Dr. Sunil Unny Guptan is a professor, mentor, life & executive coach, author, entrepreneur, motivational speaker, corporate educator, journalist, social thinker… He is based out of Hyderabad, India. He is a mentor and executive coach to several CEOs and top leaders in the corporate sector, government, and public life. He is a popular speaker and consultant in India and other geographies. He has been teaching at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) for over 22 years, and is also Adjunct Professor at IIM Udaipur (IIMU) for over a decade. As a Visiting Professor, he has been teaching at the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad and Mohali for the past 10 years. He has been Faculty Resource of the Duke University’s Global Learning Resource Network, and other ExecEd-Tech organisations like XED, Emeritus, etc., in Senior Executive Education. He is the author of four books, and several scholarly and journalistic articles. He focuses now on giving people’s life and career a positive makeover, and on using technology in outreach efforts in the area of happiness, emotional wellness and managing relationships.
Dr. Guptan has lived his passion over the past four decades in working with people and helping them help themselves. He has worked as a popular educator and consultant to several top organisations in India and other geographies, and his work currently centers on individualised learning and development, and redesigning careers and lives for top and senior executives through executive coaching and mentoring.
He now heads ‘Touching Lives’. In founding ‘Touching Lives’ in mid 2006, Dr. Guptan looks to making a significant difference in the lives of people. He is also Director of ‘Emotions Toolbox Pvt. Ltd.’, focusing on leveraging technology platforms to promote healthy social and personal relationships, emotional health, happiness and psychological wellness.
Dr. Guptan began his career working as a journalist with the Indian Express, before he moved to Osmania University (Hyderabad, India) as member of the faculty, to teach Communication and Journalism. In 1987, on leaving Osmania University, he joined Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI). He was a Professor in the Human Resources Area at ASCI till mid-1997. From then to 2006, he was the Director of FORDE Consultants Pvt. Ltd.
As Adjunct Professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA), and in Udaipur (IIMU), Dr. Guptan continues to teach courses in ‘Difficult Communication’, ‘Communication Skills for Leadership and Team Effectiveness’, ‘Coaching and Counselling’ and ‘Managerial Communication’. He is Visiting Professor with the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad and Mohali, and has been a part of the Global Learning Resource Network of
Duke University’s Corporate Education initiative and other EdTech organisations like XED, Emeritus, etc., in Senior Executive Education in the areas of leadership, managing teams, mentoring and coaching, managing change, and other areas of organisational behaviour.
As a popular educator, Dr. Guptan’s experience covers training Chief Ministers, Cabinet ministers, CEOs and top executives and officials in industry and the Government, officers in Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service, and Indian Police Service, doctors and healthcare professionals, trade union leaders and school teachers. He has also been associated with several organisations in setting up mentoring and other specialized L&D initiatives. He has also been Independent Director on the board of corporate organisations.
Dr. Guptan has a Ph.D., in Communication and Organisational Behaviour, a Master’s degree in Communication and Journalism, and an Honours degree in Chemistry at graduation from Osmania University, Hyderabad, India. He has also trained at the School of Public Policy in the University of Birmingham, U.K., on a British Council Fellowship.
Dr. Guptan’s fourth book, ‘Mentoring 2.0 – A Practitioner’s Guide to Changing Lives’ was released in August 2018 (1st edition – Sage Publications & 2nd edition – Atlantic Publishers in 2024). His second book, ‘Mentoring – A Practitioner’s Guide to Touching Lives’ was released as a part of the All-time Classics series in 2013 by Sage Publications (1st edition in 2006) and ‘Executive Coaching – A Practitioner’s Guide to Creating Excellence’ was released in November 2011 (1st edition – Sage Publications & 2nd edition – Atlantic Publishers in 2024). He has also co-authored another original book on ‘Indian Management’, released in 1991 (Vision Books). He is now working on others on ‘Leadership’, ‘Managing Human Relations in Organisations’ and ‘Communication Skills’. He has also contributed several scholarly articles in journals and monographs, and chapters in books. He has written over 80 journalistic and popular articles in various magazines and newspapers on subjects ranging from television and social processes to medical sciences and wildlife. He has also written and produced several radio and educational television programmes.
Dr. Guptan’s professional interests are in the area of Leadership, Mentoring and Executive coaching, Emotional resilience and happiness, Human relations and organisational behaviour, Communication behaviour and skills, Team work and dynamics, Organisational learning and HRD systems. His other interests include human social behaviour, traveling, creative writing, and wildlife.
Widely traveled within and outside India, Dr. Guptan enjoys people and studying cultures, behaviours and societies. Dr. Guptan invests his personal time in counseling and helping people cope with and repair strained relationships and troubled lives.
