4.3.2.1. of 2019!

4 books I spent time with || 3 articles that stayed with me || 2 podcasts I found myself going back to || 1 movie that influenced me in 2019.

I just finished Pico Iyer's Autumn Light - a play of seasons, death, light and relationships. It is my personal favourite because it provided me vision of a life style that allows me to pause, think and create instead of predominantly rush, do and replicate. The fact that it does that in the backdrop of an exploration of Japanese society and culture made it a rewarding read. Pico Iyer moved out of California to settle down in Japan almost two decades ago and now lives there with his Japanese wife Hiroko.

Anand Giridhardas' book Winners Take All evoked emotions of anger and frustration within me. I have spent a decade working in philanthropy based education sector. The book provides a compelling viewpoint on why people and organisations do not work towards deep rooted and sustainable change. Instead most of the corporate world use philanthropy and grant-making as a means to right (in a superficial manner) the wrongs they themselves are responsible for. A recommended read this to anyone working in the development sector.

These are confusing times in the world. 21 Lessons helped me inject some meaning to the recent global developments. It is a page turner and Harari is a skilful narrator.

I am a coach and hence I do gravitate towards books that allow me to work on myself and my coaching. I am also a sports lover. Inner Game Of Tennis brough the two worlds together for me. It was a fascinating read for me as Timothy Gallwey shared insights from his practice as a tennis coach as a means to inner work. A must read for anyone in the business of developing people and themselves.

Dorris Kearns has written biographies for several US presidents. I am an Obama fan and have read multiple short-reads on his leadership. Dorris Kearns met up with him for An Exit Interview during his last days at The White House and this is surely one of the best interviews I have read in recent times where the interviewer and the interviewee were leading one another in a beautiful dance. The two masters were at times completing each other's sentences and thoughts - a sign of a deep and a fascinating conversation. 

As a student of leadership in various forms, I find Virat's evolution intriguing. There is so much to learn from his journey - hardwork because he is not the most naturally gifted, wearing one's passion on their sleeve and the focus to be the best in the world. This piece Love, Death and Virat Kohli by an erudite sporting author had me mesmerized for 7 minutes.

The rising number of public shootings over the last couple of years have been tough on our brothers and sisters in America. It has been painful reading reportage in media about the same. This piece 96 minutes was a unique read on the same topic. They tracked down the survivors of what's considered the first public shooting in the US in1966 and reconstructed the whole shooting minute-by-minute from different vantage points. It is a great 60 minute read and offered me a unique perspective of an ongoing reportage.

Two radically different people and radically different podcasts. 

I have been following Kristina Tippet's On Being for a few years now. One for her beautiful voice and an authentic curiosity she brings to the podcasts. More for the variety of speakers and the human topics that they speak about on her show. I find it a refreshing change from the usual podcasts on crime-fiction, productivity hacks and technology that simply focuses on the person in front.

Reid Hoffman is part of the famed Paypal mafia, founder of Linkedin and author of the book Blitzscaling. Given his background and experience, he seems to me the best person to learn from about scale - a topic I fund myself uncomfortable with. His podcast Masters Of Scale allows me to engage with my discomfort and learn from it.

This was a tough one! If there was just one movie I could recommend you from the year gone by it will be Free Solo. I learnt so much from this Academy award winning edge of the seat Nat Geo movie on free climbing. These days I often find asking myself How Far Will I Go for What I Love? If my answer could be a person, it will be Alex Honnold . I cannot implore you enough to watch this soon. 

Saahil is a coach. He is deeply passionate about maximising human potential. He works with individuals who want to grow and with teams who want to create collective learning spaces. Saahil uses mindfulness and different coaching practices in his work. He can be reached at [email protected]