For a better version of yourself

CHENNAI: Listening to Chandramouli Venkatesan is an exercise in self-motivation. Leadership skills, tools of career management, work-life balance are some of the topics he loves writing and talking about. The corporate veteran has 28-years of experience across different sectors in the Indian industry. He is currently the CEO of Pidilite Industries Limited. Prior to that, he was the MD of Cadbury from 2005 to 2016 where he enjoyed a variety of roles spanning marketing, HR and business leadership in India. 

Mumbai-based Chandramouli’s first book Catalyst which was published in February 2018 is a bestseller. It won the Crossword Award for the best book under Business & Management, and the Amazon award for the most popular book in non-fiction for 2018. The first book focused on the little influence work had on life when compared to what life had on work, and other areas of skills and management in an organisation. His second book Get Better at Getting better, published in January 2019, revolves around a similar philosophy.

The topics of these books are focussed to help people make the best use of their potential and thereby discover the secret of success. Mouli has done numerous speech assignments over the last three years on this and other topics. The 51-year-old had a three-year cross-functional stint as an HR professional during his tenure at Cadbury. 

His observation of employees and experiences snowballed into his latest work. “Like how marketing taught me brand value and innovation, human resources taught me to help employees become successful. The first assumption is the belief that if someone works hard then he or she will definitely become successful. The most important trait of successful people is their ability to continuously improve themselves, re-value their model of work and change for the better. This is the primary idea behind my ‘Get Better Model’. A model helps to develop a better strategy,” says Chandramouli, who holds a degree in MBA from XLRI. 

The second important factor for success in his book is age — getting better also depends on the phase of life. Quoting an example, he says, “I am a Tamilian. I was born in Tamil Nadu and moved to Ahmedabad when I was eight years old. Learning Gujarati came with ease. But now if you send me to Russia and ask me to learn the language, then it will be challenging.” His book talks about two strategies — prioritising success and deliberating success. Alongside, techniques for accomplishing success — success with yourself, success by leveraging others and success by making others better — are listed to make the process easier.

“I also have a video channel where I share videos on various content and it definitely makes an impact on the younger audience. However, the book gives you an opportunity to reflect because it is in your control. The future of self-help books is promising since more youngsters are career-driven with a positive and growth-oriented mindset,” he says. 

(The book will be launched on February 22 at 6 pm at Odyssey. The book is available on Amazon at `180.)