Aparna Piramal Raje is one of India’s most original thinkers on leadership and organizational culture, combining her experience as a former CEO with deep insights from over 100 interviews with India’s top executives. Her perspective is uniquely informed by her twenty-year journey of personal mastery, learning to live and thrive with bipolar disorder, which she translates into a powerful framework for resilience and authentic leadership. Her commitment to personal mastery and turning vulnerability into strength is candidly detailed in her bestselling book, Chemical Khichdi: How I Hacked My Mental Health. This narrative of building resilience, empathy, and improved work performance has won global accolades for its courage and authenticity. Professionally, she was the former CEO of her family’s office furniture business, BP Ergo, where she led a fast-growing business before dedicating herself to writing and speaking.
As a columnist for the Mint newspaper, her popular column, Head Office, provided a unique lens on business leaders' workstyles, resulting in her first book, Working Out of the Box: 40 stories of leading CEOs. This book presents close-up portraits of CEOs, revealing the less visible leadership traits that drive their success. This work, along with her training as a LEGO® Serious Play® facilitator, underscores her belief in the power of creativity to solve organizational issues.
An alumna of Oxford University (PPE) and Harvard Business School (MBA), her rigorous academic foundation complements her practical experience. As a speaker, Aparna is highly sought after for her compelling framework of leadership, mental health, business, and design. She is committed to gender equity and inspires audiences with her unique insights on the power of personal growth to drive organizational transformation and achieve full potential.
