There are several trigger points which finally led to shape of “LEAD to WIN”.

Initial trigger point was that I wanted to gift my son something special, which no father might have given, something non-perishable, something that would help him choose RIGHT path.

With increase in size and growth rate of my business, I felt a conscious need to convey my thoughts, my vision, my understanding of business principles and view on leadership to all the stakeholders like my team members, clients, vendors etc. This book acts as a platform, a tool synchronizing the thought process helping in vision and goal alignment.

Since application of the principles have helped me at an individual level and my business ecosystem, initial positive feedbacks reinforced the decision to extend the benefit of every person who aspire for success, achievement and satisfaction in life.

LEAD to WIN is all about leading a successful life by taking up a leadership position in whatever you do.

LEAD to WIN is all about SUCCESS through LEADERSHIP. We all want success, satisfaction and achievement which are experienced as a result of feeling of growth or winning. In order to experience winning or sustained growth, one needs to LEAD. To lead one first needs to develop leadership character. This book focuses not only on what are leadership traits but most important how to develop them.

To me success means “Inclusive Growth” for yourself and all around you who are directly or indirectly related. For people who are not directly related to us today always have a possibility of participation in future.

Examples of successful people have been given so that readers can understand and relate to the traits from people they have heard of in past. But it is not necessary that you learn from them alone, rather you learn from them the least because you are never in direct touch with them. One learns and get influenced by people who they come in contact with on day to day basis; parents, colleagues, spouse, children, friends. There is high possibility of being influenced by people whom you spend maximum time with. I learn not necessary from successful people alone but from every individual that comes my way. I learn time discipline from my office boy who has never been late in 3 years not taken a single leave except on the day his father passed away, for which also he informed last night and arranged for another person. I learn from my colleagues, I learn from you, I learn from movies. I learn from everything that I see, hear, feel, sense and experience. I learn different things in different proportions from every one and use them at right time in right proportion. It’s the output which decides what was important but for me everything I learn is important. I have been most influenced by my parents and my wife who have been least interfering giving me freedom and confidence to do whatever I have been doing. For them all that I do is 100% correct and that confidence pushes me to make it 100% correct. What I learnt from my family is if you love someone, never interfere, s/he will anyways grow. What I learn from my father is “trust others”, trust them so much that they never cheat you. What I have learnt from my wife is simplicity. She is the most down to earth soul I have ever come across and I fall for her again and again. She always says nothing fails like arrogance and success.

Any unstable institution / body are a sure shot failure. At times one may not realise immediate consequences but it hampers long-term growth. For any idea or plan to fructify one need to give time, whether it is a political agenda or a business plan. Less efficient but stable person is better than more efficient but instable person. We must avoid indulging in to activities that create instability. But, when it comes to choice between Integrity and stability, irrespective of any thought top most priority goes to integrity. Only systems and processes that can enhance stability. Role of individuals must be curtailed down to almost zero. Best people should be put in developing systems and processed so that execution can be as effective even by least efficient people. When it comes to political decision or statement, we must be very thoughtful and not emotional because we as individuals fortunately have power to influence others.

To me age has nothing much to do with entrepreneurship. It is all about generation of that strong desire to pursue “ANY” idea. Maturity always helps but it has not much to do with age. A person of 16 can be more matured than someone even at 80.

I personally feel any new venture fails mainly due to 2 reasons

One, entrepreneurship is often confused with innovation. People try to do something different or innovative to succeed so they get in to unexplored territory. Probability of success is then more like that of an innovation rather than business. Remember you are businessman not scientist. Innovation can be infused later in the system as differentiating factor. Facebook was not the first social media portal. Ford was not the first car manufacturing company not reliance was India’s first Oil and Gas Company not it was their first business. Even VCs unfortunately look for innovation while funding an idea. At that stage according to me one must bet on a person who has capacity to convert any idea to successful one. Business need not be innovative; the person has to be innovative his methods can be innovative. Most important there has to be a strong desire than innovation.

Second reason they fail is while scaling up. Doing business is very easy but what is challenging is scaling up a business. This failure is due to lack of systems and processes and not lack of understanding of business.

Biggest challenge as an entrepreneur is there is no boundary, so there is always tendency to divert when you come across new opportunity so one may have many small businesses but fails to scale up any one due to diversion of resources, funds including his mind share.

