Corporate Chanakya on Leadership

by Radhakrishnan Pillai

Chanakya, the most powerful strategist of 4th Century BC, documented his ideas on leadership, in the Arthashastra. In the present book, the author simplifies these ageold formulae for success in today’s corporate world.Corporate Chanakya on Leadership applies Chanakya’s wisdom across a host of areas including power and the responsibilities of a leader, decision making, nurturing people, ethics in business, how to prepare for competition and all that a leader should avoid doing. Gain from this guide and discover the Chanakya in you…

176 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 19, 2012

Reviews

[Ajit Vadapalli · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author tried to connect Kautilya's Arthashastra with modern management scenarios. This is an interesting book that can be helpful for people who are starting their leadership positions immediately after college.

For experienced people working in corporations, some points sound theoretical & bland. Overall book is interesting as it tries to connect old theories and practices with modern management.

[Suresh Ramaswamy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and an unorthodox take, sums up my view of “CORPORATE CHANAKYA ON LEADERSHIP”. Yes, as the two other reviews in Goodreads – discussed later – the book did not give anything new, especially to the experienced manager. The same can be said of Stephen Covey whose runaway successful books “THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE” and “THE 8TH HABIT” are a rehash of the advice imparted in the early decades of 20th Century by authors like Napoleon Hill and Dale Carnegie, but whose advice never had terms like managers, executives, etc. but they were still books on management. And Peter Drucker, the father of modern management was the first to compile a book on the subject, but his concepts too were already dealt with in various treatises, but not as management skills.

What exactly does a manager do? Without jargon and hype – he has to conceptualise and set the goals for his organization / department, arrange for men, material and money and to guide and supervise the operations to achieve the goal.

Radhakrishnan & Pillai (the authors) states that many modern management treatises borrows and analyses strategies and ideas from the 5th Century BCE ancient Chinese treatise Sun Tzu’s “ART OF WAR”. This is perfectly acceptable to modern young managers since it is the Western Management experts and CEOs who have done this.

There is a 4th century BCE ancient Indian treatise on warfare “KAUTILYA’S ARTHASHASTRA”. This book is India’s contribution to the subject of warfare strategy. Of the 15 books in Arthashastra, six books are dedicated to the art of warfare. A deep study of these chapters will give us an insight into the factors that contribute to the making of a powerful organisation. Each modern management theory had already been explored thousands of years ago in the Arthashastra.

The authors use this treatise in authoring this book “CORPORATE CHANAKYA ON LEADERSHIP” but their efforts are to naught for the young Indian Managers – only BECAUSE THEY ARE INDIAN MANAGEMENT EXPERTS AND NOT WESTERN ONES. I quote from one of the reviews on Goodreads:

“Corporate Chanakya on Leadership is basically akin to school assignment done by an 8th standard student. Apparently, the student was asked to create 70 chapters of 2-3 pages with one verse in each chapter and its interpretation. The student was happy, he thought' "Aha! Now I just need to fill the pages. I'll copy some concepts from other management books written by Peter Drucker, Stephen Covey. So that they do not look copied I will quote that they have written it. All sorted, then I'll get full marks for copy-paste!". Throughout the assignment, he defined management terms such as 'leader', 'strategy', 'tactic' copied from Wikipedia to fill the space in the book. In one chapter he actually wrote the difference between strategy and tactic for half a page exactly as on the internet. His book ultimately turned out to be an assortment of 70 verses, management definitions, commonplace examples only unknown to people who have never read a newspaper in their entire lives.” I found this review juvenile and too shallow. It is apparent that the reviewer has not read C. Northcote Parkinson’s books “Parkinson’s Laws” and “Peter’s Principle”. Both these books are similar, in that each chapter is not longer than 2 / 3 pages and each chapter accompanied by a cartoon. I, for one, do not have the courage to criticise either the author or those books. Indian Management Guru Sharu Rangnaker too follows the same pattern for his books.

This juvenile reviewer further continues, “Chanakya was a cunning and machiavellian political figure who was a kingmaker. The means to reach that end were both unethical and ethical. Chanakya has poisoned kings to topple their kingdoms. However, the author seems to be oblivious to these facts and writes that Chanakya's teachings are to never use any unethical means to win from the enemy.”

