Success tips from world's top management guru

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He's the world's most influential living management guru and the first Indian-born to be so honoured.
Which is why, in these troubled economic times, when countries are slipping into recession, companies are going bankrupt, CEOs are taking pay cuts and pink slips are the norm, it makes sense to take Coimbatore Krishnan Prahalad's sage words of advice.
To know more, read on...
Image: World renowned management guru C K Prahalad. | Photograph: Paresh Gandhi

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Strategy is about stretching limited resources to fit ambitious aspirations.
Management is a lot of blocking and tackling.
Many companies don't understand yet that outsourcing isn't about exporting jobs. It's about importing innovation.
You have to have faith. You cannot lead if you don't believe.
The technology eliminated the tyranny of the few over the many.
Image: US astronaut Sunita Williams shares her experiences with Indian students, scientists and journalists during a video conference in Kolkata July 20, 2007. |
Photograph: Parth Sanyal/ Reuters

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Invest time in languages and intercultural awareness. Focus on becoming part of the global citizenry. In exchange for the opportunity to participate everywhere/ anywhere in the world, you have the obligation to do something productive which will improve the world. Develop a personal mission, a desire to leave personal legacy.
You cannot solve the world's problems in a small company. The goal is not to say that we are going to do it anyway, with or without money. It's a nice, brave thing to say, but very soon you'll be running out of cash.
The negative side of a small company is that there are no dampers. Just because you can make a change quickly, the temptation is to act. Speed is nice to have, but going faster to hell is not how I want to run a company. I want somebody to keep pushing the organisation. I also want somebody to say, 'Let's be thoughtful about getting this done right.'
It is the bamboo that bends in heavy winds that has another day to live. The trees that don't bend get uprooted.
If you do precisely what you're supposed to do, and you're boxed in, then you're going to do that very well. But if pressed to do things that aren't in your normal job description, the challenge can push you to a new level of achievement. Image: Infosys makes it a point to hire global interns. Photograph: Rediff Archives

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If you want new ideas, you have to push yourself into the periphery.
How many senior executives discuss the crucial distinction between competitive strategy at the level of a business and competitive strategy at the level of an entire company?
Especially in troubled times, leaders must behave like emotional and intellectual anchors. You must steady the organisation and have a passionate belief that what you are doing is important.
Leadership is about what you do when the going gets tough� The critical issue is about faith, passion, and, most importantly, authenticity -- so that people know you are not pretending. People can see a sham."
I spend a lot of time talking about what we're doing in terms of strategy. You have to give the same message over and over again. Image: Ratan Tata with his associates. | Photograph: Rediff Archives

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Consumption can and does increase income. Consider health care. If you are legally blind with cataract, you can't work and neither can the family member who cares for you. But if you get access to inexpensive cataract surgery, now you can see and both of you can work. Have you consumed eye surgery or increased the family's earning power? You've done both. It's two sides to the same coin.
In an organisation, one unique person makes a difference, but you need teamwork to make it happen.
In a company like ours, if we want to do something, we can just call a meeting. But in a small company, you have to exercise caution and build your own personal dampers so that you don't act on everything. Sometimes not acting may be smart. But if I get the feeling that everybody's becoming so thoughtful that nobody's doing anything, I want to go and light some fires somewhere.
If you are a good manager, you always worry about your competitors. To take the competitors for granted is a mindset of a closed economy. Nobody in the open market takes anybody lightly.
Leaders do not allow themselves to be weighed down by the difficulties of the present but are focused on the possibilities of the future. Instinct, passion, courage and confidence are the precious ingredients of managing differently. A vision of the future is critical to motivate people to become innovative. Image: Consumption helps increase income. | Photograph: Jewella C Miranda