general

The Leadership Paradox: Why Empty Space Matters More Than Full Schedules

I was trying to set up a meeting with a business owner recently. Every attempt ran into the same wall, a calendar packed for weeks. And when he tried to bring in his senior team, it became an even bigger challenge. Eventually he pulled rank to make it happen, not because everyone genuinely had space, […]

Patience, Empathy, and the Unseen Choices We Make

On a recent flight, after landing, as we waited to disembark, the line came to a halt. A young mother was struggling with her child’s stroller, and within seconds, people began urging her to hurry. That moment stayed with me. For most of us, it was a couple of minutes delay. For her, it was […]

How Top Performers Choose Opportunities, Not Jobs

I had an interesting conversation the other day with a friend who is a senior C level leader. We were discussing if the best people were ever really “looking” for jobs? His view was that if someone is actively putting their CV on platforms like LinkedIn or working with headhunters, it must mean they are […]

Decency as a Compass: Navigating Ethics in Leadership

In my business school ethics class a long time back, I recall an experiment conducted by our professor. Before class, he privately asked me to say something provocative in our class discussion. He would then get angry and throw me out of the class! The purpose was to observe my classmates’ reactions. He wanted to […]

Good Hearts, Heavy Minds: Understanding Mental Health in the Workplace

Today is world mental health day! I have been reading about the growing importance of this subject in our daily lives, particularly in the workplace and have recently discovered a critical aspect, that mental health issues like depression are not signs of weakness, but rather proof of conscience! Good, caring individuals often carry a heavy […]

Time as a Gift: How Age Brings Perspective

In my family, this is the season for birthdays. A lot us are somehow born in these couple of months! And birthdays for older people like myself often carry a different kind of meaning compared to when we were younger. They are more moments of gratitude for health, family, friends and the simple gift of […]

From Sci-Fi to Strategy: Learning Deterrence in Business

I am currently watching a captivating sci-fi series on Netflix called “A Three-Body Problem,” based on the trilogy of books by Chinese author Liu Cixin. The show revolves around aliens threatening to take over the world, and humans strategically using deterrents to prevent this catastrophe. What initially piqued my interest was the realisation that the […]

Why Investing in Your Mind Pays Forever

I have a friend who isn’t much of a reader. In fact, he believes reading is a waste of time and tries to convince me of this whenever we meet 🙄 I imagine many younger people these days would agree with him. A zen master once said, “The shortest distance between a human being and […]

How Environment Shapes Success—More Than Talent

It is challenging to achieve success in an environment dominated by failure. Whenever there is an overall negative sentiment in a business or for that matter in an industry or even a country, it is difficult to overcome. Unfortunately, there is so much of this negativity in all aspects of life in the land of […]

Breaking the Full-Time Myth: Understanding the Power of Fractional Roles

I was recently introduced to someone with the title “Fractional CHRO” This individual worked in that organization two days a week and was involved in similar roles for a few other companies. This person is not alone. I have seen similar situations in other organizations, and I am amazed that many of our organizations have […]