Interview with Archana Mohan, author of The Through Line: How understanding who you are empowers how you lead
Archana Mohan, author of The Through Line: How understanding who you are empowers how you lead recommends an important set of books! Before jumping into the interview, please check out Archana's book:
Description from Bookshop.org: (All links earn commission from purchases. Prices accurate at time of writing)
The Through Line: How understanding who you are empowers how you lead
As leaders, we navigate a multitude of lines – reporting lines, dotted lines, bottom lines, deadlines. Yet amidst this web, there is one line that defines our leadership journey: our through line.
What is a through line? Your through line is the psychological core of your leadership story, the golden thread that connects who you are with how you lead. It links your decisions with what matters to you. As you face forward, understanding it provides an anchor in the face of uncertainty. As you uncover it, you discover that understanding who you are is instrumental in unlocking the impact of how you lead.
Discover a three-part framework – reach in, reset, reach out – designed to uncover your through line. Through practical exercises, you’ll identify the essence of your leadership. Through case studies and scientific research you’ll understand why this matters. Armed with this clarity, you’ll navigate change with confidence, lead with intention and inspire those around you. Because intentional leadership begins with clarity, purpose, and the courage to lead from within.
Buy On:
Bookshop.org UK £14.24
Bookshop.org US $17.66
Blackwells £14.299
Waterstones £14.99
Q. Do you have a favourite smart thinking book (and why that book)?
Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. by Brene Brown. Description from Bookshop.org: (All links earn commission from purchases. Prices accurate at time of writing)
One that has had a lasting impact on me is Dare to Lead by Brené Brown. It resonated deeply with how I think about leadership. Not as a function of authority but as a daily commitment to courage, vulnerability and clarity of values. Recently, Brown wrote about the growing need for what she calls 'skill sets, mindsets, toolsets and systems to support feedback cultures, reward critical and anticipatory thinking and foster deep collaboration and inclusivity.' That insight feels especially urgent today, as we all try to navigate chronic uncertainty, shifting technologies and the changing shape of work and life.
Brown’s blend of research and lived experience makes the book practical without ever feeling rigid or formulaic. These ideas align closely with themes in The Through Line, particularly how understanding ourselves can serve as a powerful tool for navigating complexity. Leadership, after all, is like facing a blank page. Each day offers a chance to reach in, reset, rethink and choose how we reach out in the world.
Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.
In her #1 NYT bestsellers, Brené Brown taught us what it means to dare greatly, rise strong and brave the wilderness. Now, based on new research conducted with leaders, change makers and culture shifters, she’s showing us how to put those ideas into practice so we can step up and lead.
Leadership is not about titles, status and power over people. Leaders are people who hold themselves accountable for recognising the potential in people and ideas, and developing that potential. This is a book for everyone who is ready to choose courage over comfort, make a difference and lead.
When we dare to lead, we don't pretend to have the right answers; we stay curious and ask the right questions. We don't see power as finite and hoard it; we know that power becomes infinite when we share it and work to align authority and accountability. We don't avoid difficult conversations and situations; we lean into the vulnerability that’s necessary to do good work.
But daring leadership in a culture that's defined by scarcity, fear and uncertainty requires building courage skills, which are uniquely human. The irony is that we're choosing not to invest in developing the hearts and minds of leaders at the same time we're scrambling to figure out what we have to offer that machines can't do better and faster. What can we do better? Empathy, connection and courage to start.
Brené Brown spent the past two decades researching the emotions that give meaning to our lives. Over the past seven years, she found that leaders in organisations ranging from small entrepreneurial start-ups and family-owned businesses to non-profits, civic organisations and Fortune 50 companies, are asking the same questions:
How do you cultivate braver, more daring leaders? And, how do you embed the value of courage in your culture?
