YouTube Live · 4 April
The Three-Day Wars — Why Smart Leaders Always Get It Wrong
4 April 2026  ·  7:00–8:00 PM IST  ·  Free to attend
The Three-Day Wars
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Colonel Rajiv Bhargava (Retd)

The Leader Who Commands the Room
Owns the Outcome

Executive coaching, leadership development, and business storytelling programmes for senior leaders and high-growth professionals — forged from two decades of military command and 13 years at ISB.Leadership coaching & storytelling programmes — forged from military command and ISB.

ISB Students Mentoring · 13 Years Army War College Erickson Accredited Coach HSB Faculty · Think Communicate Lead EQ-i 2.0 Certified Emeritus Faculty
Colonel Rajiv Bhargava
20+
Years Military Leadership
13
Years Mentoring at ISB
50+
Executives Coached
10K+
YouTube Subscribers
About

Colonel Rajiv Bhargava

Leadership Development Faculty  ·  Executive Coach  ·  Narrative Strategist

I am a career soldier turned leadership educator, narrative strategist, and executive coach.

After over two decades of command experience in the Indian Army, I now work with leaders who must influence, inspire, and communicate with clarity in complex environments.

In the Army, I had the privilege of commanding a battalion of 1,000 soldiers. I later taught tactics, leadership, and strategy at the Army War College and the Army Air Defence College, shaping the thinking of officers preparing for higher responsibilities.

For the past 13 years, I have been closely associated with the Indian School of Business. At ISB's Manufacturing and Infrastructure Centres of Excellence, I mentored more than 50 action learning projects undertaken by mid- and senior-level managers. I also led commercial operations during the development phase of the ISB Mohali campus, an experience that deepened my interest in large-scale project management and organisational execution.

Today, as Visiting Faculty for Executive Education at ISB, empanelled faculty with Emeritus, and Faculty at the Hari Shankar Singhania School of Business (HSB) where I teach the Think Communicate Lead programme, I work with students and leaders on leadership, executive presence, personal branding, and narrative building.

My work focuses on helping professionals become leaders who can command attention, build trust, and communicate ideas that move people to action. Through workshops and leadership programmes, I design learning experiences on leadership storytelling, business storytelling, data storytelling, brand narrative, and executive presence — drawing on the rigour of military command and the discipline of world-class business education.

I am also an Erickson-accredited executive coach and certified practitioner for EQ-i 2.0 emotional intelligence assessment, working one-on-one with leaders who wish to sharpen their influence and leadership presence.

My work helps leaders move from authority of position to authority of narrative.

Education & Credentials
MBA in Strategy and Finance, Indian School of Business
Masters in Defence Studies, Defence Services Staff College, Wellington
Erickson Accredited Executive Coach
Certified in EQ-i 2.0 Administration
Faculty — Hari Shankar Singhania School of Business (HSB) · Think Communicate Lead
The Economist's Business Writing and Storytelling Online
Institutional & Corporate Engagements

Build Leaders Your Organisation
Can Bet On

Customised programmes for CHROs, L&D heads, and business schools seeking rigorous, battle-tested leadership and communication frameworks.

