Dawna Jones talks to best-selling author, Karan Bajaj, about his new book, The Yoga of Max’s Discontent, and what it tells us about the leadership challenges executives face today.
Karan Bajaj is an Indian-American author, who was born and raised in the Himalayas and now lives in New York. He is the author of three bestselling Indian novels, Keep Off the Grass, Johnny Gone Down and The Seeker. His newest novel, The Yoga of Max’s Discontent, is the first released in North America and for all intents and purposes could serve as a metaphor for the executive leadership challenge today.
The book was inspired by Karan’s one-year spiritual sabbatical from corporate life in North America, travelling with his wife, Kerry, learning yoga in a South Indian Ashram, meditating in complete silence in the Vedantic tradition in the Himalayas and living as a Buddhist Monk in a Scottish monastery. Karan merges the corporate and the writing world to offer insight into the importance of gaining trust in your abilities. Karan and Dawna talk about:
- The parallels between Max (the lead character), a corporate banker who travels to India to become a yogi, and the executives’ journey in today’s disruptive world.
- How Karan’s spiritual practices of yoga, meditation and sabbaticals benefit his career and contribution to the companies he works for.
- Why working for four years, taking one year off, then working another four years helps your career and benefits the companies you work for. (The benefits of disrupting yourself!)
- The role of mindfulness and spiritual practices in enabling a response to disruption rather than a persistent cycle of reaction.
Karan Bajaj is leaving his position as the Chief Marketing Officer of Aden + Anais in New York to step into the CEO position of a large media company in India. He previously worked as a Director for Kraft Foods, a Brand Manager for Procter & Gamble, and a management consultant for the Boston Consulting Group in India, the Philippines, Singapore and the United States. He has been nominated as a “Top 40 under 40 Marketer in the U.S.” by Advertising Age and one of the “Top 35 Under 35 Indian” by India Today.
Karan is also a certified yoga teacher attached to the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center in New York. For more information go to www.karanbajaj.com
Evolutionary Provocateur
