Aparna Piramal Raje is one of India’s most original thinkers on leadership, combining her lived experience with deep insights gathered from over 100 interviews with India’s most successful CEOs. Former CEO of BP Ergo, her family’s office furniture business, Aparna led a fast-growing business, before moving to writing and speaking.
She has demonstrated leadership through personal mastery in her inspiring twenty-year journey of learning to live and thrive with a serious mental health condition, bipolar disorder. Her bestselling book, Chemical Khichdi: How I Hacked My Mental Health illustrates how personal mastery of one’s mind, intellect, and emotions can help individuals to live to their full potential, turning vulnerabilities into strengths and enabling greater resilience, empathy, and improved work performance. Her writing and talks have won accolades from global experts for their authenticity and courage.
As a columnist, Aparna has developed a unique perspective on business leaders, through the lens of workplaces and workstyles, in her popular column, Head Office in the Mint newspaper. Her first book, Working Out of the Box: 40 stories of leading CEOs, is based on the column and presents close-up portraits of CEOs and the specific – yet often less visible – leadership traits that make them successful.
Aparna’s practical experience of running a business, overcoming a serious mental health condition, and acquiring insights through in-depth interviews with CEOs and founders have enabled her to develop a compelling framework of leadership in the workplace and beyond.
Aparna also believes in the power of creativity to solve organizational issues and is a thought leader in design. A visiting faculty member at the Anant National University in Ahmedabad, she teaches a module called ‘Netflix and the Art of Design Writing’ and has spoken extensively on leadership, business, design, and mental health at various forums, including companies, business schools, and industry associations.
She is also a trained and enthusiastic LEGO® Serious Play® facilitator, which is an innovative problem-solving methodology for organizations, suited to varied business areas such as teamwork, communication, branding, innovation, diversity and inclusion, and more.
Aparna studied Politics, Philosophy, and Economics at Oxford University and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School. She is committed to gender equity and has led and been involved with several women’s networks.
