emerging as a thought leader
with ideas of his own that are unique
and hold plenty of potential to unlock
the benefit of businesses at large. This
would however get corrected as the
years go by, and the ability of these
new thinkers is actually tested and
proven in the markets. Cream always
has a tendency to rise to the top and
float. Thought leadership cream is no
different. Takes time. But happens.
New names on the list simply means
that these new thinkers are getting the
recognition they deserve on the list. It
by no ways demeans those nudged
down or out of the list totally. Neither
does it pass a value-judgement on the
merit of old thinkers and their ideas.
In reality, every thinker has his or her
own stature. And every management
thought works in a context. The
context is of time and the status of the
development of the world economy at
the time when this thinker reigned
with his/her ideas.
Who according to you is a
management guru? What specific
qualities and contributions set them
apart from the rest of management
fraternity? Where do you stand on
this?
A management guru is firstly a
thinker on his own merit. Someone
who has the uncanny ability to be a
reader of the economy at large, the
environmental context in which
managements operate, and ofcourse a
keen trend-spotter who has the ability
to look into a wee crystal ball of his
own and take the risk to make a
prognosis in a world that defies every
prognosis thrown at it.
In many ways a Management Guru is
a brave person. A person who has the
ability to stand up and paint for the
world a scenario that will pan out. A
person with the ability to define a set
of core ideas that will help
managements face this scenario
ahead. A management guru in many
ways is a scenario painter, and not
necessarily a forecaster who operates
on 2 x 2 matrices to arrive at a formula
to face the future.
A Management Guru is also not a
documenter. Instead, he/she is all
about the power of ideas to explore
and open up the future, instead of
documenting the past. A
Management Guru in my manner of
speaking is a dominant verb and not a
noun. Maybe 10% adjective and 90%
verb. Now, if you need to understand
this definition of mine, you need to
know your Grammar and Wren &
Martin right!
In terms of specific qualities, the
Management Guru is a thinker, a
dreamer, and a challenger of the status
quo. What sets them apart is their
ability to battle out the odds and
arrive at solutions for a bright
management today and tomorrow.
