Intentional Leader with Cal Walters #23: Q&A with Rajiv Srinivasan - How to Read 70+ Books in a Year
Today, you will hear an interview I did with one of my best friends, Rajiv Srinivasan. Rajiv is currently a Global Client Director at LinkedIn, where he manages a worldwide and multifunctional team supporting relationships for 3 of LinkedIn’s top 10 accounts.
Rajiv was on the Dean’s List at West Point and graduated in the Top 5% of his class in 2008. He also earned an MS in Applied Mathematics from Columbia University and will be graduating with his MBA from Wharton this May. His amazing wife Chelsea is also a Wharton graduate.
After graduating from West Point in 2008, Rajiv deployed to Afghanistan as a platoon leader. In Afghanistan, Rajiv did over 300 combat patrols and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and received the Combat Action Badge. Rajiv transitioned out of the military in 2013 and moved out to Silicon Valley. Rajiv was part of the Founding Team at Morta Security, a cyber security company that was acquired by Palo Alto Networks in 2013.
After Morta was acquired, Rajiv became a Enterprise & SLED Account Manager at MobileIron. In 2016, Rajiv became a Global Account Manager at VMWare.
Rajiv is also an Eagle Scout, avid snow skier (you’ll hear him talk about a scary incident he had in Lake Tahoe), musician (he plays guitar, ukulele, piano, and is a vocalist), he has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, has completed the NYC Marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon, and the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon. He has been a contributor for the New York Times and TIME on military and veteran issues.
Rajiv is someone that has inspired me ever since we met at West Point in 2005. In this interview, we discuss his love of books, how he has managed to read 76 books in 2019, his process of doing a digital declutter, and many of Rajiv’s favorite books, including a few surprising recommendations. I really enjoyed this conversation, just like every conversation I have with Rajiv, and I think you will, too.
Below is a list of books and resources we discuss during this interview:
Good Economics for Hard Times by Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo
Atomic Habits by James Clear (I also recommend subscribing to James Clear’s weekly newsletter here. It is short but packed with great information and no spam.)
Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin (this is one of Rajiv’s top 3 recommended books!)
The Shortest Way Home by Pete Buttigieg
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
Grant by Ron Chernow (Here is a LinkedIn Article Rajiv created about this book)
The House of Morgan by Ron Chernow
Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. by Ron Chernow
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
Give and Take by Adam Grant (This is one of Rajiv’s favorite books and it is currently high on my reading list.)
How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan (This was a surprising recommendation by Rajiv. I obviously do not use or condone drug use, but Rajiv makes the point that reading this book really helped him understand a group of people he previously did not understand, which simply highlights the beauty and the power of books to give us understanding and empathy for other humans.)
Although Rajiv intentionally says “no” to many digital platforms (how do you think he reads so much?), you can connect with Rajiv on LinkedIn here. He has also taken the #PlusOnePledge at LinkedIn.
Rajiv also mentioned Gates Notes, which is a reading blog created by Bill Gates, and Goodreads. Rajiv uses these reading resources for inspiration and great book ideas.