Mentoring managers

There is a pressing need for qualified leaders in the many Indian businesses which are rapidly going global. But can leadership talent be developed as quickly as it is needed?

This book proposes that a leader development curriculum can accelerate the maturing of leadership talent at all levels of an organization. But the "curriculum" does not have to be pursued only in classrooms and through educational programs and training.

Work experience, not coursework, presents the foremost learning opportunity for managers aiming to become effective leaders.

The critical questions are: Which experiences matter? How can learning from these experiences be maximized?

This book will assist managers at all stages of their career to understand the fundamentals of how business leaders develop. Early and mid-life managers need a roadmap to steer their career towards the echelons of executive leadership. Senior managers need to know how to cultivate leadership talent among entry- and mid-level managers.

This content will speak to all managers at a time when many must navigate through the fiery potential of explosive business growth and the dampening impact of worldwide financial turmoil.

Developing Tomorrow's Leaders Today offers a complete template for effective leadership, including: The seven experiences vital for developing leadership ability; the 11 lessons in leadership essential for managerial effectiveness; more than 50 stories and 100 wise quotations from today's senior executives that portray how leadership acumen sharpens over time, and reflective exercises, self-assessments and guidelines for self-improvement.

The underlying research was conducted in cooperation with the Tata Management Training Center in Pune, India, and captures the experiences and leadership lessons learned by more than 100 senior Indian business leaders.

As such, it offers readers both a compass and a map for traversing the terrain of leadership development.

In these pages, early- and mid-career managers will find a roadmap for steering their careers towards the higher echelons of executive leadership.

Senior executives, at the top of their game, will find a systematic and proactive approach to cultivating the leadership talent that their organizations will require in the future.

Global executives operating in India will find out how leadership and management are practiced in India, a emerging market in Asia.

(China Daily 12/20/2010 page17)