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The Leader's Oracle
Using Ancient Wisdom to Improve Strategy and Decision-Making
Table of Contents
About The Book
Through this uniquely powerful framework, readers examine and harness the timeless wisdom of the ancients to help their own business and career:
- operate at the edge of clarity
- interpret patterns and possibilities
- provoke transformation, not comfort
- serve the powerful, but answer to the truth
- protect future-facing wisdom in a reactive world
This unique framework on business strategy and leadership explores a critical paradox in today’s corporate environment: in a world obsessed with operational excellence and short-term wins while struggling with historic transformational changes, we often neglect the voices of the long-term thinkers, the strategic questioners, the ones who highlight or introduce ambiguity to force clarity. The Leader's Oracle serves as a call to arms for leaders, board members, and aspiring strategists to embrace their inner Delphic voice—one that cuts through noise, evokes questions, and drives tectonic shifts, not just tactical maneuvers.
Product Details
- Publisher: Prometheus (February 16, 2027)
- Length: 224 pages
- ISBN13: 9781493097203
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Raves and Reviews
“After decades of working around inspiring leaders, I've come to believe that wisdom—not certainty—is the antidote to uncertainty. In The Leader's Oracle, Roopa Unnikrishnan offers a refreshing perspective for all of us navigating a world that is unpredictable and complex. Rather than chasing easy answers, she challenges leaders to ask better questions, embrace ambiguity, and find clarity through disciplined inquiry. Drawing from both ancient wisdom and modern leadership experience, Unnikrishnan has created a thoughtful and timely guide for anyone seeking to lead with greater insight, courage, purpose, and humanity. This book invites leaders to think deeply, see clearly, and lead wisely.”
– Richard Sheridan
"In an age of fast churn algorithms and impatient leadership, Unnikrishnan makes the case for slowing down and asking harder questions. The Leader's Oracle is a generous and warm guide to strategic judgment, grounded in real organizational experience and illuminated by ancient wisdom."
– Mei Fong, Chief Narrative Officer of Windfall Trust, Pulitzer-winning WSJ journalist and author of One Child: The Past and Future of China's Most Radical Experiment
“An incredible piece of work. The Leadership Oracle is a very ambitious project adding real value to the strategic leadership cannon. It is intellectual, but still down to earth. It showcases the depth of Unnikrishnan's thinking and her understanding of how organizations succeed. I love this concept: Using ancient oracles, especially Delphi to frame strategic thinking - less prediction, more disciplined inquiry and diagnosis.”
– Alan Cay Culler, author The Consulting Road
“I’ve experienced Unnikrishnan to be an exceptional thinker from when we first worked together nearly 30 years ago, and have watched her lead from her role of the strategist across a broad array of industries and contexts. The best strategists live deeply in the space of questions and let those questions open up truths that would never arise from simply marching forward. In The Leader's Oracle, she shows us her craft and opens up her wide experience for all of us to learn from — a generous act and a great gift.”
– Niko Canner, Founder of Incandescent
“The Leader’s Oracle is a sharp, timely call for a leadership grounded in the courage to ask better questions. Unnikrishnan shows why real transformation demands leaders who can hold complexity and think beyond the short term. A compelling book for executives, boards, and changemakers serious about leading with depth, discernment, and vision.”
– Ruchira Gupta, Emmy-winning journalist, best-selling author, and globally recognized advocate for women’s rights
“I really admire the work Unnikrishnan put into this creative and compelling book, and of course especially her keen interest in getting the references to antiquity right. That, combined with her firsthand experience as a CSO, makes for a powerful and engaging read.”
– Keyne Cheshire, Joel O. Conarroe Professor of Classics at Davidson College
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