62 Business The Economist February 19th 2022
tighter rules in nextdoor India, another
potentially vast market where some par
ents accuse edtech firms of misleading
ads and aggressive sales tactics. Last
month India’s education minister said the
government was considering new regula
tion, though he gave no details. Since then
at least 15 Indian edtech companies, in
cluding Byju’s, have created a group pro
mising to scribble new codes of conduct.
Western edtech firms are unlikely to
face similar strictures. But they have their
own challenges. In November Chegg, an
American company that gives online helpto undergraduates, warned that lower
thanusual enrolment in American univer
sities was affecting its revenue. Its market
capitalisation, which soared to around
$14bn in early 2021, is back down to $4bn,
lower than it was before the pandemic.
Shares in edtech companies that listed in
America last year are mostly trading below
offer price. Several, including Coursera
and Duolingo, have yet to turn a profit.
Not straight As, then. But the industry’s
boosters think it has room to improve. An
influx of users and money in the pandemic
has given more firms the muscle to expandabroad and to find ways of retaining users
for longer, reckons Deborah Quazzo of gsv,
a big educational investor. Take Byju’s. It
has spent at least $2.8bn on a dozen acqui
sitions in an apparent attempt to string to
gether services that will allow it to reach
learners of all ages, from toddlers to ca
reerchangers. The deals are also helping it
reach customers far beyond India. In 2021
it began offering online classes in coding
and maths to children in America, Brazil,
Britain, Indonesia and elsewhere. A big
listing might teach edtechsceptics and
Western rivals alike a lesson.nT
he sheeramount of guff written
about leadership, management and
careers is staggering. Publishers spew
out new business titles, some good, most
not. Research papers proliferate, explor
ing everything from the impact of co
vid19 on leadership in dental practices
in England to the prevalence of psycho
pathy among sustainability managers.
Blogs, newsletters, podcasts, social
media posts and columns (oh my God,
the columns) add to the torrent of advice.
It is hard for any wouldbe business guru
to stand out in this ocean of effluent.
That leaves a striking gap in the market—
for a book on how to write a bestseller
about leadership.
A publication of this sort could start
by noting that the most useful writing
about business leadership focuses on
people who run actual companies and
take actual decisions. But usefulness is a
terribly oldfashioned path to success.
This howto guide would quickly move
on, and point to three other approaches
that can help budding authors grab the
attention of readers.
The first is striking the right note of
unreality. Two things are likely to be true
of people searching for leadership ad
vice: they have not made it, and they
would like a shortcut to success. These
readers do not want to hear that the route
to the top is a Darwinian struggle that
takes place over many years and that
demands highly unusual attributes. They
are after something that can be bought
on Amazon and delivered the next day.
They definitely do not want to be told
that, by definition, only a few can suc
ceed. If you are working on a book called
“Loser: Why You Are Doomed to Disap
pointment”, stop. (Actually, don’t.)
The job of the wannabe guru is to
make their readers think that unimaginable success is within their reach. If only
they believed in themselves a bit more or
picked up a few new habits—waking up
stupidly early, say, or keeping a journal—
wealth will surely follow.
This, incidentally, is why management
mavens should embrace numbered lists
(the fact that this is a numbered list is
purely coincidental). Research done in
2011 found that drawing up plans to
achieve goals can reduce the cognitive
stress caused by unfinished tasks. By the
same token the illusion that a finite num
ber of steps will unlock success is itself
deeply comforting.
The second bit of advice for a wouldbe
leadership writer is to find uncontested
ground. In the battle for attention, it can
help to focus on something wholly un
connected to business and to argue that
the subject has something to teach manag
ers. That approach gives the aspiring guru
a chance to write about a topic or person
that will attract a wider readership. It also
builds their reputation as someone who
can connect dots even (perhaps especial
ly) when there are no dots to join. Some of these sources of leadership
lessons are familiar: sports coaches and
military commanders, Shackleton and
Shakespeare, Trappist monks and Stoic
philosophers. But authors limit them
selves unnecessarily by narrowing the
horizon to humans. An entire subgenre
of internet posts offers leadership les
sons from animals, for example. Keen to
know how a giraffe would perform as
ceo? So useless at managing projects that
you are driven to wonder whether an
elephant would do better? From in
clusivity and lice to change management
and dodos, only one thing mentioned in
this paragraph is not made up.
Indeed, why draw the line at sentient
beings? “Skin: Leadership Lessons from
the World’s Largest Organ” is a book idea
crying out for an author. Skin constantly
renews itself, as a thriving company
should. It has a purpose. It is flexible.
Sure, it has zero selfawareness, but look
around: that is not an obvious bar to
corporate success.
The third piece of advice is to pick the
right title. Conveying a sense of urgency
is vital: onesyllable words are the norm
for a reason. A dollop of physicality—
suggestiveness, even—can be helpful,
perhaps because potential readers are so
likely to be sagging behind a desk. And
for all the emphasis on cooperation and
purpose, it doesn’t hurt to embrace zero
sum words about winning, victory and
coming first. A title like “Love Bomb: Be
Kind and Crush Your Rivals” makes for a
nice blend of emotional intelligence and
pentup violence.
With the synopsis settled, all that
remains is to unveil a name for this
howtowritealeadershipbook book.
“Bollocks: Three Ways to Write and Get
Rich” will be in stores this autumn and is
available for preorder now. How aspiring management gurus can stand out in a crowded fieldBartlebyWriting about leadership