Discover the Alchemist Within: Taking the First Step Towards Personal Growth

You are more! You are more than the roles you play in your life, more than a set of behaviours, more than what you have been told you are. So, then, who are you? This question beckons you to commence on what may be the biggest adventure of a lifetime―the journey of discovering yourself.

In this book, the authors shift the focus from the utilitarian paradigm of ‘being the best’ to ‘being more of yourself’. This is a book for those wanting to embark upon the path of self-discovery and wholeness. It deftly weaves together elements from Karnatik music, psychology, Eastern and Indian principles of life and living to help individuals, leaders and organization systems to build meaningful agency and live integrally in the times we are in.

The exploration is made more exciting by the 4 worlds and 16 symbolic identities that exist within each of us. The book gives expression to every human being and helps readers identify the constellation of identities that are uniquely playing out in their lives. Psychological identities like the Mother, the Trickster, the Warrior and the Ruler have been part of the inner worlds of all of us and will continue to be. The book brings to fore the patterns, dilemmas, gifts and the drama of the different worlds and their inhabitants, and by befriending them, we befriend parts of ourselves. We become more.

Kartikeyan V. is a leading Leadership and Organization consultant, coach and facilitator. With 20 years of experience in top management roles in human resources (HR) prior to his consulting, he has a significant appreciation of the challenges of the real world of executives working in volatile/dynamic contexts and structures. In addition, with his intimate engagement for over two decades with the ‘process-work’ movement in India, he imbues his work with a distinctive flavour of process-work technologies of understanding behaviour and the psychodynamics
of systems. He has worked with and facilitated several teams from diverse industries.

Kartikeyan is a fellow of Sumedhas Academy for Human Context. He is also a trained flautist and has performed Karnatik music in several concerts. The Transformative Alignment Map (TAM) was born out of his dream of finding a space of correspondence between Karnatik music and the fields of the behavioural sciences and organization development (OD).

Rachna Nandakumar is a consultant in the areas of Strategic Human Resources and Organization Development. A human resource and learning professional with 15 years of experience, her primary areas of work have been in organization effectiveness, leadership development, change management, talent management and group facilitation. She believes very strongly in the spirit and potential of people and systems and works towards unleashing this energy and potential for increased organizational health where people are more productive, successful and fulfilled. 

Rachna is a fellow with Sumedhas Academy for Human Context. She is certified in and administers several psychometric instruments as part of her consulting work. Rachna is also a trained dancer and continues to explore this art form. Rachna has published in The Hindu Business Line and in the journal of the National HRD Network, India.

Viswanath P. is the President and CEO of the Institute of Transformational Coaching LLC, an organization focused on building transformative, ecosystemic leadership. He is an experienced executive coach and leadership development professional with over 23 years of organizational experience across a diverse set of industries including IT, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), retail, power and manufacturing.

Vishy is a credentialed coach and a part of the Forbes Coaches Council. He works with senior leaders across the globe, spanning Asia, Middle East and the USA enabling them to lead successfully in times of increasing complexity and uncertainty. Vishy has also worked with several Fortune 500 organizations facilitating senior leadership retreats focused on strategy, culture building and leadership development.

Vishy is an avid trekker and has summited Mount Kilimanjaro and has been to the Everest Base Camp. He writes for Forbes and has been published in the Hindu Business Line and Vikalpa.