The Voracious Reader

COO, Raymond Lifestyle, is a voracious reader. But, what sets him apart is his ability to read two or even three books parallelly. He effortlessly switches from an intense one like Naseem Nicholas Taleb's to a Jeffery Archer fiction or even life-lessons from the Upanishads. Kumar has read almost every book on management and leadership stories of industry captains. Books, he says, are from where he gets during the pandemic. The book, he says, taught him the importance of reinventing oneself against all odds and finding opportunities in adversity. "Whatever be the situation, the three critical pillars of building a sustainable business are integrity, humility and passion." Just before the pandemic, Raymond had announced plans to reinvent its business. His lockdown read of Microsoft Chairman Satya Nadella's book on how he transformed Microsoft, he says, has been the most appropriate. "I read the book the second time and it made more sense, as Raymond is also going through a transformation. Though the degree of legacy may be different, we are also talking about transforming a legacy business into an agile, customer-focussed organisation," he explains. Kumar is currently reading Adam Grant's . "The book tells you about thinking collectively and not individually. That's so important to shape up your team…"