At a time when global leadership narratives are overwhelmingly dominated by Western voices, one Indian author is methodically, and powerfully rebalancing the bookshelf.
Priya Kumar, internationally acclaimed author and motivational speaker, has emerged as India’s most sought-after biography specialist, chronicling the lives of the nation’s most influential business leaders, institution builders, and legacy makers, not as case studies, but as deeply human journeys of conviction, consequence, and choice.
Often referred to by European media as “The Paulo Coelho of India”, Kumar’s work occupies a special space where leadership meets philosophy, and success is examined not merely by scale, but by values, resilience, and long-term impact.
With over three decades of experience, 17 bestselling books, and 47 international awards, Priya Kumar has worked across 51 countries, engaging with leaders, founders, CXOs, and change-makers at defining moments of their journeys. But it is her work as a biography specialist that is increasingly drawing global attention.
Documenting Leadership, Not Just Success
Unlike traditional business biographies that focus on outcomes, valuations, or milestones, Priya’s work is known for its editorial depth and ethical access, capturing the internal architecture of leadership:[Text Wrapping Break]how decisions were made, how failures reshaped thinking, how institutions were built to outlast individuals.
Her published biographies include leaders such as O.P. Munjal (Hero Group), A.M. Naik (Larsen & Toubro), Pullela Gopichand, Vasu Shroff, and Subhashish Chakraborty (DTDC), works that are widely read not only as life stories, but as leadership texts across boardrooms and classrooms.
A Landmark Body of Work Coming in 2026
In 2026, Priya Kumar will release a formidable line-up of official biographies that together form one of the most comprehensive documentation efforts of modern Indian enterprise:
- Babasaheb Kalyani – Chairman & MD, Bharat Forge
- Shashi Ruia – Founder, Essar Group
- Avinash Kaul – CEO, Network18
- Sunder Genomal – Chairman, Page Industries (Jockey India)
- Niranjan Hiranandani – Chairman, Hiranandani Group
- Ramesh Kumar Dua – Managing Director, Relaxo Footwears
- Firoz Merchant – Chairman, Pure Gold
Spanning manufacturing, infrastructure, media, real estate, retail, and consumer brands, this body of work reflects Priya’s larger purpose: to bring Indian leadership thinking to the world, in India’s own voice.
Reclaiming the Narrative of Leadership
“India has built extraordinary institutions,” Priya says. “But for decades, we have outsourced the language of leadership to the West. My work is about restoring confidence in our own journeys, principled, long-term, people-centric leadership that the world can learn from.”
At its core, her work is not about nostalgia or hero worship. It is about hindsight as wisdom, allowing leaders to see their lives whole, decode their patterns, and offer future generations something far more valuable than success stories: clarity.
As Indian enterprise enters a phase of generational transition, Priya Kumar’s biographies are fast becoming cultural documents — preserving not just what was built, but how and why it endured.
EDITOR’S NOTE / MEDIA ANGLES
- Why India needs its own leadership canon
- Biography as a leadership intervention
- The woman documenting modern Indian enterprise
- From family businesses to global institutions: decoding Indian success
- Why Western leadership frameworks are incomplete without Indian context
