Book titled The Elephant at the Dinner Table focuses on how freshers can build a strong foundation

The Elephant at the Dinner Table by Amit Nagpal is a self-help non-fiction book based on professional growth and corporate culture. It primarily focuses on how freshers can set up a great foundation for their careers, and how working professionals can level up their professional lives as employers or employers. The best aspect of the book is that is it primarily data driven, in a qualitative manner. The author, Amit Nagpal interviewed over 300 people, researched and reviewed case studies analysing companies. While a lot of analysis was done based on his personal experience, there were also comparisons of the growth within other companies based on the leadership and senior management personnel.

The book begins by identifying a variety of issues and then focuses heavily on problem-solving. It starts with identifying the type of reader for whom this book is intended and how the book will assist them. The scientific approach to everything in the book, as well as all of the concepts, makes it far more plausible and useful in real life. The author has broken down the demographic into three distinct groups. The first part is team players, which he describes as “young leaders,” the second is visionaries, which he describes as “mid-level leaders,” and the third is role models, which she describes as “senior leaders.”

The author has divided them by saying that the team player is between the ages of 17 and 35 years, the visionary is between the ages of 25 and 44 years, and the role model is between the ages of 35 and 50 years for them. The book provides a chart with a table which compares the goals and desires, pains and frustrations, and learning aspirations between the three categories.

Amit Nagpal has dedicated an entire chapter just to emotional quotient when it comes to the workplace. This being an aspect that India is just seeming to catch up, sets the book apart. The book also discusses the concept of “emotional seepage,” which refers to outbursts that people may have at work or elsewhere, as well as how to control and avoid them.
What makes his book more relatable is that it discusses life and career paths as shades of grey than the black and white palette that often misleads people. It very practically addresses things like other people being victimised in the workplace, passive aggressiveness in an organisation, and self-management, as well as how to overcome all of these problems. 
Parts of the book go into detail about how working and leadership requirements have changed during the pandemic and will continue to alter even after the pandemic is over. This is the first nonfiction book I’ve read that deals with the subject. Another aspect that stands out is the emphasis placed on cultural intelligence and how it affects the interaction between a company, top management, and employees.

My personal favourite advice from the book is – treat your clients as partners.   

About the reviewer : 
The 5 Minute Library is a brand that aims to develop an inter-generational reading culture movement. It was founded by Ira Gopal and Piyushi Sharma, from Pune. ​Their services include a free podcast with book reviews and author interviews, voiceovers, column and guest article writing, podcast hosting, as well as brand collaborations.

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