The Professional Companion: How to Make the Best of Your Workplace Skills

by Subroto Bagchi

In The Professional , one of the biggest-selling business books ever to come out of India, Subroto Bagchi asked the key What does it mean to be a professional? In this workbook that is meant as a companion volume to The Professional , Bagchi takes you through simple exercises that allow you to evaluate how professional your approach is in a given situation, and help you develop a wider skill set and a more committed outlook. Full of real-life challenges and insightful information, The Professional Companion is your very own personalized guide to excelling in today's world.

240 pages, Paperback

First published September 24, 2003

About the author

Subroto Bagchi is best known for co-founding MindTree in 1999 where he started as the Chief Operating Officer. MindTree is among India’s most admired companies across industries. In 2008, Bagchi took on the role of Gardener at MindTree.

In this new role, Bagchi spends one-on-one time with the Top-100 leaders at MindTree on their ‘personal-professional’ issues to expand leadership capacity and build readiness for taking MindTree into the billion-dollar league. In addition, Bagchi works at the grassroots by making himself available to its 45 Communities of Practice that foster organizational learning, innovation and volunteerism within the organization.

Bagchi has written extensively in leading newspapers and magazines, and spoken at industry platforms and educational institutions the world over. His Businessworld column - Arbor Mentis - and Times of India column - Times of Mind - were widely read and discussed. Many of these are archived at www.mindtree.com/subrotobagchi.

His first book, The High Performance Entrepreneur was released in 2006 as a Penguin Portfolio publication to great critical acclaim. His second book, Go Kiss the World was released in 2008 as a Penguin Portfolio. Mark Tully hailed it as “a remarkable story of courage, integrity and enterprise”.

Reviews

[Ashok Krishna]

I had already read the much acclaimed work of Mr. Bagchi 'Go Kiss the World' before I picked up his book 'The Professional'. At a time when I was aspiring to rise up the corporate ladder, I found that book to be an useful guide, a silent mentor that helped me define and polish my professional behavior.

The book listed down various essential personal qualities that a professional ought to have, like ethics, integrity, self-awareness etc., along with the tools to help one perform one's day to day role to perfection. With many of those timeless concepts explained with easy to understand case studies, that book left a lasting impression on me, so much so that whenever I got a chance to gift my colleagues something, I presented them with that book.

Soon Mr. Bagchi followed up on his wonderful work with a 'companion', a workbook of sorts that elaborated on the principles contained within its predecessor. Each of the 25 chapters are chances to reflect on your own personal / professional mettle, assess your present and professional progress. If used in an honest, sincere manner, this 'workbook ' can be a really worthy tool to improve one's professional standing and personal growth.

It is not necessary that this 'companion' should be read only after 'The Professional', but understanding the core principles upon which this book is structured will make it all the more worthwhile. A worthy tool for any aspiring professional and also for those who have already 'arrived'. 4 stars!

[Sai Kumar]

It was my First book which i read at the age of 21 and it was really good .The book consists of 60 Chapters and each one taught me the way Professional thinks, the way the Professional behaves,the Professional accepts his responsibilities and lot more.

[Tasnim Faruqui]

A to do Journal, a must for all professionals.