Mainak Dhar’s latest book helps one build a professional winning edge

In the early days of lockdown, when Mainak Dhar heard of people losing their jobs and facing career uncertainty, he thought he could help out with his experience in the corporate sector. The 46-year-old author who is CEO for India & South Asia at Kimberly-Clark put out an offer on LinkedIn.

“Within a couple of weeks, more than two dozen people had reached out and I began chatting with them, helping with résumés and preparing for interviews,” Mainak says, adding, “I found myself repeating common themes — the importance of doing something because it is a good fit with who you are versus chasing someone else’s definition of success; self-actualisation versus depending on degrees and designations; and how to be more intentional and show up at key ‘moments of truth’. I wondered if it would not be more helpful if I could put these thoughts together in the form of a book and that is how Brand New Start (Bloomsbury, ₹399) was born.”