Executive Education
Leadership & Executive Presence Courses
Full-credit academic programs integrating military strategy, emotional intelligence, and narrative-led leadership — currently delivered at ISB and JK Lakshmipat University.
  • Leadership Skills Accelerator · 15 sessions, 2 credits
  • Professional Skills & Executive Presence · 14 sessions
  • Personal branding, conflict resolution, Kotter's model
  • Capstone case studies & action-learning projects
Explore Education Collaboration
Executive Coaching
One-on-One Leadership Coaching
Erickson-accredited coaching with EQ-i 2.0 psychometric assessment — for senior leaders navigating transitions, building team influence, or developing authentic executive presence.
  • EQ-i 2.0 assessment & structured debrief
  • Conscious Leadership & solution-focused methodology
  • 3-month and 6-month structured formats
  • Virtual or in-person
Enquire About Coaching
Corporate Workshops
Leadership & Storytelling Workshops
Half-day and full-day facilitated workshops for leadership teams — covering business storytelling, data storytelling, executive presence, and strategic communication.
  • Business, brand & data storytelling frameworks
  • Executive presence & gravitas under pressure
  • High-stakes communication & narrative building
  • Fully customisable for your team's context
Request a Custom Programme
Keynotes & Frameworks
Proprietary Frameworks & Keynotes
Drawing from military strategy and 13 years at ISB — frameworks on narrative-led leadership, executive presence, and organisational storytelling for conferences and leadership summits.
  • Executive Influence Matrix™
  • The Influence Pyramid
  • Story-to-Strategy framework
  • 45-min to full-day formats available
Explore the Frameworks
Programmes for Professionals & Growth Leaders

Develop the Presence & Narrative
That Open Doors

Online workshops, in-person masterclasses, and storytelling frameworks for founders, MBA students, and professionals ready to lead with clarity and command.

Online · Monthly Live · YouTube
Data Storytelling for Leaders
Transform complex data into compelling narratives that drive decisions and influence stakeholders.
  • Visual storytelling for non-designers
  • The "So What?" framework for data slides
  • Influencing senior stakeholders with numbers
📅 12 April 2026 ⏰ 2:00–4:00 PM IST 🎥 YouTube Live Free to attend
Learn to build the "insight spine" behind any data presentation — turning tables and charts into a narrative that moves people to act. Includes live critique of participant slides.
The Influence Edge Series
In Person Workshops AIC, ISB Mohali Campus
AIC, ISB Mohali Campus
The Narrative Advantage: Influence Without Authority
Because facts inform, stories mobilise.
Strategic storytelling for influence and growth — pitch narratives, personal brand, and the frameworks behind buy-in. 30 seats only.
  • Pitch storytelling for investors & clients
  • Turning slides into persuasive journeys
  • Framing ideas so people remember and act
📅 18 April 2026 ⏰ 3:00–6:00 PM 📍 Atal Incubation Centre, ISB Mohali Campus ⚡ 30 seats only
Session 2 of The Influence Edge Series. Data informs. Stories persuade. This masterclass teaches you to win buy-in before the vote happens — with personalised feedback on your own pitch or presentation.
Register Now →
The Thinking Behind the Work

Frameworks Built from
Two Decades in the Field

Every programme and coaching engagement draws from proprietary frameworks developed at the intersection of military command, ISB executive education, and certified coaching practice.

01
Leadership Development
The Executive Influence Matrix™
Derived from battalion-level command and refined through 13 years of ISB mentoring — a structured approach to leading with stories that build trust, drive alignment, and create lasting organisational memory.
  • Context — Why this story, why now
  • Conflict — The tension that demands attention
  • Command — The decision and the lesson
  • Consequence — The outcome that changes behaviour
Bring this to your team →
02
Business Storytelling
The Story-to-Strategy Bridge
A framework that converts raw business narratives — founder stories, data presentations, investor pitches — into structured influence sequences that move stakeholders from attention to action.
  • The "So What?" spine for data stories
  • The three-act pitch architecture
  • Brand story anchoring for personal credibility
  • The callback close for high-stakes rooms
Use this in your next pitch →
03
Executive Presence
The Influence Pyramid
Drawn from executive coaching practice and EQ-i 2.0 psychometric research — a layered model of presence building from self-awareness through interpersonal authority to organisational influence.
  • Layer 1 · Emotional self-regulation (EQ-i foundation)
  • Layer 2 · Conscious communication under pressure
  • Layer 3 · Relational authority & trust capital
  • Layer 4 · Narrative gravitas at the systemic level
Start with a coaching intake →
04
Executive Coaching Process
The Conscious Leader Process
The structured coaching engagement model — from intake through EQ-i 2.0 assessment to outcome-focused development — used with senior leaders across industries and geographies.
  • Phase 1 · Discovery & EQ-i 2.0 psychometric baseline
  • Phase 2 · Goal-anchored coaching sessions
  • Phase 3 · Narrative & presence integration
  • Phase 4 · Sustained leadership practice
Enquire about a coaching engagement →
In the Room

Workshops & Stories in Action

From Business Schools to Classrooms across India — photographs from the room alongside recorded sessions on YouTube.

