Creating Happy Leaders

ABOUT ME

I am a Professor in the Organizational Behavior Area at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA). I obtained my doctorate in Human Resource Management from the Indian Institute of Management Lucknow, India, in 2013. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from BITS-Pilani, Pilani Campus, India. Prior to joining IIMA, I worked as an Assistant Professor in the HRM Group at the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, India. I have also worked as a Hardware Design Engineer with ST Microlectronics Pvt Ltd., Greater Noida and with Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, Germany where I was involved in the design of high-performance Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs). 

My current areas of teaching and research are leadership development, mindfulness, emotional intelligence, organization development and R&D management. My PhD thesis on ‘Leadership in Public Sector R&D Organizations’ was awarded the ‘Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation’ award in the year 2013-14 in Leadership & Organizational Development category by European Federation for Management Development and the Emerald Group Publishing. I was chosen as one of India’s 25 young HR leaders in 2013 by People Matters. I was recognized as an ‘Emerging Psychologist’ by the National Academy of Psychology, India in 2014. In 2016, I was conferred the ‘Young Scientist Award’ in Social Sciences Category by the National Academy of Sciences India and Scopus (Elsevier). I served as the President of the Indian Academy of Management, an affiliate of the Academy of Management, US from 2020-2022. 

I have undertaken consulting projects for organizations like BSNL, DRDO, SiCOM, Tilburg University, Netherlands and Aston Business School, UK. I have been training leaders and professionals of corporations such as National Hydro-Power Corporation (NHPC), Taj Group of Hotels, Ambuja Cements Limited, Tata Teleservices, L&T, Pepsi, Emerson, and the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) in the areas of mindfulness, emotional intelligence, leadership and organization development since 2012.

My research has been published in international and national journals of repute such as the Academy of Management Journal, Human Resource Management, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Personnel Review, Healthcare Management, International Journal of Innovation Management, Journal of Advanced Nursing, Psychological Studies, and has been covered by dailies like Times of India, Economic Times, Business Line, Ahmedabad Mirror, Mint and DNA.

My first book on leadership titled ‘First Among Equals: T-R-E-A-T Leadership for L-E-A-P in a Knowledge-based World’ was published in 2020 by Bloomsbury, India. My second book titled ‘Demystifying Leadership: Unveiling the Mahabharata Code’ was published in 2021 by Bloomsbury, India.

I serve as an Independent Director on the Board of Directors of Gujarat Industries Power Company Limited (GIPCL). I served as an Independent Director on the Board of Directors of Gujarat Gas Limited, India’s largest City Gas Distribution Company from August 2017 to August 2021. I also served as a member on the Board of Governors (BoG) of IIM Ahmedabad from December, 2020 to February, 2022.