Unlocking Potential Through Purpose, Communication and Leadership
Deepak Gupta, with decades of global leadership experience, presents a powerful blueprint to help individuals overcome invisible barriers and achieve lasting success.
Deepak Gupta brings a wealth of global leadership experience to the pages of Reader’s House Magazine. With more than five decades of international exposure and three decades at the helm of Procter & Gamble across various regions, he stands as a testament to purposeful ambition and deeply reflective thinking. His transition from the corporate world to authorship is far from a retreat—it is a mission-driven shift to empower others. In our conversation, Deepak discusses the driving force behind his book Success is a Choice, a guide born from his desire to uplift individuals held back by subtle, often overlooked skill gaps. Grounded in empathy, clarity and actionable insight, Deepak’s philosophy is rooted in the belief that success is not a matter of chance—it is a deliberate outcome of mindset, communication, and purposeful action. His perspectives are not only timely but transformational, offering readers a refreshing, deeply practical take on unlocking personal and professional potential.
A compelling guide packed with wisdom, empathy, and real-world insight from a seasoned leader turned author.
What inspired you to transition from a senior executive role to becoming an author?
I had set a target to leave corporate life before I turned 55, giving me sufficient active time to lead a life of my choice. I got the opportunity at 53. Apart from business startups, a key objective for me was to share my experiential learnings for benefit of others. This was my way of giving back to society.
I have seen numerous brilliant people struggle at work because they are unable to succeed beyond a certain point as they lack some inexplicable skills. Even more worryingly, these work frustrations were affecting their personal and family lives. I decided to distil my learning into a book to help these talented individuals. ‘Success is a Choice’ is my attempt to demystify these skills and illustrate how to develop them and reach your full potential.
Can you share a key lesson you learned during your time at Procter & Gamble that influenced your approach to leadership?
There are a few, and I have delved into these at length in ‘Success is a Choice’. I will call out two here:
First, Success isn’t merely a destination — it’s a continuous journey fuelled by intentional choices and committed action. No one, other than the individual, can define and evaluate his/her success.
Second, individual brilliance, by itself, is not enough. A leader must engage and enable his/her team to gain their commitment. This can only be achieved through empathy and compassion; control suboptimizes individual as well as team potential and performance.
In your book ‘Success is a Choice’, you focus on the skills that lead to success. Which of these do you believe is most underdeveloped in individuals today?
Communication is one of the most important factors for individual success or failure, not only in professional but also in personal lives. Unfortunately, it is also the most underdeveloped skill in individuals today. Communication is often confused with the ability to converse or speak. Not many realize that effective communication is the art of using sight, sound, feel and thought to succinctly convey exactly what we want to share. Few quotes from ‘Success is a Choice’ :
“THOUGHT is the mind, and FEEL is the heart of effective communication; both are essential to enhance its efficacy and impact. ‘Feel’ creates the awareness and understanding and ‘thought’ brings coherence and mindfulness.”
“Though intuitive that a thought is an essential first step, ‘Think’ is an oft-forgotten part of the communication cycle. This ‘given’ is often neglected and communication starts without ‘Think’, leading to either communication problems and misunderstandings, or ends up being ineffective.”
How has your experience living and working in different countries shaped your perspective on leadership and success?
I was born and brought up in India, one of the most diverse countries in the world. Working for a global company gave me the opportunity to live in six culturally different countries and work closely with colleagues from more than twenty nationalities. This unparalleled exposure to different cultures and traditions gave me excellent insights into people psyche. It helped me create an inclusive environment that thrives on diversity and allows everyone to perform at their full potential.
I also realized and appreciated that despite the cultural diversity, the success skills are constant across the world. As a result, ‘Success is a Choice’ provides a blueprint and empowers global readers with a practical framework to elevate their professional and personal lives and achieve their goals.
What do you consider the most common mindset barriers that prevent people from reaching their full potential in the corporate world?
‘We’ ourselves, are our biggest barrier. We are too conscious about what others may think and say. Instead of laser-like focus on what really matters, we spend inordinate tome on gaining others’ approval; this compromises our potential and performance.
Could you discuss the role of spiritual and sociological teachings in shaping your views on success and personal growth?
Yes, it has impacted my outlook towards success. The concept of focusing on your actions rather than worrying about the result is ingrained in spirituality and is the bedrock principle for happiness.
I am a firm believer that only our actions are in our control, not their consequence; the result is an outcome of how well we perform our actions, duties and responsibilities. Fretting over Results, which are not in our control, causes undue anxiousness, stress, and frustration and in fact compromises what is in our control — our designated actions, taking us further away from success.
What advice would you give to other authors who aspire to write self-help books based on their professional experiences?
Be courageous and do not hesitate to share your professional and personal experiences. Even seemingly simple learnings can be invaluable for young people in quest for knowledge and wisdom. Our experiences can help them avoid the mistakes that we made in our lives. A common theme in the feedback on my book is, “I wish ‘Success is a Choice’ was available to me when I started my career.”