Start Here

The Podcast —
Leadership Through Story

New episodes monthly. Get notified so you never miss a framework worth your time.

Leadership · Start Here
Why Leaders Tell Stories
The case for narrative as a leadership tool — why the most effective leaders across history and business have always led with story.
Storytelling Series
Storytelling · Foundation
Building Blocks of a Story
The foundational framework every leader needs before any presentation, pitch, or difficult conversation. Where all great storytelling begins.
Storytelling Series
Data Storytelling
Shaping Your Narratives with Data
How to turn numbers into narratives that move people — the frameworks behind data-driven influence for leaders and decision-makers.
Data Storytelling Series
Creative Communication
Shaping Narratives with Creative Metaphors
Why the most memorable leaders speak in metaphors — and a practical method for finding the right one for your message.
Storytelling Series
Storytelling · Identity
Weaving Your Own Narratives
How leaders craft and own their personal narrative — the story of who you are, what you stand for, and where you are headed.
Storytelling Series
AI · Perspective
Prompt Engineering Through Ancient Sutras
A surprising lens on modern AI — how ancient Indian sutras reveal the logic behind effective prompting and structured thinking.
Leadership & AI Series
Philosophy · AI
Before Neural Networks — There Was Indra’s Net
An ancient Vedic metaphor that anticipated the interconnected logic of modern neural networks — and what it tells us about intelligence itself.
Leadership & AI Series
Mythology · AI
The World’s First Deep Fakes — A Kurukshetra Story
How the Mahabharata contains the world's earliest recorded instances of deception through illusion — and the leadership lessons within.
Leadership & AI Series
AI · Ethics
Ethics in Artificial Intelligence
Understanding ethical considerations and responsible AI usage — the questions every leader must grapple with as AI reshapes organisations.
Leadership & AI Series
AI · Leadership
Will AI Replace Humans?
A grounded, leader-focused answer to the question everyone is asking — what AI can and cannot do, and why human narrative still wins.
Leadership & AI Series

Get Notified

New episodes drop monthly. Enter your email and be the first to know — no spam, just frameworks worth your time.

Free Framework

The Executive Influence Matrix™

The 2×2 leadership readiness framework used in executive programmes — understand where you stand and what separates good leaders from great ones.

No spam. One framework. Unsubscribe anytime.

Live Leadership Conversations

YouTube Live Sessions

In-depth live sessions on leadership, decision-making, and storytelling — watch the recordings anytime.

Leadership in Two Minutes

Rapid Fire Leadership Concepts

No fluff. No filler. Just the concept, sharp and ready to use.

A series of 16 short-form episodes for leaders who are short on time but long on ambition. Each episode distils one leadership concept into two minutes — watch between meetings, on the move, wherever you are.

New episodes every week — never miss a concept.

Subscribe on YouTube
Series Progress
5 of 16
02
Lead Your Relationships
Trust  ·  Communication  ·  Listening  ·  Feedback
Ep 05–08
Episode 05
They Promoted You. Not Your Peers
⏱ ~2 min  ·  YouTube Shorts
Episode 06
Your Long Emails Are Making Things Worse
Coming Soon
Episode 07
Why Your Team Keeps Making the Same Mistake
Coming Soon
Episode 08
Your Silence is Not Kindness
Coming Soon
03
Lead Through Storms
Conflict  ·  Delegation  ·  Equanimity  ·  Adaptability
Ep 09–12
Episode 09
Why You've Stopped Speaking Up in Meetings
Coming Soon
Episode 10
You're the Bottleneck. And You Know It.
Coming Soon
Episode 11
The Room is on Fire. Don't Be the Smoke.
Coming Soon
Episode 12
I Was Wrong. There. I Said It.
Coming Soon
04
Lead with Legacy
Narrative  ·  Culture  ·  Mentorship  ·  Courage
Ep 13–16
Episode 13
Nobody Gets Excited About Your KPIs
Coming Soon
Episode 14
The Values on Your Wall Are Lying
Coming Soon
Episode 15
Irreplaceable is Actually a Trap
Coming Soon
Episode 16
You're Already Qualified. You Just Haven't Started.
Coming Soon
For the Curious Leader

