An exclusive interview with award-winning author, TEDx speaker, and executive coach Smita Das Jain.

TLT: You’ve built a powerful career across writing, coaching, and public speaking. What inspired your transition from fiction to a leadership-focused non-fiction book like, ‘Leading With Words’?

Smita Das Jain: For me, the shift to non-fiction after writing 4 fiction books was a natural extension of the instinct to understand people, their inner worlds, and how they express themselves. My fiction explores the complexities of human relationships, but this book was born from another part of my world: my career as a senior corporate leader before my pivot and my work as an executive coach. Leading With Words is my first nonfiction, and in many ways, it’s the book I wish had existed years ago.

TLT: You emphasise that communication is the engine of leadership. At what point in your professional journey did this belief truly solidify for you?

Smita Das Jain: For me, this belief didn’t come from one defining moment. It built itself over time, through a series of very personal experiences. Over the years, as I grew into leadership roles and later moved into coaching, I realised communication isn’t a layer on top of leadership. It is the engine that drives it.

TLT: The book offers actionable frameworks for real-world leadership scenarios. How did you ensure these strategies remain practical rather than purely theoretical?

Smita Das Jain: Practicality was not a design choice for me. It was a non-negotiable. Every concept in the book had to pass a simple test: Can someone use this in their conversation? If the answer was no, it didn’t belong in the book.

TLT: As a 3X TEDx speaker and executive coach, you’ve interacted with diverse professionals. What is the most common communication mistake you see leaders make today?

Smita Das Jain: Not communicating enough, and not communicating at the right moments. Careers don’t stall only because of what you lack. They stall because of what you don’t express.

TLT: Tell us briefly about the others you have written. And what are you writing next?

Smita Das Jain: Leading With Words is my first non-fiction. My earlier four books have been fiction, including A Slice of Life, A Price to Love, Twisted Tales and Turns, and Till Fate Do Us Part. As for what I’m writing next, it’s something I’ve never attempted before — written with deep devotion.