How Naked are you willing to be?

Vulnerability + Humor is an essential leadership trait.

Growing up, I have always believed that people with humor always have the deepest life lessons to share.

A few weeks back, I managed to lay my hands on this wonderful book that had me rivetted one entire weekend. Papa CJ is a wonderful entertainer who manages to keep the reader interested through a good 200 pages on his journey of life.

Here are a few reasons on why I loved this book (and why you should read this irrespective of your take on comedy and vulnerability).

1. The author himself:

To put things into perspective, being a stand up comedian in India in the early 2000's was by no stretch of mind easy. To give up a comfortable, well heeled life in the UK to come back to India and to define an industry takes loads of guts and (fill your favorite noun here) of steel. At some level, this resonates deeply with what I always believe. That to create a path that will then be tread by others takes a certain kind of mindset (and this was the intrigue that helped me pick the book up).

2. The journey of possibly every Indian kid who is academically gifted:

Read point 2 in conjunction with point 1 to understand of how the 90's kids took conventional career choices (only to realize our life's callings were elsewhere) and who then listened to our hearts to go in that direction.

On those two fronts, the author does a wonderful job of easing the story of his early years to what is now his mission of connecting people through getting them to smile and be at ease.

Beyond this, there were certain other elements of the book that I thought were outstanding:

1. Often, people associate humor with frivolity and life's lessons with a seriousness or a stoic like demeanor. Wrong on both counts. Papa CJ is a comedian and also an executive coach. And this book is a well illustrated account of his work. On how he manages to bring home the most profound messages while still keeping you in splits.

His hustle in reaching where he is today (as a leading comedian).

His journey of vulnerability when his career was not offering him joy in London.

His battles with what we all call as "struggle phase".

Each of these episodes has a dash of humor, vulnerability and resilience. A perfect recipe for leadership and life learnings.

2. I loved the humor and the growing up jokes:

My life journey in some ways has been as similar. We have all been there - boys hostels, life long friends, being outspoken (relatable), standing up for what is right. We have all seen these in some elements in the growing up years and we either relate to those stories ourselves or find those elements relatable in the friends we know. The book was also a trip down nostalgia (without the tears but only the laughs).

3. My final takeaway (especially at a time when I am going through a transition) is to continue to go on with a Smile. Life will figure it out itself if you give it a chance and be at it.?And yes, don't forget to smile on that journey.

I managed to get an autographed book from CJ himself.

A well recommended read.