I lived in books more than I lived anywhere else
Career pivots and How to make them happen? We oft get questions around how to make career transitions From a program to a product manager. Or a software engineer to a data scientist. A long while ago, a technical engineer reached out expressing his interest in becoming a data scientist. Long story short, after 8 …
Coffee Chats – Career Pivots and how to make them happen? Read More »
A mentor once told me a secret To do well at the workplace And in life ‘Assuming Goodwill’ Conflicts and disagreements at workplaces, are inevitable There are two ways in which I have seen people handle such – Victimhood and Cynicism The former assumes the mentality of blame – that makes one lose a sense …
Ajay was a lead I had in one of my early roles. Razor-sharp and focussed – he truly emulated the paradigm – “Work like a lion rather than graze like a cow” I recall him telling me to optimise for energy vs time That as a morning person, he started his day quite early – …
On quiet quitting — and whether it’s a good or bad thing Read More »
What is the one thing that makes exceptional leaders? Earlier in my career, I reached out to a women leader – someone I admired but didn’t know at all. She chose to make time for someone who wanted to be her. In my raw ambition, I told her my grand career plans and all that …
How to compete when you don’t have a winning start? We shifted into a new neighbourhood when I was in 5th or 6th grade. Thanks to my mom who worked with the state government, we were eligible to a nice housing quarters that came with a huge jackfruit-trees-laden backyard. It also happened to be near …
How to compete in an arena without a winning start Read More »
Company first – Business Unit Next – Team Third – Individual Last Always. Always think in that order. If you are a working individual solving a problem, always put the company hat first when you think through the solution If you are a hiring manager, please hire for folks with this outlook. If you are …
You could be a people manager or an individual contributor but this holds true nonetheless. When setting goals for self or the team – Set 2 types of goals 80-20 goals and 50-50 goals What does that mean? – A 80-20 goal is one that is 80% likely to get done. It allows realistic completion …
Here are two types of goals setting methods for success Read More »
What is the best piece of advice you have received? ‘You are over-indexed on books . Make time to connect with people to learn more’ We were once discussing an article about how Adobe’s CEO, Shantanu Narayen relies on mentors forged through years of relationships for help in navigating everything And one of the leaders I …
What is the best piece of advice you have received? Read More »
“Face-saving” usually carries a derogatory flavor. People say, “We are doing that just to let them save face,” The tone implies ridicule. This is a grave misunderstanding of the role and importance of face-saving. Especially in working with and managing people. Face-saving reflects a person’s need to reconcile the stand he takes in a negotiation …
Don’t Underestimate the Importance of Face Saving Read More »
How does culture shape the brain? ‘Consider a monkey, bear and a banana’ – which two go together? My first thought? The monkey and the banana. A research I recall reading, uses this example to illustrate how Westerners would say bear and monkey (think categorically and put the animals together) vs East Asians who think …