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Drive To Thrive: What It Takes To Become An Inspirational Manager By Bringing The Best Out Of Others Kindle Edition

by Sharad Bajaj (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 101 ratings
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Many people are managers or aspire to manage at work – whether you are managing an entire workforce or trying to convince people to support an idea. I want you to ask yourself, do you feel like you are at your best and most natural when you lead others? In Drive to Thrive book, I have explained various team management, team building, and culture building concepts through my own 20 years of experience at Microsoft and Amazon.

Drive to Thrive is a book that will help you bring greater depth, understanding, and clarity to your leadership and management style. Every chapter will propel you towards making operational and managerial excellence a habit to thrive as a manager and build a high performing team. After reading the book, you will be able to effectively manage your team by building the right team culture and putting the right processes in place. This book will explain to you the key team management, team building, and self growth concepts with practical examples.

This beautifully written and powerful book captures my conviction that being a manager or a leader requires conscious effort to serve the team and customers. Becoming a manager is a choice that an individual makes in their life to bring the best out of others, serve their team and customers.

My journey to becoming a manager always stemmed from a desire to help others achieve their goals and make a broader impact on the organization. I challenged myself to be a better leader, manager, and human being, and this conviction has helped me to oversee and lead both small and large teams.

Preface

There are countless books on business, leadership, and management styles, from forgettable to timeless books.
I will tell you what this book is not; this book is not just any other management or leadership style manual that regurgitates old information and compiles it in many pages. Drive to Thrive offers practical techniques that will help navigate, elevate, and enable you to take control of your personal and professional life. It also provides practical ways to manage your team effectively and keep them productive and motivated, especially in this era of remote work.

Suppose you've purchased the Drive to Thrive. In that case, you're an aspiring manager, or you've been frustrated in the past just like me, and you are searching for new ways to become a better manager, both personally and professionally.
You may be an intern, a seasoned professional, an executive, an entrepreneur, or someone who desires growth in their personal and professional lives while working remotely. In that case, you are holding the right book.

I sincerely hope that each page in this book gives you a different perspective on managing your work, team, and life. I will share ideas, tips, and experiences that are not emphasized in schools or colleges.
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  1. Print length
    216 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    December 28, 2020
  5. File size
    729 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08R29FG79
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 28, 2020
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 729 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 216 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ B08RSW652G
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 101 ratings

About the author

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Sharad Bajaj

Sharad Bajaj

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Sharad Bajaj is the Head of Engineering at Amazon (AWS) and a former Microsoft Group Engineering Manager. He is a strategic and visionary leader with over 20 years of experience as a technologist leading global engineering teams. He is recognized for innovation, hiring and developing talent, building large scale enterprises and consumer products and services. Furthermore, he is committed to helping new and seasoned managers to develop innovative ways to lead and manage their team while being the best version of themselves.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
101 global ratings
Authentic, grounded in reality, and pragmatic
5 Stars
Authentic, grounded in reality, and pragmatic
Having learned from working with the author for nearly a decade, I found this book to be very authentic and grounded in reality! It has the same pragmatic management style and philosophies that I have personally seen in action. There are true gems of life philosophies in this book that the author has preached and practiced which has developed the careers of his teammates along with his own! This book holds true to author's own management style where he focuses on teamwork, moving far as a group, using whitespace to connect the dots, fostering a strong team culture, ensuring diversity & inclusion, and psychological safety. Instead of beating around the bush the author takes controversial subjects such as work-life balance by the horns and delivers a strong message with a good reasoning. There are very sound pieces of advice such as no map being present and just starting instead of procrastinating which are valuable for any new manager. Most of the content is backed by solid real life examples which lets the reader understand the journey and the reason for the advice. Additionally, the author has provided ways to tackle the challenges of remote work and virtual meetings for the coronavirus pandemic era. This provides fresh perspective to handle many real life situations. Bravo!
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Top reviews from the United States

