Meet Vivek| Monday 8AM
Plus, there’s the emotional burnout. In her Harvard Business Review piece, leadership coach Jen Dary calls out what many won’t admit: 1:1s can be emotionally exhausting. This is especially true when meetings are dominated by familiar complaints or recurring issues, week after week.| Monday 8AM
This week, let’s explore the subtle trap of over-alignment. What does it look like in practice? What do we lose when everyone’s always trying to be on the same page? And how can leaders strike a healthier balance — one that leaves space for challenge, tension and originality?| Monday 8AM
But here’s the catch: how you show up in these early days will echo for months, even years. Move too fast, and you risk losing trust. Move too slow, and you risk losing credibility. Either way, missteps made now are hard to recover from.| Monday 8AM
One of the most overlooked tools for team connection sits in the cafeteria.| Monday 8AM
The opposite of this type of deep focus is what neuroscientists call “attention residue” — the fragmented state your brain enters when jumping between multiple tasks without resolution. The biggest culprit? Email. Notifications. Doomscrolling. After all, most people are on their phones before they even get out of bed in the morning.| Monday 8AM
Over coffee a few weeks back, a friend – someone I consider thoughtful and high-performing – let out a sigh and said, “I don’t know what’s happening with my weekends anymore. By Sunday night, I just feel… flat. Like the time slipped through my fingers.”| Monday 8AM
As esteemed industry analyst and thought leader Josh Bersin points out:| Monday 8AM
Becoming a better listener makes you a stronger leader, offering benefits such as:| Monday 8AM
The conference room was buzzing with restless energy. I had just finished a session on career success with a group of young professionals when one brave participant raised their hand and asked, “How do we stay motivated when it feels like nothing we do really matters?”| Monday 8AM
Overcoming the ultimate career paradox – “You can’t get the job without the experience, but you can’t get the experience without the job!”| Monday 8AM
If you’re an Employee: Making the Most of a Skip-Level Meeting| Monday 8AM
Despite incremental progress, women remain underrepresented in Indian boardrooms. How can we accelerate the rate of change?| Monday 8AM
A few months ago, a CEO reached out to me, visibly frustrated. “We’ve been stuck in this loop for weeks,” he said. “Every time we get close to a decision, someone in the team raises a concern, and we go right back to debating. It feels like we’re going nowhere.” He explained that he had been trying to shift his leadership style toward more consensus-based decision-making after receiving feedback that his approach had been too top-down. However, in trying to involve everyone, he fo...| Monday 8AM
A few months ago, an ex-colleague reached out, looking for advice. He had landed a role at a fast-growing startup, attracted by the excitement of working with a visionary founder. But the reality was far from inspiring.| Monday 8AM
I was catching up with an ex-colleague when he mentioned his upcoming vacation. “Ten days in Italy,” he said, sounding almost stressed. “Got the whole itinerary mapped out minute by minute – museum tours, early morning hikes, pasta-making class, networking dinner with some industry folks… Trying to make it as productive as possible.”| Monday 8AM
“Why does she do that?” “What does he want from us?” “I just don’t understand!”| Monday 8AM
Rethink what it means to truly show up| Monday 8AM
The problem? Quiet vacationing doesn’t work for anyone. Employees don’t truly disconnect or recharge, and managers are left guessing about availability. Worse, it feeds a culture of fear and guilt—employees feel pressured to stay plugged in and sneak away from work, rather than openly enjoying the break they’ve earned.| Monday 8AM
And it’s not just personal. Research shows nicknames have ripple effects on workplace dynamics, especially when they cross the boss-employee line. A study by Zhe Zhang and Shuili Du in Harvard Business Review explored how nicknames affect perceptions of power. They asked participants to imagine a boss and employee with the nickname “Panda” (because they always wore black and white).| Monday 8AM
Sometimes, you just need to do less to recharge| Monday 8AM
The first decade of your career lays the groundwork for everything that follows. It’s a time to build momentum, define your reputation, and set the course for your future. But it’s also a period where small, seemingly harmless missteps can quietly hold you back in big ways. In our new book, HeadStart: Unlock the Secrets to Career Success, Sunder Ramachandran and I explore practical strategies to avoid these pitfalls and craft a career that is both rewarding and impactful| Monday 8AM
Similar to a finance department, your brain manages the budget for your body. Is your budget well-balanced or in the red?| Monday 8AM
In that moment, all those career questions that once seemed distant were suddenly right there with me. I felt caught between missing the wild, unpredictable energy of college and wanting to find deeper meaning in my work. That train ride became a moment to hit pause and take stock. Was I really building a life that felt meaningful? Or was I just moving forward without knowing why?| Monday 8AM
Time for a new Learning & Development (L&D) Framework?| Monday 8AM
Make smart choices, find your strengths and shape a career that’s truly yours| Monday 8AM
How pulling back at the right time could catapult your career forward.| Monday 8AM
Don’t let expectations control your life and career| Monday 8AM
Turn emotions into an asset—lead with sensitivity, lead with strength| Monday 8AM
Get grounded to be more agile and resilient| Monday 8AM
Why tearing down walls might be doing more harm than good.| Monday 8AM
The Dilemma of Dry Promotions| Monday 8AM
I once worked with the founder of a rapidly growing startup who used to feel out of place and insecure when networking with industry veterans. She often found herself in rooms filled with more seasoned professionals, grappling with self-doubt and questioning her ability to hold her own in conversations. Despite her success, she felt like she didn’t belong and struggled with imposter syndrome.| Monday 8AM
I was speaking with Selvam, the inspiring founder of Wheelocity – a young company on the quest to transform B2C commerce for Bharat. From the early days, Selvam and his team established certain team practices they follow meticulously. These include a salutation (lovingly greeting each other with “WOW Vandhaachu”, in Tamil), a daily morning huddle, starting every large meeting with the WOW anthem and ensuring that all employees are in the field regularly (wearing their company T-shirts)....| Monday 8AM
