A Book That Helped Nestle’s Suresh Narayanan Tide Over The Maggi Crisis

A book that helped Nestle India's Chairman & Managing Director deal with the Maggi crisis. A defining treatise that changed the way businesses perceived consumption opportunities for the poor. A management book on eight steps to achieve sustainable results in an organisation. A book on the “secret sauce” of longevity.

Suresh Narayanan discusses a Japanese book that helps him unwind, why Mahabharata and the Bhagvad Gita offer the best life lessons, and leadership values he learnt from CK Prahalad and Lee Kuan Yew. Here's a look at his reading list.

The Difficulty of Being Good, By Gurcharan Das

The Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita are inextricably related as offering some of the best and most succinct “life lessons” and dilemmas that were imparted by the Charioteer Lord Krishna to the warrior Arjuna as he set out to vanquish his brethren, the Kauravas. I have greatly admired the masterly interpretation of the characters of the Mahabharata by Gurcharan Das and moored them in modern day reality in terms of what they impart and teach us about life's journey.

When I went through the Maggi saga, its lessons were my constant companion, and I learnt as much from Krishna as I did from a Bhishma or Arjuna. 

Ikigai-The Japanese Secret To A Long And Happy Life, By Hector Garcia & Francesc Miralles

What a beautiful word Ikigai is, to be so simple and yet so profound as “life's purpose”. The Okinawans have their “secret sauce” of longevity as centenarians by embracing a life of active engagement, simple habits, healthy food and striving to be happy each day with what they have. They do what they love and teach us that happiness is a state of mind, devoid of material riches, and pure for those who seek it. As I lead a hectic life, it teaches me to seek a world beyond the drama of corporate agendas and endless meetings.

The Fortune At The Bottom Of The Pyramid, By CK Prahalad

In my view this is THE defining treatise that changed the way we look at “poverty”, being “poor” and the “consumption “opportunity that the less privileged had across the world. In a sense, it brought “respectability and attention” rather than “pity and sorrow” at the plight of the poor, because Professor Prahalad saw them as a consuming economic class that was defined by their own rules of engagement from product propositions to price points and route to markets. It shook up many marketing and commercial organisations over two decades ago to the “business opportunity in the bottom of the pyramid which spawned a new generation of “Popularly Priced & Positioned Products”.

Leading Change, By John Kotter

This book by this Harvard Business School professor is one of my favourite reads in matters of “leadership capacity” and “management of change”. A very clear and simple exposition on what constitutes “change” and the eight steps that a leader can do to manage, transition and guide the process to achieve sustainable results. I would recommend this book to young managers and leaders at start-ups as they set up teams, create a sense of urgency, forge a purpose, empower, communicate, consolidate, generate short-term wins and anchor key elements of culture for the future.

The Singapore Story, By Lee Kuan Yew

Having had the privilege of helming Nestlé Singapore for almost three years about a decade ago, I became an unabashed admirer of the “Singapore Model” of governance, growth and future seeking attitude of its leaders. The story of Singapore as told by its legendary founding Prime Minister, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew (also known in later years as MM Lee) is fascinating. “It tells you the story about how tough it was to manage races like Indians, Chinese and Malays who came together in a very poor and resource-starved “shrimp” of a land mass called Singapura to create a world-class city state that it is today, the envy of many for its governance, efficiency, wealth and global outreach.”

The power of leadership, vision, risk-taking, strong teamwork and tenacity grips you as it exemplifies the “success mantras” of great organisations of which Singapore is a fine example.