It was late at night... the room was peppered with energies of gloom and uncertainty. She looked at him, eyes full of fear as she struggled to breathe. “Will I be alright?” she asked. He was no doctor, nurse, or fortune-teller. Yet he said, “Yes, you will, amma.” And she did, indeed, recover. In taking the lead and reassuring her in that perilous moment, her son had become something — a leader. And just like Archimedes had his ‘Eureka!’ moment aeons ago, Kuruva Venkatramana Murthy had a ‘Leadership!’ moment, which posed an insightful thought: “Everyone is a leader, every single day.”
This is the thought that fuelled the TEDx speaker, cosmic storyteller, holistic healer, and awareness coach to write his book Inspire, Impact, Ignite: Leadership is a Story, Not a Title, which recently stood at #1 bestseller on Amazon. After launching his book in the city, he told CE, “It is for those silent leaders who don’t have titles and yet show leadership qualities in everyday moments. He adds that anyone who is 14 and above can learn about true leadership from the book, which leaves the mumbo jumbo and jargon out.
Of course, aspiring leaders, corporate leaders, and entrepreneurs stand to gain a lot from the book, which blends corporate wisdom, holistic healing, and timeless spiritual insights to offer practical guidance — helping everyday leaders inspire change, impact behaviour, and ignite action.
The author illustrates, “For example, there is a traffic jam. A passerby takes it upon herself to direct the traffic. In that moment, she is a leader. The question is this: What do you do when nobody is watching, when there is no social media or no one to applaud you?”
A deep thought, is it not? Venkatramana’s enlightened thought process is the result of an arduous journey. Born in Kurnool to a humble family, money was always scarce. And so, a young Venkatramana took it upon himself to work as hard as he could. He started as a steward in Chennai and rose through the ranks. A turning point came in 2008 when he was the steward manager at Pizza Corner in Banjara Hills. “One afternoon, I got a call from my boss saying that my whole team of 35 people had resigned. Why? My authoritative technique of management. I sat down and asked myself, ‘Tomorrow, if I don’t have this position and title, will I be able to inspire anybody?’ When I realised the answer was a no, I changed my approach,” he states.
While Venkatramana became a wiser and more compassionate leader, a sense of dissonance plagued him. Throughout his ‘stressful’ career, one practice that had helped him wade through was meditation. “I started my own meditation, relaxation and healing practice. What I realised is that those ‘silent’ everyday leaders often cannot express themselves fully as their throat chakra is blocked — essentially, someone in their early years must have discouraged expression,” explains Venkatramana. He adds that the book also has a QR code which, upon scanning, takes readers to his workshop on how certain energies are blocking their progress. “Let’s say someone is not getting promoted. This is a result of stagnated energy which arises from the belief that a leader has to act a certain way, be a natural speaker, and so on. While skills can be learned, what the book and workshop underscore is that you are a born leader,” states Venkatramana.
He recalls how great leaders in our nation wisely led people by narrating the right stories. “Mahatma Gandhi led not with authority but inspired Indians by telling the story of freedom. Similarly, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam did not lecture us about science but rather told the story of big dreams,” he notes.
So, what is Venkatramana’s golden advice for the leaders of today? “Authority has its place, but don’t stick to the title too seriously. Put heart before head and soul before strategy. Be a human before a hero.”
Inspire, Impact, Ignite in three points
Holistic leadership: Integrating corporate acumen, emotional intelligence, and spiritual wisdom
Ancient wisdom: Applying timeless insights from the Bhagavad Gita and Indian epics to modern leadership challenges
Personal growth: Cultivating self-awareness, resilience, and purpose-driven leadership