Buy On:
Bookshop.org UK £16.14
Bookshop.org US $26.04
Blackwells £16.99
Waterstones £16.99
Q. What's the most recent smart thinking book you've read (and how would you rate it)?
Moral Ambition: Stop Wasting Your Talent and Start Making a Difference by Rutger Bregman. Description from Bookshop.org: (All links earn commission from purchases. Prices accurate at time of writing)
Moral Ambition by Rutger Bregman is an urgent, thought-provoking read that challenges us to consider how we use our time, resources and talent in service of the greater good. Bregman argues that ambition and moral responsibility are not opposites. Rather, they can and should be aligned. What I appreciated most was the call to action. Moral Ambition invites us to redraw our priorities and reimagine our impact. I would highly recommend it to anyone thinking about how to make a difference that is both ethical and bold.
Moral Ambition: Stop Wasting Your Talent and Start Making a Difference
Every day we’re bombarded with methods, mantras and life hacks that promise us wellness and prosperity – while time and talent remain some of our most squandered resources. The average full-time worker will spend 80,000 hours at their job: are you making the most of them? Do you truly believe in what you do, day in, day out?
What if you want to do something more with your limited time on the planet?
Internationally bestselling author Rutger Bregman shows us that with moral ambition – the will to make the world a wildly better place – we can be both idealistic and successful, and change the world along the way. Uncovering the qualities that made the great change-makers of history so effective, he shows how we too can lend our talents to the biggest challenges of our time, from climate change to inequality to the next pandemic. With moral ambition, we can do more than be on the right side of history: we can make history itself.
This book won’t make your life easier, but it should make it more meaningful. The question is: what will you do with it?
Buy On:
Bookshop.org UK £19.00
Bookshop.org US $27.90
Blackwells £15.00
Waterstones £15.99
Q. Do you have a favourite childhood book?
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson. Description from Bookshop.org: (All links earn commission from purchases. Prices accurate at time of writing)
While it wasn’t a book I read as a child, Harold and the Purple Crayon became one of the most impactful stories during my early years as a teacher. I first encountered it in a Kindergarten classroom in Manhattan, where I watched five-year-olds engage with Harold’s journey as if it were their own. With just a crayon in hand, Harold creates forests, mountains, cities and eventually his own way home. It is a story about imagination, resilience and the quiet power of problem-solving.
For me, the blank page in Harold’s story symbolises both freedom and responsibility. It became a metaphor I carried into the classroom and beyond. I saw how stories, when offered to children with openness and care, could ignite a sense of wonder, creativity and trust in themselves. It remains a touchstone text for me. One I return to often when I need to reset and remember what it means to begin again with curiosity.
Harold and the Purple Crayon
Armed only with an oversized purple crayon, Harold draws himself a landscape full of beauty and excitement. He conducts his adventure with the utmost care, letting his imagination run free, but keeping his wits about him all the while. This magical journey gives us the wondrous sense that anything is possible.
This joyful story has delighted readers of all ages for over fifty years.
Buy On:
Bookshop.org UK £8.54
Bookshop.org US $14.86
Blackwells £8.99
Waterstones £8.99
Q. Do you prefer reading on paper, Kindle or listening to an audiobook?
I still prefer reading on paper, particularly for non-fiction. There’s something grounding about turning real pages, underlining passages and returning to sections that resonate. For me, the physical book, like the blank page, becomes part of the learning process. It offers space to reflect and absorb ideas more fully. That said, I also appreciate audiobooks, especially when the author narrates, as it adds a layer of intimacy and interpretation that can deepen the experience.
Q. Do you have a favourite bookshop (and why that shop)?
Daunt Books
Daunt Books in Marylebone is one of my favourites. It is a beautifully curated space that encourages exploration. I love how books are organised by country, allowing readers to discover fiction, history, travel writing and more in one place. There is a quiet sense of discovery in the shop that mirrors what I try to foster in The Through Line. That connection across disciplines, stories and perspectives can reveal something new. It feels like walking into a space that is full of potential.
Many thanks to Archana for recommending an important set of books! Please don't forget to check out The Through Line: How understanding who you are empowers how you lead.
Daryl
Image Copyrights: (The Through Line: How understanding who you are empowers how you lead), Ebury Publishing (Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.), Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (Moral Ambition: Stop Wasting Your Talent and Start Making a Difference), HarperCollins Publishers (Harold and the Purple Crayon).
< Home
