Prasad Kaipa: "From Smart to Wise: Acting and Leading with Wisdom" | Authors at Google

Leaders tend to obstinately stick to the leadership style that brought them most success in the past, usually one of two extreme styles: functional leadership that focuses on operational excellence or smart leadership that focuses on growth. When a leader's focus is too functional, the organization becomes introverted and can focus too much on bottom-line profitability while missing out on top-line growth opportunities. But when leaders focus too much on smart leadership, the organization may experience quick growth but lose its effectiveness quickly.

From Smart to Wise offers a new approach that balances the two styles to achieve a form of wise leadership that is both functional and smart. Drawing on inspiring real-life stories of historical and contemporary wise leaders such as Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and even Mahatma Gandhi, the authors identify six characteristics of wise leaders and offer a practical framework to help readers develop their own style of wise leadership.

About the Author: Dr. Prasad Kaipa is an Executive Coach, Mentor, Author and founder and executive director of the Centre for Leadership, Innovation and Change at the Indian School of Business. He also has been a part-time visiting faculty at Saybrook Graduate School. Since 1990, Dr. Kaipa has advised CEOs and coached Executive Teams in the areas of Innovation, Business Transformation, Decision Making, Strategic Thinking and Personal Mastery.

Dr. Kaipa received a B.S. in physics, chemistry and mathematics—Sri Venkateswara University, Anantapur, India. He later earned an M.S. in physics—Sri Venkateswara University, Anantapur, India. He also earned a Ph.D. in solid state physics—Indian Institute of Technology.

Dr. Kaipa is the founder and executive Director of the Center for Leadership, Innovation and Change at the Indian School of Business. He also has been served as the Center for Creative Leadership's new H. Smith Richardson Visiting Fellow. During 1983-1987, Dr. Kaipa was the assistant professor in the TL Laboratory of The Radiobiology Division, Pharmocology department in the school of Medicine of University of Utah.