Tanu
5.0 out of 5 stars A journey worth exploring, not only to become a manager, mentor or leader, but be a passionate and nice person!
Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2021
Verified Purchase
There are many best practices of bringing *awesome* feeling in yourself and the people around you, no matter what and this book does summarize those in a very interesting way! I can't say enough how much is their to know, but it is amazing to read and feel good about the experiences of the author, who happens to be a good friend and every word written is felt in his personality and today I came to know about the whole picture of beautiful mindset behind every interaction, every little opportunity of spending time with Sharad. And realization that its not just words for preaching since I experienced most of what is written in person first hand. I liked many things but there are few things which are stuck like instead of "I don't know what to do." having an attitude of "How about we try this?" And starting the day with laughter and bring every single person in your team to a lighter note and start with happy mindset forgetting their personal issues for a while. And.. White space, that's so true and it is equally important in your everyday life as it is important in visual design to clear the clutter and keeping things apart, straight, not mix and still stay creative! For sure recommend for a very good reading!!
2 people found this helpful
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supersid
5.0 out of 5 stars Authentic, grounded in reality, and pragmatic
Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2021
Verified Purchase
Having learned from working with the author for nearly a decade, I found this book to be very authentic and grounded in reality! It has the same pragmatic management style and philosophies that I have personally seen in action. There are true gems of life philosophies in this book that the author has preached and practiced which has developed the careers of his teammates along with his own! This book holds true to author's own management style where he focuses on teamwork, moving far as a group, using whitespace to connect the dots, fostering a strong team culture, ensuring diversity & inclusion, and psychological safety. Instead of beating around the bush the author takes controversial subjects such as work-life balance by the horns and delivers a strong message with a good reasoning. There are very sound pieces of advice such as no map being present and just starting instead of procrastinating which are valuable for any new manager. Most of the content is backed by solid real life examples which lets the reader understand the journey and the reason for the advice. Additionally, the author has provided ways to tackle the challenges of remote work and virtual meetings for the coronavirus pandemic era. This provides fresh perspective to handle many real life situations. Bravo!
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supersid
5.0 out of 5 stars Authentic, grounded in reality, and pragmatic
Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2021
Having learned from working with the author for nearly a decade, I found this book to be very authentic and grounded in reality! It has the same pragmatic management style and philosophies that I have personally seen in action. There are true gems of life philosophies in this book that the author has preached and practiced which has developed the careers of his teammates along with his own! This book holds true to author's own management style where he focuses on teamwork, moving far as a group, using whitespace to connect the dots, fostering a strong team culture, ensuring diversity & inclusion, and psychological safety. Instead of beating around the bush the author takes controversial subjects such as work-life balance by the horns and delivers a strong message with a good reasoning. There are very sound pieces of advice such as no map being present and just starting instead of procrastinating which are valuable for any new manager. Most of the content is backed by solid real life examples which lets the reader understand the journey and the reason for the advice. Additionally, the author has provided ways to tackle the challenges of remote work and virtual meetings for the coronavirus pandemic era. This provides fresh perspective to handle many real life situations. Bravo!
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Hemant
5.0 out of 5 stars Great leadership resource - well researched, interesting and thought-provoking.
Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2020
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 Unlike most other books on leadership this one strikes a good balance between wisdom from great leaders and practical advice from author's own experience leading large and diverse global teams. This book is very relevant for not just aspiring, new and seasoned managers but also everyone working in any kind of team setting. Does not great leadership qualities helps everyone irrespective of their title ? Sharad has done excellent job in explaining importance of having a humane and unbiased view of the team, product and your own self. Great tips on effective communications, goal sharing, gather and process feedback with growth mindset. All those qualities which differentiates good managers from great ones. Being a huge fan of quotations myself, I find the delivery not just fun to read but also it forces reader to ponder - building a long lasting impression.

Chapter summary and reflections also makes it a great reference book. Consciously enforcing new learnings would help readers identify blind spots and take new learnings in practice. It came just in time during year end holidays and is a very refreshing read as I take little break from routine.
One person found this helpful
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Mukesh
5.0 out of 5 stars Very practical and inspirational for the leaders of tomorrow
Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2021
Verified Purchase
A guide for everyone who inspires to be a leader regardless of the work they do, this book will serve as a step by step manual for them.

Sharad has written the book in a way that it felt like a Memoir of his journey of becoming a successful leader.

They say a leader leads by example and it felt like he has pushed his own limits while jotting down his thoughts in this book.

Anyone who is a new manager or looking to improve their people skills, their managerial skills and want to learn how to keep their team motivated to do their best work while not micromanaging them should definitely get this book. a
2 people found this helpful
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SK
5.0 out of 5 stars Leaders must inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more.
Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2020
Verified Purchase
This is an excellent book! Very simple language used. If you are looking for some good, theoretical as well as real-time practical advice on how to be a better manager, this book is a good place to start with. This book clearly stated by many many use-cases that ideas are not what matters It is the execution; how to put these ideas into action.
Book provides amazing tips on how you can be a better manager, always stop, think, and listen more before talking.

In my entire career (12 years) I have dealt with many leaders/managers/mentors. I can clearly relate and say I had 2 best managers(Walt and Ria) and but many many titled managers.
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Anonymous
5.0 out of 5 stars Practical and actionable guide for becoming an inspiring leader.
Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2021
Verified Purchase
A really insightful and thought provoking book on a topic about which many books have been written. Sharad has approached the topic in a practical and relatable way - often pulling a leaf out of his own life growing up and later managing small and large teams at large tech organizations. The book is organized really well into chapters that compel you to stop and ponder about what kind of leader you aspire to be along with handy tips and actionable advice.

A must read manual of sorts for all current and aspiring leaders.
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Anurag@AWS
5.0 out of 5 stars Truly Inspiring with real life examples
Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2021
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The book is full of real life examples on how to build powerful teams . I am sure it will bring a welcome change in your perspective on how you conduct your day to day job as a manager. Some of the insights on White space, work life balance are truly inspiring. A must read if you are passionate about supporting people or are considering that path.
2 people found this helpful
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Siddhartha Arora
5.0 out of 5 stars An easy but essential read for new and experienced managers alike!
Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2021
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A really good read!
I read it cover to cover in one sitting since it an easy, read full of quotes, stories and advice that makes total sense and easy to follow. I would highly recommend this book to aspiring, new and experienced managers alike. I am sure to use some of the strategies from this book at work as well as in my personal life.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A great self help book for Thriving Managers!
Reviewed in India on January 10, 2021
Verified Purchase
“Don't let perfectionism become an excuse for never getting started.”

