Foreword

Reading this wonderful book by Rahul brought back early memories of my career. It was nearly 15 years ago that I became a manager, almost by accident. Back then I had always prided myself in my creativeness and technical ability. I had this wonderful opportunity working for an exciting startup in the Silicon Valley with three other code wizards. I discovered that while I may never be as good a programmer as they were, I had this innate ability to see the big picture and mobilize everyone to achieve results. After a large company acquired our startup and my leaders quit, my team expected me to lead the integration with the large company. I was elated and petrified at the same time about the important responsibility that I had in my hands early in my career. This became a turning point in my career. I was not only able to integrate the team but many of us were able to build successful careers over the next few years in the large company.

Whether you have always had a career plan to be a manager or if you have become an accidental one, I believe you can excel in being one. Understanding the key principles to being a successful manager and learning to apply them early in your career will make the difference between success and failure. Looking back, I have often wondered what a difference it would have made if I had known what I know now. This is where this book comes in.

In this book, Rahul Goyal has delved deep into his rich experiences as a manager in India and the US to write a guidebook with practical insights on the gamut of competencies that you need to be a highly successful front line manager. In an easy-to-read style he helps you handle the transition from individual contributor to a manager and guides you on all the competencies required for a manager including hiring and building great teams, planning and executing your work, motivating people, making great decisions, handling the inevitable attrition and building an inclusive place to work where diversity is celebrated.

He takes a contemporary approach emphasizing the challenges today's managers need to handle in a globalized and flat world where you need to excel at working across time zones, generations, cultures, and markets. I believe this book is unique in how it applies sound management theory to the practical situations you will run into as a manager and develops it into a set of simple how-to guidelines that we all can follow. I particularly love the way Rahul has applied candor to address the tough situations we all have faced everyday. He has masterfully interweaved examples and stories for each of the principles in order to bring them home to us. We often forget that managers are employees as well and they need to be successful in achieving their career goals. Rahul thoughtfully includes advice on how can a manager think about their own career and the steps they need to be successful

I feel this book will not only be indispensable for a newbie manager that wants to get it right early but also a great reference for seasoned managers who are constantly looking to up their game. In short, this book needs to be the one you keep next to you throughout your journey as a manager.

I have had the opportunity to work together with Rahul for many years and consider him a role model manager. In this book, he speaks from his own direct experiences progressing from a talented engineer to a successful manager and now to a leader-teacher that is grooming others. I wonder how much better a manager I could have been in my earlier years if I had this book to guide me.

In the end, Rahul's message is simple — It's all about the People. Being a successful manager requires many traits and competencies, but it begins with how you put people first while solving for all three stakeholders — People, Customers, and Business. Here in India, we are blessed with a wealth of talent. As we look forward, it is our responsibility as managers to teach how to leverage this wealth to build a great future for us all.

I am inspired by Rahul's contribution and I hope you all do as well.

Vijay Anand

Vice President

Intuit India