Desire and Purpose.

Strong, pulsating, immortal, ever-growing desire which transcends everything coming your way in to opportunity and takes concrete shape of a large vision. Be observant and flexible. One would not have strong desire unless his purpose is clear.

It’s a myth that one needs to be entrepreneur to be successful. Even while being professional you can succeed, even financially, at times much more than an entrepreneur. Entrepreneur has to do with something more, larger, more responsible. It is important to know why you want to become entrepreneur, larger purpose has to be crystal clear. People often misinterpret entrepreneurship or business with self-employment. Most of the cases people are compulsive entrepreneurs out of force and not choice because anyways they lack ability to perform as professionals or be accepted as professionals.

“Thin line between vision and dream is execution”

We all have desire to do and achieve things but our expectations remain dreams because we fail to execute. What is important is not to dream big but also to execute those dreams.

100% transparent. Leadership is about doing things RIGHT when no one is watching. Life is a simple mathematics, if you don’t pay now, you will pay with interest in future. If you get something which you neither have nor earned or worked for, you will one day lose it, for sure, in some way or other. Even if you don’t lose, you won’t be in position to enjoy that either. Some people fail in early stage and some collapses after they become large empires. Some loose election and some gets toppled and jailed even after attaining highest post and massive wealth.

Only asset that can save you is integrity. Most of the time people loose on integrity because their purpose of getting into a profession is not well thought of and non-inclusive so impatience takeover. Be aggressive but don’t be in haste. Trust me making money is very very very easy but doing it in a "right" way with inclusive growth is more satisfying.

Defining success is tricky and confusing. This book leaves you with enough food for thought to choose a right purpose and help you develop traits that supports you in achieving that purpose. Book concentrates in achieving whatever you decide to achieve by being a leader, developing leadership traits. It focuses of finer details of the traits of leadership and actions which leads to growth, winning, satisfaction, achievement and success.

Most useful. It contains a complete chapter on “Capacity to give-up power and empower” a trait which becomes most essential as you grow higher. Leadership always evolves and grows. It is most important for successful leaders to elevate the benchmarks of success and empower others to keep the spirit of leadership alive. They should never become bottleneck for others. Most of the time people stops growing by being satisfied and then they stop growth of others and in turn growth of institutions they are heading. You need to grow even to ensure growth of others who yet needs to experience the fruits of growth. Job of a leader is to build more leaders and not followers. LEAD to WIN book contains detailed explanation of how to nurture leadership for inclusive growth.

I personally feel this book is a must read for all youngsters simply because they have longer life to achieve and relish the success. It is more important to succeed at 30 rather than at the age of 50 since you have 20 more years to help people around you also to grow with you. Early achievement indirectly helps in elevating the standards of success and civilization as a whole.

We have given this book to multiple collages as a free copy for their library. It would be more appropriate if this can be taken up as a part of curriculum. It helps in clarifying the thoughts and purpose of life at an early stage. Sooner you are clear about what you want to do, better it is.

It is one of the rare books which are simple enough to be read without use of dictionary!

I personally feel this book is a must read for all youngsters simply because they have longer life to achieve and relish the success. It is more important to succeed at 30 rather than at the age of 50 since you have 20 more years to help people around you also to grow with you. Early achievement indirectly helps in elevating the standards of success and civilization as a whole.

We have given this book to multiple collages as a free copy for their library. It would be more appropriate if this can be taken up as a part of curriculum. It helps in clarifying the thoughts and purpose of life at an early stage. Sooner you are clear about what you want to do, better it is.

Cover page indicates pawn of chess being unjacketed and a king coming out of that. It shows that there is a king (leader) within pawn (common man). We need to awaken the king/leader within us by removing the perception of being pawn/common man.

When I joined broking industry, many people asked, there are so many brokers and that industry is not doing well. I stated with team of 17 and when I left after 4 years my team size were 750 with almost over 5000 channel partners and 1.25 lac registered customers. When I started consulting business there were more than 35000 consultants on paper, which doesn’t include freelancers. I started my business in thick recession. Fortunately I hardly focus on competition. There are always pockets of opportunity and if there is nil then we need to create opportunity by delivering value.

