights of the book!
Dr. Karunakar: This book is about the excellent companies of India and what it took to become Champions.
Corporate Champions are those companies with sustained and showed superior performance over more that two decades.
It provides deep insights and themes (strategy, operational excellence and leadership) that go into the making of an exceptional company. These companies were not picked by the author but the sieving criteria distilled those exceptional companies, viz. Indian Hotels, Mahindra & Mahindra, Apollo Tyres, Hindalco, SKF Bearings etc.
Amar: Do you think that ‘Leadership’ can be learnt? (How, when, where, who)
Dr. Karunakar: Yes! It can be learnt through observation, experience, reflections and readings. The more you get exposed to challenges and the more you have the willingness to face them, faster will be the learning to lead. You also need to be lucky in terms of getting mentorship and support at crucial times. If all these three pieces challenge-willingness-mentorship fall in place exceptional results in learning to lead will take place.
Amar: Can we lead without knowing or understanding: (1) an organization's Vision/Mission, Policy/ Values, Culture, and (2) at a personal level our own Goals, Beliefs/Values, personal orientation and preferences.
Dr. Karunakar: Knowing these things or discovering them as we along is essential for our growth as a leader and performing as one.
Amar: According to you, what is important in Leadership Training? (Facilitation; Curriculum / Methods; Space ….)
Dr. Karunakar: If you want to bring about an impact in leadership development, follow the training with one on one coaching.
In my own experience of building NMIMS (Narsee Monjee), Hyderabad, I had the singular opportunity of applying these principles which helped into bringing NMIMS on the Hyderabad business school landscape.
During his career, spanning 30 years, he has held responsible positions in the banking, manufacturing, IT and education sectors.
He is an alumnus of IIT-Bombay and IIM-Calcutta and has a Ph.D. in Management from Osmania University. For more details click here: https://in.linkedin.com/in/karunakar-b-dr-640a60a or http://www.nmimshyderabad.org/faculty-and-research/faculty/full-time/karunakar-b/
Amar: ‘Leadership’ as a concept is gaining, currency over the concept of ‘Management’? Why is this so?
Dr. Karunakar: Nowadays, one expects far more initiative and influencing in an individual in getting things done.
Basically, leadership is about Vision and translating that into reality.
Amar: Do ‘Leadership’ and ‘Management’ inform each other; are they the same; are they different?
Manager looks at the woods, Leader looks at the forests.
Amar: Your book on Leadership – "Corporate Champions: Excellent companies of India" (http://www.amazon.in/Corporate-Champions-Excellent-Companies-India/dp/8132107128) – can you share the theme and the highlights of the book!
Dr. Karunakar: This book is about the excellent companies of India and what it took to become Champions.
Corporate Champions are those companies with sustained and showed superior performance over more that two decades.
It provides deep insights and themes (strategy, operational excellence and leadership) that go into the making of an exceptional company. These companies were not picked by the author but the sieving criteria distilled those exceptional companies, viz. Indian Hotels, Mahindra & Mahindra, Apollo Tyres, Hindalco, SKF Bearings etc.
Amar: Do you think that ‘Leadership’ can be learnt? (How, when, where, who)
Dr. Karunakar: Yes! It can be learnt through observation, experience, reflections and readings. The more you get exposed to challenges and the more you have the willingness to face them, faster will be the learning to lead. You also need to be lucky in terms of getting mentorship and support at crucial times. If all these three pieces challenge-willingness-mentorship fall in place exceptional results in learning to lead will take place. Amar: Can we lead without knowing or understanding: (1) an organization's Vision/Mission, Policy/ Values, Culture, and (2) at a personal level our own Goals, Beliefs/Values, personal orientation and preferences.
Dr. Karunakar: Knowing these things or discovering them as we along is essential for our growth as a leader and performing as one.
Amar: According to you, what is important in Leadership Training? (Facilitation; Curriculum / Methods; Space ….)
Dr. Karunakar: If you want to bring about an impact in leadership development, follow the training with one on one coaching.
In my own experience of building NMIMS (Narsee Monjee), Hyderabad, I had the singular opportunity of applying these principles which helped into bringing NMIMS on the Hyderabad business school landscape.