Drive to Thrive is a not just another management book but let's you see through varied situations. As you read the book you grow and understand the importance of leadership and how is it different from being bossy.

Every chapter will lead you to rediscover the manager in yourself and propel you to including habits that shall turn you into a thriving manager.

The self help book describes all the great personality traits that shall help you manage both your personal and professional life.

The simple language makes it easy to grasp concepts . Making notes while reading is recommended. The art of interacting with people and working in teams is well explained.

The book is a must read for all those who aspire to lead and thrive in their lives.
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R
4.0 out of 5 stars A good book
Reviewed in India on January 5, 2021
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Book :- Drive To Thrive

Author :- Sharad Bajaj
.
Who is a manager? A person responsible for controlling or administering an organization or group of staff. This book states all the good qualities a competent manager should have. To be responsible, strategic, clear, confident, knows how to command and communicate etc.
.
'What it takes to become an inspirational manager by bringing the best out of others'.
.
I really appreciated how the author has used a lot of quotes by successful managers or entrepreneurs that are quoted in the pages too. I found the book very interesting. Its uniquely appropriate and meaningful pictures are also provided when a chapter ends.

This book helps us recognise the skills that are needed in the world of management and business. It might be a difficult task to navigate by oneself but this book has made it easier for us so make sure you pick it up.

The quotes and examples that are being used in this book is such a good way to motivate, encourage and push the readers forward in their lives.
This book that guides is a must read and it is very much beneficial for personality development.
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Jyotsna Sharma
5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring and motivating
Reviewed in India on January 4, 2021
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DRIVE TO THRIVE by Sharad Bajaj (head of Engineering at Amazon) is a powerpack inspirational writeup which is backed by real life experience of how you can manage things, be the leader, sustain the position and inspire to lead.
If you are in the world of business and want to achieve milestones in a short period of time, then I think that you should read the book and gain from his experience.
He was covered all the aspects by giving an insight into how to be the best manger, face hurdles, balance work life, imbibe value and habits and just get started.
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Jyotsna Sharma
5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring and motivating
Reviewed in India on January 4, 2021
DRIVE TO THRIVE by Sharad Bajaj (head of Engineering at Amazon) is a powerpack inspirational writeup which is backed by real life experience of how you can manage things, be the leader, sustain the position and inspire to lead.
If you are in the world of business and want to achieve milestones in a short period of time, then I think that you should read the book and gain from his experience.
He was covered all the aspects by giving an insight into how to be the best manger, face hurdles, balance work life, imbibe value and habits and just get started.
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Rose
3.0 out of 5 stars Perfect choice for managers
Reviewed in India on December 31, 2020
Verified Purchase
When management is a vitality for survival, Mr. Sharad Bajaj, a well experienced technologist with experience over 20 years, penned down his thoughts on 'What it takes to become an inspirational manager by bringing the best out of others'.

Drive to Thrive is a book aimed at improving the management skills of individuals who are ambitious of becoming a great manager as well as helping the managers who wish to upgrade their management skills.

"A manager is a guide. They take a group of people & say, 'with you, I can make us a success ; I can show you the way." The definition of Who is a manager, being answered by Arsene Wenger is quoted by the author in the introductory pages. A lot of quotes by successful managers or entrepreneurs are quoted in the preceeding pages also.

After each chapter, summary is provided which will be helpful for revision in future for everyone who takes this book seriously. There is a reflection page after summary where one can self analyse their areas of betterment. I found this interesting. Apt and meaningful pictures are also provided when a chapter ends.

After reading this book, what I understood as qualities of a good manager are :
🔸The best manager has a vision and learns to communicate with clarity.
🔸The best manager effectively holds the team together.
🔸The best manager builds a bridge between the employees and the company's strategic needs.
🔸The best manager should be autonomous and responsible.
🔸The best manager knows when and how to be in command.
🔸The best manager takes the right decision at right time.
🔸The best manager shows managerial courage.
🔸The best manager shows leadership and inspires others.
🔸The best manager thinks clearly and brings clearly.
🔸The best manager collaborates.
🔸The best manager shows empathy, will be humble .

Pinpoint narration with systematically crafted paragraphs and pondering points, this book is a perfect solution for all people who wishes to become a great manager one day.
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Sejal yadav
4.0 out of 5 stars Business/ Management
Reviewed in India on January 10, 2021
Verified Purchase
Drive to thrive is a book that will help you to understand deeply about leadership and management.
There are many books based on business, leadership and management tactics. but this is a step by step guide of each important thing in a manager's life through author's personal experience.
It also talks about personal and professional life balance.
The author has done an amazing job.
The language is lucid and the concepts are well explained.
What i personally liked is that there is a reflection page after the chapter's summary written in easy language. It also has many quotes and illustrations and management diagrams to explain the concepts.
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