• Most important is perspective. Being a result oriented person who is at the initial stage of the business or I would say at inflection point, perspective, thought process, experiences at this stage are different or unique and at the same time easy enough for people to relate to. My perspective is more on micro rather than macro things. Here I have focused more on “How to get there” apart from “Where to go”. It does not give you solution but leaves you prepared, empowered and thoughtful enough to find your own solution to your unique desire.
• Language used is very simple and lucid enough to extend the horizon of usage to even young people who are most benefited since they have highest chance of implementing this at early stage bringing in clarity and avoiding unwanted experimenting in dark.
• Right usage of quotes and examples at appropriate places keeps the interest of a reader alive not making it theoretical.
• One can use it also as a book for “Inspiring Quotes” which can be just read whenever you get little free time, over a cup of tea or coffee.
• Usage of examples to explain leadership traits give you the essence and experience of reading the complete biography of that person.
• It is neither a book on leadership nor on success but it connects the two. Traits highlighted in the book are finer, basic, fundamental, traits which gives way to formation of leadership character.
• Being in the business of Executive Search, I happen to meet leaders, very closely dissect their behaviour and also get to know the final outcomes since we remain in touch over a longer period of time. My profession has helped me to an extent in endorsing my perspective and understanding of leadership and success.
• Word self-help to me indicates an area where people need "Help" when they are stuck and they do not know where to go next. What I have shared is not necessary for that stage, it is also most beneficial for people who are absolutely clear on what they are doing and where they have to go and how to go there. But, this book will surely elevate the level of thinking. So, this book not only increases the clarity but elevates the thinking even if it is clear.

This book is not a fiction tale. It is all about real life examples, observations and experiences. Best part about this book is it does not limit your thoughts around my definition of success or means to achieve the same but it empowers you to define your own success and guides you in developing traits which will help you identify your own methods / ways of achieving the success keeping the underlying essence of leadership prominent.

This book is of course about my learning, my experiences and outcomes as well as my observation and interpretation of others’ experiences and outcomes. This is about learning or understanding developed as a result of application or lack of application of these principles in my life. I apply these principles every moment but in different proportions depending on the situations and when I don’t apply or miss on the same, I am observant enough to realise and learn from the outcomes.

As far as content is concerned, it applies to each person at every age and stage in life. It applies to each person who is human enough to have desire and want solutions to fulfil those desires. It may not apply to a person who has overcome all desires but they also have desire to fulfil other’s desires! This book transcends beyond limits of situations, sectors, geography, region, religion, cast, creed and culture. Only limitation I see today is it is in English. In future with heightened response we would come out with translated versions in other languages.

Given that there is a global slowdown and investments in business ventures and new ideas has considerably slowed down do you think that your book would make a difference to any start-up or individual looking at branching out on their own?

It can be beneficial to them in multiple ways: - It will leave them with thoughts which will help them sharpen, streamline, elevate of fine-tune the vision to an achievable level in alignment with their capacity and current situation. - It would most important help them in plan for basic tools / resources required to succeed in terms of developing right attitude. - It would also provide right tools to start in right fashion so that scaling up becomes easier in future. - More than his dream it helps them and encourages them to understand the dreams of others and teaches them to focus on inclusive growth with is the only way to sustainable growth.

I do not belong to business family but I got into business to get in to an environment which has no boundary to limit my pace of thought and execution and even if there is any limitation I am responsible and aware of that.

Even in past before starting my business, wherever I have worked, I have never had any difference in approach compared to business. You first need to behave like an owner if you actually expect to get that kind of freedom and authority that owner gets. First take responsibility, authority follows and money has to follow. I have incorporated one whole chapter on ownership and how that leads to success in whatever situation you are.

People often talk of politics in job; I would call it as lack of inclusive vision, lack of leadership who can infuse that vision. Just get right people, align your vision with their individual visions and set them free to do what they feel correct. By and large they don’t go wrong and even if they go wrong they correct themselves with affordable damages and evolve richer in experience and confidence.

I have no particular hobby except work. My work is my hobby. I enjoy it the most. I am most comfortable when I am with my team. I feel satisfied when we all achieve our set goals and set higher goals and repeat the success. I believe work is my life and my life is work in progress. I prefer to spend my “hobby time” with my son, wife and my parents in general. Smile on their face keeps me charged and energized. My team mates, my colleagues are my best friends, they are the one who believe in and add to my vision and we grow together.

LEAD to WIN is reflection of my traits and I am still improving on them.