Awakening A Leader’s Soul: Learnings Through Immortal Poems

Parents celebrate birthdays of their children. Shouldn’t authors do the same for the books they write – children of a different ilk? I think so. It’s that celebratory spirit that brings me here. My book, “Awakening A Leader’s Soul: Learnings Through Immortal Poems,” was launched (born) globally on Sep. 7, 2017. And as we near its first birthday, I wanted to give it a hug and wish it a very happy birthday.

One year on, there are several things that are pleasing about the book. I’d like to share a few with you. The first is its enduring theme of “Soulful LeadershipTM,” a new human-centric narrative that reimagines the purpose of leadership and reshapes its outcomes by declaring that the greatest asset of leaders in a complex, connect, but conflicted world is not their executive brilliance, but their humanity – who they are, what they stand for, and what they are willing to fight for. And the true purpose of leadership is to make the world a better place by increasing the wellbeing and prosperity of the greatest many, not just the privileged and powerful few. It’s this enduring appeal that led the reviewer at Foreword Reviews to write, “The world needs more leaders such as the one this book seeks to create.” Yes, the world needs more Soulful Leaders. So keep walking “Awakening A Leader’s Soul.” Miles to go before you sleep. Keep spreading your message of Soulful LeadershipTM.

The second aspect of the book that is appealing is the weaving together the wisdom of immortal poems and leadership’s most pressing need – a new and different way to think, speak, and act to fulfill its obligations. I’ve often been asked, “Why Poetry?” Because, as Percy Byshee Shelly reminds us, poems are like mirrors, they help us see ourselves in ways that we may not have seen before, they help us connect us with aspects of our humanity that we may never have kindled before.Here’s how Czeslaw Milosz describes it:

In the very essence of poetry there is something indecent:
A thing is brought forth which we didn’t know we had in us

Lastly, before we get to the cake and ale, what’s worth celebrating on the first birthday of “Awakening A Leader’s Soul,” is its own humanity; what the book stands for, and which is its courage of conviction, to suggest that there is another way tailored to the unique demands of our conflicted and complex world. Yesterday’s tired ideas concerning leadership development will not produce tomorrow’s visionary leaders.

Happy Birthday, “Awakening A Leader’s Soul: Learnings Through Immortal Poems.” Keep the flag of Soulful LeadershipTM flying.

(To learn more about the author and the book, please visit gauravbhalla.com, or soulfulleadership.world. The book is available in India on Amazon and Flipkart).

Gaurav Bhalla
Global Speaker, Educator, Consultant