Ravi Kathuria is president of Cohegic Corp., a management consulting and executive coaching firm that he founded in 2002. His objective is to make business leaders think about and implement ways to make their companies more coherent. That objective is what made Kathuria write his book, “The Coherent Company: The Struggle for the Next Level – A Business Parable.” The book follows a fictional senior sales executive, Trent Wertheimer, as he becomes CEO within a business intelligence company, Hintec. Trent quickly digs himself into a hole because he thinks he knows how to lead a company, but doesn’t. With the help of a mentor, Trent learns how to transform the company and himself by implementing the Cohegic method to give Hintec coherence and clarity. “The Coherent Company” is a look at leadership in practice as Trent implements the Cohegic method and tries to turn around the company in his new role as CEO.
What is the message of the book?
This book offers the road map for business transformation. Most business books focus on one aspect such as strategy, execution or work processes. Few business books tie them all together. This book connects mission, vision, philosophies, work processes, strategies, goals, roles and responsibilities, culture, execution and measurement.
What business problems are addressed in the book?
The primary reason that the book was written was because companies lack clarity and coherence. The issue that companies have is that they are not really crystallized in their business spirit. Their mission statements are not well-written and they have not crystallized very clearly their business model. When you look at a majority of mid-level companies, you’ll find that their mission statements and core philosophies are not crystal clear. Because they don’t have clarity around that, it creates a lot of confusion in the organization.
Companies get confused between mission and vision. They are confused about what vision should stand for. Companies have to connect their strategies, goals and visions together so that they drive clarity in the organization.
What makes the book different from other business books about leadership methods?
It’s the fact that the book is presented in the backdrop of a very intense and realistic story. It shows leadership in the real world, leadership in practice as opposed to leadership in theory. Leadership in theory is very easy to talk about. Nobody is challenging you. Leadership in practice is very difficult. Your ego, your self-awareness, your inhibitions, your preferences, your tendencies, your habits, all comes into play. Overcoming all of that is a huge challenge and as a leader you have to really perform at a much higher level and you have to help the organization succeed in spite of yourself.
What would a new leader or entrepreneur take away versus what an experienced leader would take away from the book?
I think a new leader and an entrepreneur must understand that the core of their business is the most important. They must seek to drive very clear thinking in their business model and define why they are creating that business and that company. They have to ask, ‘Do I have clarity about what I am doing and why I am doing it?’ If they don’t have that, success will be a little harder.
Experienced leaders need to understand that clarity cannot exist just in their mind. Clarity has to exist in everyone in the organization and they have to make sure that that clarity is consistent and coherent.
If a leader cannot connect all those strategic aspects, a company cannot perform. The questions that the book raises are not easy questions to answer. Those questions are difficult and take time to answer. If companies can go through and ask themselves these questions, it will make a powerful impact.
HOW TO REACH: Ravi Kathuria, 281-403-0250, or www.cohegic.com
