Before my birth, The Beatles rocked the world to new music that blended classic music and traditional pop in innovative ways. They grew into a worldwide phenomenon, alongside the growth of vinyl records, live tours, color televisions, and the young population. Besides the music style, the lyrics held deep meaning that inspired millions of people worldwide.
Figuratively, when I was in my diaper days, one young engineer graduated from my now alma mater, the College of Engineering – Guindy (CEG). This person grew up with the Beatles music, remembered and cherished it for decades to come. She completed a PhD from Carnegie Mellon University, worked in big and small enterprises, found companies, mentored hundreds of young professionals, guided women engineers, and accomplished many more feats over the next five decades (1970s-2020s). She even got the recognition as a distinguished alumnus of CEG. She is Dr. Shantha Mohan.
In 2022, Dr. Shantha Mohan published a new book combining two of her passions: leadership and the Beatles music. This book Leadership Lessons with the Beatles (#LLWB) is simple and effective in presenting personal stories on leadership woven with the music lyrics from the Beatles. There are several examples assembled to build a framework for emerging and established leaders to grasp the nuances in leadership.
Each chapter starts with a lyric and shares stories around the same. liked the actionable tips and practice points at the end of each chapter. Each chapter also had a list of questions to ask ourselves. She distilled her personal experiences and blended it with scientific and practical studies in related areas to present coherent and compelling inputs. True to her research background, there are several reference articles and book references provided per chapter. Earlier on Oct 26th, I had tweeted about my learning midway through the book.
Some Lessons
Let me repeat and add to the observations here.
- In leading with hearts, she quotes the valuable inputs from @MarkCCrowley – applicable for everyone.
- There is strong encouragement to think for oneself.
- Leadership may be a long winding road. almost like a #marathontraining. It is important to craft a plan, stick with it, learn, and adopt along the way.
- Humility is critical to build self and team strength. Practice #gratitude, listen, learn, and share acclaim.
- Being vulnerable is good; inviting others to improve our lives. Her book encourages and supports us to be vulnerable. Hard, but useful.
- Waking up and working with #optimism is applicable to handle trying situations. Resiliency, Flexibility, and Optimism are pillars of successfully navigating many challenges.
- Sometimes it is the gut feeling that we need; intuition forms after 100s, if not 1000s, of repeat experiences. (Something I have read from Malcom Gladwell’s well researched books.)
- As a leader, one has to ensure that some basics are included: being available, listening, and sharing
- She built on the theme of eastern philosophy used by the Beatles in “The Inner Light” to bring attention to People and Process aspects of building lifelong learning. We @RapL believe in continuous learning and made it our business purpose to help companies do so.
- I love the chapter on When I’m Sixty-Four. It brings a new perspective on balance in work, family, life taken over a full life.
Thanks!
The book is deep, resourceful, and invigorating. I am proud that she is an alumnus of my undergraduate institution. I met her in person and have worked with her on many occasions. She practices what she preaches. She is very approachable and helpful. She actively learns, shares, guides, and helps others professionally. She gives her time copiously, and in return she continues to grow herself too. Her book is a worthwhile addition to the leadership library. It also encouraged me to appreciate the lyrics from The Beatles. I am glad to have discovered her book now. Thank you, Dr. Shantha Mohan (twitter, linkedin, website).
This article is also cross posted to https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/from-book-leadership-lessons-beatles-murali-krishnan
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