The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma Ep 437: Gautam John is Figuring it Out
Use Yearly Sensemaking, Not Single Dashboards
- Measure impact as a spectrum over time, not single-point dashboards.
- Ask partners yearly: what you set out, what happened, and what you'll change next.
Leadership Need Not Be Lonely
- Loneliness is not an inevitable part of leadership; it's a flaw in the hero model.
- Co-leadership and shared containers make hard work generative and less solitary.
Let Values Emerge Through Shared Doing
- Model values through repeated doing and rhythm, not glossy declarations.
- Create shared practices so teams internalise values by acting together.
He studied law, found success as an entrepreneur, and has since spent almost two decades in the social sector trying to make the world a better place. Gautam John joins Amit Varma in episode 437 of The Seen and the Unseen to share his reflections on society, technology, gender, friendships, fatherhood, the crisis of masculinity and his journey towards figuring out the world and himself. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Gautam John on LinkedIn, Twitter, IDR, Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies and Substack. 2. From Strength to Strength — Arthur Brooks. 3. An Ode to Meanderness -- Episode 434 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Pranay Kotasthane). 4. The Final Episode -- Episode 128 of Everything is Everything. 5. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Mohit Satyanand: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. 6. The Surface Area of Serendipity -- Episode 39 of Everything is Everything. 7. Hikikomori. 8. Laayak. 9. The Loneliness of the Indian Man — Episode 303 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nikhil Taneja). 10. The Loneliness of the Indian Woman — Episode 259 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shrayana Bhattacharya). 11. India Moving — Chinmay Tumbe. 12. India = Migration — Episode 128 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Chinmay Tumbe). 13. Dreamers: How Young Indians Are Changing Their World — Snigdha Poonam. 14. Young India — Episode 83 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Snigdha Poonam). 15. Of Boys and Men -- Richard Reeves. 16. Inside the Hearts of Men and Women -- Episode 118 of Everything is Everything. 17. Understanding Human Sexuality -- Episode 126 of Everything is Everything. 18. Everything that turned out well in my life followed the same design process — Henrik Karlsson. 19. Unboxing Bengaluru — Malini Goyal and Prashanth Prakash. 20. Malini Goyal is the Curious One — Episode 377 of The Seen and the Unseen. 21. Testaments Betrayed — Milan Kundera. 22. Ken Wilber's Integral Theory. 23. Pucar. 24. Everybody's Free To Wear Sunscreen -- Baz Luhrmann. 25. Pratham Books. 26. The Center for Internet and Society. 27. Bistecca Tuscan Steakhouse. 28. The Life and Times of Shanta Gokhale — Episode 311 of The Seen and the Unseen. 29. The Incredible Curiosities of Mukulika Banerjee — Episode 276 of The Seen and the Unseen. 30. The Life and Times of Gurcharan Das -- Episode 425 of The Seen and the Unseen. 31. Seeing Like a State — James C Scott. 32. Rohini Nilekani Pays It Forward — Episode 317 of The Seen and the Unseen. 33. Bridging toward Belonging -- Brian Stout's Substack. 34. Relational State Capacity -- Dan Honig. 35. Team of Teams -- Stanley McChrystal. 36. Emergent Strategy -- adrienne maree brown. 37. Mother Mary Comes to Me -- Arundhati Roy. 38. Stain -- Sarah Joseph. 39. Heart Lamp -- Banu Mushtaq. 40. Babel -- RF Kuang. 41. Quarterlife -- Devika Rege. 42. Brotherless Night -- VV Ganeshananthan. 43. Exhalation -- Ted Chiang. 44. The Glass Hotel -- Emily St John Mandel. 45. Nilgiris - A Shared Wilderness -- Sandesh Kadur. Amit Varma and Mohit Satyanand run a course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here. And have you read Amit's newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It's free! Also check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: 'Figuring' by Simahina.