About the Book
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.
Table of Contents:
Foreword by Anil Sachdev
Preface
Acknowledgements
An Invitation to the Alchemist in You
Introduction to the Transformative Alignment Map
The Four Worlds
The World of Structure and Order
The World of Autonomy and Initiative
The World of Connectedness and Nurturance
The World of Flow and Unfolding
The Sixteen Symbolic Identities
The Administrator
The Artiste
The Collaborator
The Curious Child
The Custodian
The Guide–Mentor
The Healer
The Mother
The Muse
The Provider of Resources
The Ruler
The Strategist
The Troubleshooter
The Trickster
The Warlord
The Warrior–Crusader
The TAM Playbook
The Way Forward
Appendix 1: The Two Axes of Orientation
Appendix 2: TAM Self-assessment/TAM Self-certification
Bibliography
About the Author :
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.
Review :
"A book that brings into the world a rare seeking that is often kept at a distance.... The authors have proposed a ‘musical composition’ that smudges organizational and individual separators, persuading the philosopher and the pragmatist to find each other within themselves."
Through this book, we are introduced to the Transformative Alignment Map (TAM), which is a profound concept that seeks to explain the relationship between the individual and the system. The high level of clarity that the authors have about the concept has enabled them to treat this complex subject with astounding simplicity. The engaging style of writing makes this book a compulsory read.
An alchemist is one who transmutes something ordinary into something special. There is an alchemist in each of us waiting to help know and value ourselves. The authors through their sound philosophical foundation and deep research combined with magical insights have created a framework that allows us to discover our inner nature and helps us align within and with others as well as with the context. Read on to discover yourself and enjoy awakening the alchemist in you….
At a time when more and more individuals search for meaning and alignment in their organizational roles, the authors offer through Discover the Alchemist Within a refreshingly new perspective by means of a bold and ingenious synthesis of the essence of Karnatik music and Jungian psychology. Brilliant!
The TAM, introduced to us through this book, is a refreshing approach to working simultaneously with the layers of self-role in an organizational context. The framework is inviting and yet not definitive in boxing you down. Through a playful yet serious narrative, the authors encourage you to discover and then shape aspects of your stances that contribute to or hinder a more wholesome engagement in multiple roles and systems.
This book is for those serious about creating transformation! The authors have combined their extensive research and work with symbols, and insights from Indian music as they explore the self in roles and organizations. Discover the 16 identities around you, as you work your way to create wholesome integration. Having used their self-assessment myself, I am amazed at how much of me it reveals.
Discover the Alchemist Within is a book that made me think about the dynamic interplay between multiple individual identities and various roles one plays in organizations. Discovery and deeper understanding of these identities help an individual to find that alignment which could catapult one’s effectiveness to newer heights. The state of integration and wholeness is an outcome of perfect alignment in four spaces, namely self and role, role and organization, self and organization, and organization and context. The TAM framework explains this phenomenon. The confluent circle in the TAM model where self, role(s) and organization overlap can be conceived of as the ‘sweet spot’ where energy, capability, values and strategy come together and are in a state of what the book calls ‘transformative alignment’. This is a space that can transform the whole organization and left me thinking if this is the new theory which should be embraced by every organization which aims to become an ‘experienced enterprise’.
The other thought-provoking concept is that of 4 psychological worlds and 16 identities, which takes the reader to delve deeper into their own inner worlds and start the journey of self-exploration and personal growth. Moored in the parallels of Indian (Karnatik) classical music and drawing upon rich metaphors from movies, mythology, popular literature and the like, it’s a dense yet captivating read.
I found this book eminently illuminating and to be offering deep insights. This is a must-read for everyone who seeks personal exploration and growth and certainly leaders and practitioners chartered with fostering and transforming organizations.
A bold greenfield attempt which succeeds handsomely. Kudos to the trio who made this possible.
This book is a lyrical voyage across the psychological worlds of ‘connectedness’, ‘flow’, ‘autonomy’ and ‘structure’ which reside in each of us. It is an engrossing narration of self-discovery which weaves through multiple signposts ranging from the works of Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell, works of poetry and literature to popular movies, scriptures and stories…and brings one to meet and understand the archetypes of personal transformation. A delightful reading, this book itself is a work of alchemy….
Discover the Alchemist Within is a must-read for anyone seeking a rich, meaty, value-added dimension to understand human behaviour. In my 30 years of leadership study, application and teaching, I have rarely encountered a book that has expanded and stimulated me as much as this one. The authors provide fantastic vistas with two paradigm-shifting constructs: the TAM revealing 4 ‘psychological worlds’ and 16 ‘symbolic identities’ or memes. The book reflects the heart of a teacher as it delightfully opens up these vistas for deep dives into refreshing insights that trigger a cascade of epiphanies. This book avoids the boring re-hash of popular and mostly Western-based constructs. By weaving into the reader’s journey an Indian context, one is treated to constant perspectives only that context can provide. As a result, the reader is swept into uncharted waters with expansive potential for incredibly broad and deep revolutionary understandings. So enabled, one is given new ideas with the potential to effect substantive, powerful change.
This book beautifully draws out learnings for living and working from art forms and philosophies that are timeless and elevating, particularly relevant for today’s world of increasing disconnect and discord. In a lilting style, it beckons you to reflect on yourself and recognize your identity/ies, nudges you to be ‘more’ in your roles and, most importantly, to realize the value of harmony and inclusivity.
With rapid changes happening in our life and work contexts, our dominant modes of thinking—systematically and analytically— may not deliver results. There is a need to think holistically about our roles, identities and, above all, our purpose. Discover the Alchemist Within does this by using dominant archetypes to help us understand ourselves better. The TAM allows us to examine our self, role, organization and contextual realities, and find coherence and resonance.
