People are special, and they are born to simply be their best. I love nudging people to see their specialness. When that happens, they slip into their best performance easily and create joy and success in their lives and organizations.

I discovered my own specialness and the specialness of others when I joined the Indian Army ‘Special’ Forces in 2000 (pun intended). That experience helped me discover the limits of human performance, the magic that love and bonding creates in a team, and how single–minded purpose could make the seemingly impossible achievements into child’s play. I had some of the most powerful leadership experiences in my life leading operatives in life and death situations, in the counter–terrorist missions and glacial operations I was leading in Kashmir and Siachen Glacier.

When I joined McKinsey in 2010, I experimented with the same leadership philosophies in client business transformation initiatives, and I witnessed how unlocking blocks in the human minds led to miraculous results in business performance. My formal entry in this space happened when I attended the Faculty Development Program at McKinsey in 2011. Following this, I worked with clients to design and deliver top team alignment sessions, leadership development workshops and individual and group coaching as part of broader business engagements. My work led me to work across multiple domains such as Oil & Gas, Banking, Philanthropy, Pharma, FMCG and Industrials, and create enabling mindsets and behaviours across diverse business engagements ranging from large scale change initiatives to sales acceleration efforts to complete organization turnaround.

I took a break from McKinsey in 2015 to get into an EdTech AI startup and we built one of the first chatbots for University Admissions. That entrepreneurial experience also helped me understand how to tap into the energies and creative juices of people without the comfortable amenities of corporate.

Along the way, I have been fortunate to get mentored by a former President of India, work with the current Indian PM, Mr Narendra Modi, on his pet project Vibrant Guajarat, and support a state cricket team prepare mentally for a national league cricket tournament. I also led a community initiative to motivate underprivileged children in state run community schools to pass their matriculation. In fact, my life’s greatest achievement has been in getting a 400% increase in the children’s pass rates during that initiative. I am a TED–X speaker and because of my love for children, I frequently do motivational talks at educational institutions.

I live with my wife Sharmila and toddler son in Bangalore, India. and I love adventure sports, wildlife and running. I practice Vippassana meditation.