M. S. MANI

I have had the privilege of being mentored by Mr M S Mani for over 20 years during our time together in the publishing industry. His guidance has played a significant role in both my corporate and personal growth. His calm coaching style, trust in delegation, and ability to gently push us beyond our comfort zones helped me develop strong leadership skills and achieve meaningful career growth. His coaching philosophy is rooted in empowering people to discover their own strengths while quietly standing behind their success.

Dear Mani Sir,

As you step into retirement, I want to express my deepest gratitude for your unwavering support and trust in me over the years. You believed in my ideas, stood by me when I started my agency, and trusted me with team-building and key events for your organization. Your encouragement and confidence have been instrumental in my journey, and I will always cherish our partnership.

Now, as you begin a new chapter as a mentor to young leaders, I wish you joy, health, and exciting adventures ahead.

Good luck and warm regards,

“You cannot teach a man anything. You can only help him discover it within himself”

*— Galileo Galilei*

How true to the World the above lines, but for me it’s an absolute truth.

06th February 2007, I met Mr Mani for the first time for an interview. The day turned out to be a turning point in my career. His smile made me so comfortable & my anxiety went off the next second. And my journey with Wolters Kluwer started from there.

The man leading from the front always believed in his people and make them discover the hidden gems in their core. A true leader, mentor and above all a great human.

Thanks to the man who made a deep impact on my life and impacted lives of many other people.

Keep inspiring us Mr Mani!!!

I began my journey in publishing under the leadership of Mr Mani, and that experience shaped the professional I am today. He taught me the nuances of publishing with remarkable clarity and patience. Mr Mani is one of the most organised, disciplined, and truly people centric leaders I have worked with. He was always appreciative of my efforts and consistently motivated me to do better. His knowledge and leadership skills are exceptional, yet he remains humble and deeply grounded. Integrity is at the core of Mr Mani’s values, which has earned him immense respect and trust across the publishing industry. He has been a true coach and mentor to many of us.

I had the privilege of working under Mani Sir’s mentorship for seven incredible years. While he may appear aloof at first, Mani Sir possesses an unparalleled keen eye for detail, relentlessly questioning and guiding you toward crystal-clear thinking.

He has always championed the power of coaching, investing religiously in annual team-building workshops for our Wolters Kluwer team. These efforts have profoundly shaped my professional growth and development over the years.

Mani Sir’s passion for music and deep-rooted belief in traditional values infused his mentorship with a truly unique flavor. I wish him every success in his exciting new endeavor!

Over the 20 years I had the privilege of working with Mr. Mani, I came to deeply admire his composure, clarity, and quiet strength—qualities that reflected his rich leadership journey. His calm presence, steady temperament, and supportive approach made it easy to place trust in his leadership. He took genuine interest in people, thoughtfully aligning responsibilities with individual strengths and interests, which allowed each of us to contribute meaningfully and grow professionally. My strengths in design, team building and negotiations were explored and nurtured by him a lot. His guidance and spiritual inclination has had a lasting influence on me, and I remain truly grateful for the impact he has made.

I would like to express my sincere appreciation for your invaluable guidance and continued support.
Your mentorship has significantly contributed to my academic and professional development.
I am truly grateful for the time, effort, and dedication you have invested in guiding me. You have transformed me into a confident, polished and effective professional. My skills in communication, presentation, people management and project management were honed because you made me do the right and varied projects.
Your insights, feedback and encouragement have been immensely beneficial.
I deeply value the opportunity to learn under your esteemed mentorship.

I had the privilege of working directly with Mr. Mani for close to four years, and calling him a manager would be doing him a disservice. He was a mentor and a guru in the truest sense – someone I looked up to not just for professional guidance, but for personal values, ethical clarity, and even lifestyle discipline.

His ability to analyze, dissect, and simplify the most complex problem statements is exceptional, matched only by his remarkable memory and depth of understanding. More than his intellect, what stayed with me was the way he led—with calm conviction, fairness, and unwavering integrity.

I genuinely feel I am not qualified to write a testimonial for someone of his stature; I can only share my gratitude for having learned, observed, and grown under his leadership.

Over the last two years working with Mani Sir, I have experienced what true leadership mentorship looks like – quietly powerful, deeply human, and consistently structured.

He has an exceptional ability to bring order and clarity to complexity. His thinking is structured, his expectations are precise, and his guidance always connects the work back to fundamentals: priorities, process, outcomes and ETHICS. His structured approach is balanced with maturity, perspective, and consideration for people. It is anchored in lived human understanding – of pressure, ambition, uncertainty, and the realities people carry outside the workplace.

He often introduces himself with a simple line: “I am an enabler.” In my experience, that is not a slogan – it is his operating system. He empowers without micromanaging, advises without overwhelming, and creates space for you to grow while still holding you to high standards. Whether our conversations were about strategy and execution or about work-life choices, I consistently walked away feeling clearer, calmer, and – most importantly – settled.

I’m simply thankful for his inspiration, coaching, and guidance over these years