Success is a Choice provides readers with an easily applied framework for elevating their professional lives presented in a fictional setting in which a frustrated executive seeks advice from a younger colleague. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

Success is a Choice is the essence of experiential learnings and insights of my 50-year career. Over these years, I have met numerous brilliant people who could not grow beyond a certain level. I closely watched and observed them. These wonderful people were always ‘highly valued’ but not good enough to grow further. A common theme was that none of them could figure out the true reasons for their stagnation.

These people were my inspiration to write Success is a Choice. I wanted to demystify the skills that create success and separate winners to help millions of talented young people in similar predicaments.

I used a fictional setting for two reasons. I wanted Success is a Choice to engage a wide variety of readers, unlike a usual non-fiction educational book that typically becomes a drag for most. Secondly, I wanted to illustrate how these skills can be applied in real-life situations; that is why this 19-chapter book constantly shuttles between Dan’s learning and how he learns to use them in real life at work and home.

What research did you do for this novel to get it right?

All key characters in the book are either a shade of me or someone I knew. Being a senior executive, I was responsible for the career planning of a vast number of managers and other employees. I would regularly assess and identify the skills that were barriers to their growth. I mentored and enabled my people to develop those skills. Many of them developed the skills and succeeded; some could not. This was my real research.

What were some of the trials that you felt were important to highlight Dan’s struggle and his growth?

I would not call them trials, but my experiences with several individual mentees are the core of my learnings to develop Dan’s character. I have observed and/or experienced almost everything in the book either personally or through others. My exposure to a large number of people from very different cultures and backgrounds became the basis of my knowledge and beliefs that I have illustrated in Success is a Choice.

What is the next book you are working on, and when will it be available?

I am currently working on an untitled book that will demystify Supply Chain and demonstrate that it can be a major contributor to profitable business growth. I want senior business leaders to not only comprehend the supply chain ‘puzzle’ but also learn to leverage it as a competitive advantage for business building.

Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website | Amazon