Reading books, listening to music and watching videos help Aranca Global CEO relax

Kannan Sivasubramanian, CEO of Aranca Global Research and Advisory, has in the last 100-odd days had a challenging and intriguing time both professionally and personally.

He told ET Panache, "In a way, my reading habit has been influenced by the current external environment. In the first few weeks of the lockdown, it was not books, but reading best practices or experiences to counter the disruption created by the virus that was a priority for me. For example, managing remote teams, internal or external communication in a crisis, employee engagement, new ways to generate business leads, B2B digital marketing and employee safety and well-being."

As things settled down after a rather hectic, chaotic first month, Sivasubramanian got down to reading 'The Infinite Game' by Simon Sinek, 101 Design Methods by Vijay Kumar (work-in-progress), and The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle.


"There are a couple of books on the political side: 'The Accidental Prime Minister '(Manmohan Singh) and 'Inside Cambridge Analytica's Plot to Break the World'. Around 70 per cent of the time, I am reading books or journals or viewpoints on subjects that are relevant to me in my professional life, from B2B sales or marketing to motivating people or teams, innovation, social or technology trends and workplace culture," he said.

The leadership and management style of Sivasubramanian are influenced by his reading but heavily adapted to what he believes is right for the culture and line of business.

"I personally do not believe in status quo—change is possible only when you have the knowledge of what else is doable through reading and learning. Each one of us has had some frustrating days in the last four months, either due to business pressure, lack of activity, fear of catching the virus or just sheer boredom with the new way of living. In these times and frankly, all the time, it is important to keep the mind alert and in a positive frame. Also, there is no better way to do this than through books—there is so much to learn and time is never enough. One piece of advice though – stay away from negative news," he said.

Sivasubramanian spent at least an hour a day reading about current affairs, business, global economy, and technology. "Specifically, when it comes to books of any kind, the time that I allocate to reading fluctuates wildly from a couple of books a week sometimes to not picking a book for a month, perhaps. I rarely get stressed, but when I do, my stressbuster for the day could be reading, music or videos," he said.

The Aranca CEO prefers e-books these days as they are easier to carry when travelling and accessible on multiple devices. "I do not like wearing my reading glasses and hence e-books are more convenient when one needs a larger font. Looking forward to trying out audiobooks soon," he ended.