Curated Reading List & Literature References

Books that have shaped the thinking behind every programme and coaching engagement at Leaders Weave Stories.

Foundational Texts
Story
Robert McKee · 1997
The definitive guide to narrative structure. McKee's concept of the 'gap' between expectation and reality is essential for understanding why Act II is the heart of every leadership story.
The Hero with a Thousand Faces
Joseph Campbell · 1949
The origin of the three-act structure in world mythology. Leaders will recognise their own journeys in the hero's arc: the call, the crucible, the return with the gift.
The Storytelling Animal
Jonathan Gottschall · 2012
The neuroscience and evolutionary biology of why humans cannot function without narrative. Excellent for leaders who need to justify the value of storytelling to data-driven teams.
Leadership Storytelling Texts
Lead with a Story
Paul Smith · 2012
The most practically structured book on leadership storytelling. Contains 21 types of leadership stories with real corporate examples. Required reading for any manager or founder.
Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins
Annette Simmons · 2007
Simmons's 'six stories you need to know' framework powerfully complements the five-lens inventory. Her concept of 'story as influence' (not manipulation) is ethically important.
Stories That Stick
Kindra Hall · 2019
Hall's four story types directly map to leadership contexts. Her 'normal, explosion, new normal' structure mirrors the three-act spine precisely.
Personal Brand & Narrative
Reinventing You & Stand Out
Dorie Clark · 2013 & 2015
The most rigorous treatment of how personal narrative builds professional positioning. Clark's research-backed approach is ideal for senior managers in transition.
Start with Why
Simon Sinek · 2009
The Golden Circle framework bridges narrative and brand. Every leader should map their three-act story onto Sinek's WHY–HOW–WHAT before pitching or presenting.
Hit Refresh
Satya Nadella · 2017
An Indian CEO's three-act leadership narrative applied to corporate transformation. One of the finest examples of how a personal story of vulnerability built an entire company's cultural pivot.
Neuroscience & Influence
Made to Stick
Chip Heath & Dan Heath · 2007
The SUCCES framework is the diagnostic tool for testing whether your narrative is sticky or forgettable: Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional, Story.
The Power of Moments
Chip Heath & Dan Heath · 2017
Explains why Act II crucible moments are the ones that define identity. The concept of 'defining moments' aligns precisely with signature story identification.
Resonant Leadership
Boyatzis & McKee · 2005
Grounded in emotional intelligence, this book shows why leaders who reflect publicly build trust and resonance faster than those who do not.
India-Specific Leadership Reading
The Case of the Bonsai Manager
R. Gopalakrishnan · 2007
The Tata veteran's exploration of how Indian leaders develop. Rich with story-as-lesson case studies from Indian corporate history.
India Unbound
Gurcharan Das · 2000
A sweeping narrative of India's economic journey told through personal and political stories. Essential for any leader wanting to contextualise their own story within India's larger arc.
Ratan Tata — Talks & Lectures
Various interviews
Tata's public storytelling — the Nano narrative, the JLR acquisition, the Corus story — are masterclasses in three-act leadership narrative deployed at national scale.
Get in Touch

Let's Talk About
What You're Building

Whether you're a CHRO evaluating a leadership programme, a founder preparing for an investor room, or an MBA director looking for a faculty partner — start with a conversation.

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