Given the increasing burnout rate in the Healthcare industry and our desperate need to have great leaders in place, the art of cultivating resilience becomes key. In this episode, I am in conversation with renowned Suneel Gupta, a famous Author and Entrepreneur.
Suneel Gupta shares his unique journey through a diverse career background, including law, an MBA, and involvement in healthcare innovation. His story involves entrepreneurial ventures, including working at Groupon and his many struggles in the journey of entrepreneurship. Suneel emphasizes the pivotal moments of failure and the lessons learned from setbacks, such as his experience as a speaker at the Failure Conference and the subsequent viral New York Times article featuring him as the "poster child for failure." He turned this vulnerability into an opportunity, reaching out to admired individuals for advice, leading to insightful conversations, and eventually shaping his current role as a global traveler, meeting top achievers, and exploring the habits that contribute to success.
The conversation delves into the cultural perspective on failure, with Suneel acknowledging the challenges and shame associated with failure but highlighting the profound learning experiences and personal growth that arise from setbacks. He shares the concept of kintsugi, a Japanese art form symbolizing the beauty in repairing broken objects with golden lacquer, drawing parallels to embracing our vulnerabilities. The discussion transitions to resilience, with Suneel emphasizing the importance of daily moments in cultivating resilience. He introduces the Sanskrit concept of upeka, finding comfort in discomfort, and Viktor Frankl's idea of creating a space between irritation and response for true freedom.
Suneel concludes by stressing the distinction between resilience and post-traumatic growth, advocating for the integration of reflective moments and self-love to facilitate genuine personal development.
About
As the founding CEO of RISE, a breakthrough wellness company, Suneel Gupta helped thousands of people build better habits for life and work. Now as a bestselling author and Harvard Medical School visiting scholar, Suneel has taken his mission one step further – helping people reset, reignite, and find meaning in their work by bolstering emotional resilience and engagement. Suneel asks, “How can an organization excel on the outside if its people are exhausted on the inside?” Grit and hustle are simply not a long-term answer to dealing with non-stop change and stress. Suneel offers leaders and teams a better way to work; one that results in sustainable innovation, productivity, and fulfillment. He arms people with science-based habits that will avoid burnout, boost energy, and improve their professional and personal lives.
Suneel is a business survivor and the author of the international bestselling book Backable (2020). That book is rooted in his inner journey from a twice-failed entrepreneur to becoming a leader behind two IPOs and being named “The New Face of Innovation” by the New York Stock Exchange. The book reveals the mindset shifts and hidden habits of people who are extraordinary at pushing new ideas forward.
In his transformative book, Everyday Dharma (2023) codifies Suneel’s mission to help people reset, reignite, and re-engage through a timeless practice called Dharma. Simply put, Dharma brings “who you are” and “what you do” into alignment. When we’re aligned, we can produce our best work and lead ourselves and others effectively, experiencing true joy along the way.
As a visiting scholar at Harvard Medical School, Suneel researches and teaches the interconnection between inner well-being and outer leadership. He is also an emissary for Gross National Happiness between the United States and the Kingdom of Bhutan.