For the rest of the year, I would like to take a moment and thank the people who have had a significant impact on me as an individual.

The way they have lived their lives and their body of work has had an outsized impact on how I think about life in general and and work, in particular.

Some of these are contemporary thinkers and some of them are just a memory. Some of them are famous in their own rights and some of them are yet to be found by others. Some of them are young and some of them are old. Some of them are business leaders, some thought leaders, some sportsmen and some coaches. Some of them are artists and some spiritual leaders.

However, if we look deeply, all of them are like you and me, ordinary people who’ve had an extra-ordinary impact on me and potentially a lot of others. And once you get to know them, may be they will have a similar impact on you as well or maybe not, only time will tell.

The reason I am putting together this list and share what I have learnt from them, to thank them publicly for being a teacher and teaching me important lessons in life and in the hope that some of you might be inspired by their company and they can impact you and your life as they have impacted mine.

So, let’s get started.

9. Matt Church

I have only known Matt for slightly more than a year but the impact he has had on me and my thinking has been nothing short of significant. He has shown me what full spectrum thinking looks like. He has taught me to think in models, metaphors and messages.

He is one of the very few people that I have come across who is as comfortable talking about commerce as he is talking about spirituality; he is as comfortable being intellectual as he is practical; he is as comfortable sharing his experience & expertise as he is bringing out your experience and expertise.

Here is a podcast episode where he shares the width and depth of his thinking and understanding.

He is one of the very few people who can hold a 3 hour virtual session without losing the attention of the audience.

He is as generous as he is commercial. He shares his expertise and books for anyone for free (digital versions). His understanding of leadership in general and thought leadership in particular is deep and wide. You can watch him talk about leadership in a recorded version of a webinar he hosted here.

And the best part about him, the one that has had a profound impact on how I think and approach thinking itself, is his ability to take complex ideas and teach them in easy, simple to understand, learn and follow ideas. This ability makes him a master teacher.

As a teacher he enables all the different forms of knowing – Propositional (knowing something is true), Procedural (knowing how to do some thing), Perspectival (knowing from a specific perspective) and Participatory (knowing by participating in the process of knowledge creation).

He is a brilliant speaker, an engaging story teller, a wise teacher, a practical mentor, an immensely practical coach and a brilliant thought leader.

Conclusion: 

If there is only one thing that you do as a result of reading this blog post, then I would urge you to download his book Think, read it and follow what he recommends in the book. One of the things that we are never taught in any of our formal learning environments is “How to Think” and this book will teach you that. If you can, join his Thought Leaders tribe. I am pretty sure that you will not be disappointed.

Insanely Interesting People who Influenced me: #1 Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt.

Insanely Interesting People who Influenced me: #2 Paulo Coelho.

Insanely Interesting People who Influenced me: #3 Swami Vivekananda.

Insanely Interesting People who Influenced me: #4 Seth Godin.

Insanely Interesting People who Influenced me: #5 Porus Munshi.

Insanely Interesting People who Influenced me: #6 Srinivasa Chakravarthy.

Insanely Interesting People who Influenced me: #7 Dan Ariely.

Insanely Interesting People who Influenced me: #8 His Highness – The Dalai Lama.