The cover theme of the Jan-Feb issue is ‘Listening, a much-overlooked skill’. Experts— Ike Lasater, a mediator, trainer, and speaker; Jon Wortmann, author of Mastering Communication at Work; Stephen Kozicki, Gordian Business; Stefano Pelle, Ferrero India; Dr Mark Goulston, author of Just Listen; Muniinder K Anand, Center for Creative Leadership; Dr Bob Nelson, Nelson Motivation, Inc.—share their views on various aspects of this subject.
Dr Ranjan Banerjee, SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, talks about the distinctive qualities of Indian-origin managers and a confluence of factors that make them efficient to cope with management challenges. Lalit Makhijani, Godrej Properties Limited, explores poor relationships of employees and managers, and suggests a practical solution. Raymond Houser, author of The Winning Advantage, talks about reaching goals and overcoming rejections.
Being our 17th-anniversary issue, we featured a one-time section titled ‘What’s in store?’ that included five trends—project management, ecommerce, leadership, data management, artificial intelligence, and augmented humanity.
In our regular sections, we have Leo Bottary, author of What Anyone Can Do, who debunks myths that come in the way of achieving our goals. In gurumantra, Morgen Witzel, University of Exeter Business School, tells us how listening and empathy go hand-in-hand. In our newest section, health and wellness, Dr A B Govindaraj, orthopedic and joint replacement surgeon, implores the need to take a break from work to rejuvenate.
The Smart Manager, India's first world-class management magazine, was founded in 2002 by eminent business historian Dr Gita Piramal with Harvard Business School Dean, Prof. Nitin Nohria with the mission of updating managers and business practitioners in India with the latest thought-provoking strategic ideas from experienced, world-class managers, academics and consultants from across the globe. Over the years, the magazine has carried articles authored by illustrious management gurus such as the late CK Prahalad and Sumantra Ghoshal, Jack Trout, Ram Charan, Gary Hamel, Gay Haskins, Jagdish Seth and Lynda Gratton. We believe that "managers are the best teachers of managers" and most of our articles are written in the first person by top-tier CEOs such as Kumaramangalam Birla, Sunil Mittal, Aditya Birla, KV Kamath, Santrupt Mitra, Rajeev Dubey and S Ramadorai. We also have relationships with a number of B-schools around the world, apart from most top-level schools in India. The Smart Manager hosts the Tata Consultancy Services Smart Manager Case Contest, the most prestigious competition of its kind in the Indian print media. The contest, with a cash prize of INR50,000 per issue, sees wide participation from national and international business managers and students. The 'Smart" in The Smart Manager is an acronym for Strategy, Marketing, Analysis, Resources and Technology. Truly useful knowledge when you need it 24 x 365, year after year.