It is apparent that this reviewer could not understand the nuances of the author’s approach. As one of Pillai’s mentors told him, "In India, we consider the scriptures to be mirrors. They reflect who you are. So if you do not understand Arthashastra, do not blame the mirror. As you grow and experience life, you will understand the book better."

That Chanakya was a learned political commentator, great statesman and expert in economics, politics and warfare is obviously not known to the reviewer. Chanakya was no Machiavelli or Borgia. He was neither a serial poisoner of kings nor did he topple kings serially. Yes, he did avenge himself on the Nanda brothers (who were more than one) by eliminating them and replacing them with his student Chandragupta Maurya. As to how this act is unethical and abhorrent is not understood by me.

Pillai has attempted to equate the CEO of a modern corporate to the king, the head office to the fort, the organization to the kingdom and the employees to the army to make Kautilya’s advice applicable to a modern corporate. This approach is not seen in other books till now and is unique.

At the cost of repetition, while no new inputs are there, leadership is explained in very simple words. A novice will learn a great deal at the end of this book. It focuses on leadership qualities, how to acquire those qualities, how to implement those qualities. It's a guide for anyone who is into management.

In its own way the book is informative. I enjoyed reading it.

[Yashika Sharma · Rating 1 out of 5]

Corporate Chanakya on Leadership is basically akin to school assignment done by an 8th standard student. Apparently, the student was asked to create 70 chapters of 2-3 pages with one verse in each chapter and its interpretation. The student was happy, he thought' "Aha! Now I just need to fill the pages. I'll copy some concepts from other management books written by Peter Drucker, Stephen Covey. So that they do not look copied I will quote that they have written it. All sorted, then I'll get full marks for copy-paste!" . Throughout the assignment, he defined management terms such as 'leader', 'strategy', 'tactic' copied from wikipedia to fill the space in the book. In one chapter he actually wrote the difference between strategy and tactic for half a page exactly as on the internet. His book ultimately turned out to be an assortment of 70 verses, management definitions, commonplace examples only unknown to people who have never read a newspaper in their entire lives.

Chanakya was a cunning and machiavellian political figure who was a kingmaker. The means to reach that end were both unethical and ethical. Chanakya has poisoned kings to topple their kingdoms. However, the author seems to be oblivious to these facts and writes that Chanakya's teachings are to never use any unethical means to win from the enemy. This book claimed to be on 'leadership' is more of a lecture on Value education, CSR and ethics. While it is perfectly alright for it to claim that all these are under the ambit of leadership, the teachings are not a reflection of Chanakya's.

[Subramaniyan · Rating 5 out of 5]

♦️Review♦️✍️

♠️ Book:- Corporate Chanakya in Leadership✍️

♠️ Author:- Radhakrishnan Pillai ❤️✍️

♠️ Pages :- 176 ✍️

🔴 The book from My favourite author✍️. The whole has been divided into {5 Sections}.✍️
♣️ Power
♣️ Quality of leader
♣️ Competition
♣️ People
♣️ To avoid

♦️ The author has given Great examples to explain the Concepts. I would like to give some Quotes which he has given.✍️

🦀 Only strenght will respect strength.✍️
🦀 Return of Investment Productivity as well a Profit in all areas are based on the quality of people.✍️

🌞The way he explains (ROI) that is Return of Investment is very Awesome.✍️
🌞To understand the concept of Chanakya (Arthasastra). we should read the book of Author. Radhakrishnan Pillai. ✍️ Especially this book add extra to our Leadership Skills.
🖋️Rating 10/10

[Guttu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leadership explained in very simple words. If you are novice, You'll learn a great deal at the end of this book. It focuses on leadership qualities, How to acquire those qualities, How to implement those qualities. It's a guide for anyone who is into management.
The problem with the book is the familiarity. Much of the thing in this book were already known to me. Hence, there is not much to someone who is experience. The author could have given some examples and explained the points with respect to real situations. I expected this from the book as the author has a great deal of experience in the field. I hope subsequent editions correct this problem.

[Vishal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very nice book on explaning leadership qualities each leader should have. Chanakya's concepts are explained in such manner that we can use it in today's corporate world. Really enjoyed reading and recommending to everybody who wanted to become a good leader.

[Srikanth P · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book for a aspiring leader. Take time and read this book, insights will help us. I did practice few principles myself, the results were amazing. Good luck.

[Gruia Novac · Rating 2 out of 5]

reads like the bible, incoherent and wellintended.
not a good leadership book. not even the quotes help it