Courage under Fire

Leadership Lessons from the Arab Spring, Maggi Crisis, Covid and More

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Anyone who has worked in the corporate world, especially in FMCG, knows that calm waters are rare and crises often arrive without warming.

Courage Under Fire is a practical leadership logbook drawn from four decades of Suresh Narayanan’s own experiences of managing battles in the corporate trenches. Rather than offering abstract leadership theory, the book uses real episodes—across multiple countries—to show how leaders can navigate volatility with judgment, values, and coordinated action. It argues that leadership is fundamentally human: built on trust, values, behaviour, credibility, and outcomes.

Narayanan uses stories from the MAGGI crisis, the Arab Spring in Egypt, the 2008 financial shock in Singapore, and COVID-era decisions to driving home some fundamentals in management—staying grounded, asking the right questions, communicating clearly, and putting people first.