Author and social czarina Shobha De has been doing it for quite some time. MTV's Alex Kuruvilla does it.

What's more, he also gets his team to do it. Cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle is often asked to do it. Even cricketer Rahul Dravid does it with aplomb.

Singer and theatre personality Sharon Prabhakar does it. And if all had gone well, New Delhi Television boss Prannoy Roy, too, would have done it.

So what's common to all of them? They are new age speakers, sought after by corporate India. Both domestic and multinational companies are wooing celebrity names to indulge in managementspeak.

From Castrol and Marico to Hindustan Lever and telecom companies, they are all looking at the famous from various walks of life to come and talk to their managers.

De has been to ad agency Lintas and foods and toiletries conglomerate Hindustan Lever. A Hindustan Lever spokesman, however, says she did not address the company's managers but may have addressed their wives. But De says she has addressed senior and middle level managers at companies.

At times they are just a group of women managers. "Some of them think I have some kind of a success formula. They want to know how to create a balance between their home and career and be true to both of them," says De, a mother of six.

According to her, corporate employees lead strait-jacketed lives and the monotony suppresses their creative skills.

"Through these workshops, they try to shed their corporate skin and don a more creative avatar. The idea is to create a creative impact," she adds.

Alok Kejriwal, head of contest hosting site Contest2Win, has been to Marico's Challenger marketing programme.

He was invited to bring an external focus to the overall marketing thinking, according to a manager at Marico. An internal programme, it is conducted eight times a year.

Or look at why the MTV head is being wooed. Kuruvilla was first invited by Anglo-Dutch foods and toiletries conglomerate Unilever to be a part of its regional training programme conducted for central Asia and the Middle East region.

He addressed employees on 'The Art of building brands Creativity and Improvisation.'

Now HLL too apparently wants to pick MTV's brains but Kuruvilla sends his vice president marketing and head of creativity.

"For them, it is out-of-the-box thinking technique. We share our best practises and knowledge of the youth market with them," he says.

According to him, a range of marketers are targeting their brands at the youth as they are the trendsetters and early adopters of anything new.

Companies believe that outsiders give managers a perspective and consumer marketing insights into diverse happenings in other areas. These are then applied to their assorted brand activities, including brand promotions.

That's why, at one time, Procter & Gamble is believed to have been trying to get NDTV's Roy.

Says Prabhakar, who regularly holds workshops for corporates, "There is a need for corporates to do this, as today's job arena has become competitive. Being just good is not enough; one has to move forward and make a mark. So issues like maximising opportunities, team building and goal achievements have become important."

Now, why would a lube major like Castrol invite its brand ambassador Dravid and sports commentator Bhogle to address its managers?

"Both the corporate workplace and sports involve a spirit of competitiveness and depend on well thought of strategies to emerge a winner. Teamwork, leadership skills, and the ability to handle success and defeat all are common to the two disciplines," says Ravi Pisharody, marketing director, Castrol India.

He claims that the company has leveraged both Dravid and Bhogle to get these key messages across to its staff.

Adds Bhogle, "It is not an attempt to either preach or train. It is about opening minds and rejuvenating the passion to perform in an interesting manner. It shows how learning from sports is universally relevant and how it can be applied to improve our approach to life."

Not all managers are convinced by the exercise. While some claim that such efforts are sporadic and hence ineffective, others like Marico's Deepali Nair think otherwise.

"Such interactive workshops help in competency building. By interacting with some of the best minds in their field, we can use this learning in our workplace," she says.