With companies being held to a higher standard of care, leaders need to move beyond superficial wellness practices.| Monday 8AM
I was recently advising a bold entrepreneur who was determined to expand into new product categories at breakneck speed. Fuelled by the wild success of their initial products, the company was itching to roll out new offerings in uncharted spaces. However, these new products were not differentiated enough. The company attempted to replicate its previous marketing playbook, not realising that the game was different in these new categories. As a result, the company faced multiple setbacks, leavi...| Monday 8AM
I was recently speaking to a CEO who prides herself on being an empathetic leader. She was concerned that one of her top leaders seemed distracted and had started missing deadlines. She had a strong feeling that something was troubling him in his personal life. She wasn’t sure how to approach the situation without overstepping. She wondered if she should reach out directly, offer him space, or wait for him to come to her. What was the best way to show her support while respecting his privacy?| Monday 8AM
Embracing friction offers surprising benefits. Learn to differentiate between good and bad friction.| Monday 8AM
The problem is, society hasn’t quite caught up with women’s ambitions about ambition. Culturally, women remain in an impossible double bind: if our ambition is career-driven, we’re seen as bossy; if our ambition is family-driven, we’re viewed as unmotivated; if our ambition is to pursue a career and a family, we’re uncommitted to either; Meena Harris, Author and Lawyer.| Monday 8AM
I try to read a lot, usually multiple books or articles at the same time. Lately, however, I’ve felt that I’ve been skimming through the content. Like many of you, I’ve been inundated with information from books, articles, white papers, videos, podcasts, and social media. My ability to read deeply seemed to be eroding in an age of distraction until I decided to change my reading habits.| Monday 8AM
In his Harvard Business Review article, investment banker Brett Martin gives the example of a Greek shipping firm built from the ground up by its two co-founders, Aris and Stavros. After the initial strong growth, revenues plateaued for three years straight. The problem? Aris and Stavros insisted on vetting every single proposal personally, causing massive delays in negotiations and causing most prospective clients to go elsewhere. Martin explains:| Monday 8AM
Recently, I was speaking with a leader who had joined a start-up. She was incredibly accomplished and had a track record to prove it. However, she confided in me that she was experiencing serious self-doubt and questioning whether she had what it takes to make an impact in the new company. As we delved deeper into the issue, we discovered a troubling pattern of subtle biases that she was facing – like being excluded from important meetings and not being given the credit she deserved for her...| Monday 8AM
This can lead to leaders becoming isolated and groupthink taking over. This can also make good people who aren’t part of the inner circle feel excluded and ultimately leave the organization.| Monday 8AM
In her article for the Harvard Business Review, executive coach Melody Wilding also points out the neurological dimension of overthinking. Dubbing overthinkers as “sensitive strivers”, she explains:| Monday 8AM
This is where a personal board of directors comes in.| Monday 8AM
A young founder, who I mentor, was struggling with conflicting advice from his various investors. One of them was pushing to cut costs dramatically to improve profitability. The other was encouraging him to invest more in marketing. Another was asking him to change his channel strategy. The founder was feeling confused, doubting himself and getting anxious about the prospects of his next fund raise.| Monday 8AM
Sometime back, one of the team members who had recently joined the company was asked to complete a challenging assignment. She was relatively inexperienced, and she spent a week trying to complete the work. Unfortunately, her output left a lot to be desired. When I asked her why she had not reached out to her peers or her boss to assist her, she said that “I thought that people would think less of me. I also wasn’t sure how to ask for help. And what if they said no?”.| Monday 8AM
Like many of you, I have grappled with how leaders can nurture both their material and spiritual selves to find deeper meaning and fulfilment. More than a decade back, I had the good fortune to meet acclaimed professor and author, Hitendra Wadhwa, the founder and CEO of Mentora Institute. Through the years, I have learnt from him that within each of us lies a space of highest potential, our inner core. If we can activate this core by cultivating our energies within us, then we can harmonise b...| Monday 8AM
The ego is meant to look after us, to care for us and protect us, and perhaps come looking for us when we seem to be lost. But when we identify completely with that protective figure, we lose the more important story and halt the possible transformation, David Whyte, poet and author.| Monday 8AM
I was recently speaking to someone who had just been settling into her first job. She was excited and working hard to start strong in her company. Unfortunately, she recently learnt that her company needed to cut costs and she was going to lose her job. She was devastated.| Monday 8AM
All the above, in moderation, are par for the course. But when they become a way of life, then you have a problem. Team members are no longer able to differentiate between what is genuinely urgent and what can safely be shelved or done at a later date. As the HBR article remarks:| Monday 8AM
One possible reason is that the word itself is ambiguous. People have different ideas and understandings of love. This is why many leaders may not be comfortable with talking about “love” in the public domain, even if their behaviours and actions strongly reflect it.| Monday 8AM
This week, my message focuses on debunking the myth that longer working hours enhance productivity. Instead, what steps can leaders take to help their teams become more productive during the time they already spend at work?| Monday 8AM
To start with, not everyone wants to get up close and personal with their colleagues Many people feel uncomfortable sharing details of their private life at the workplace — but when co-workers are touted to be “your family”, it can be hard to opt out of such conversations! Managers may feel entitled to knowledge that is irrelevant to their team members’ work outcomes, such as how they spend their free time or even who they spend it with.| Monday 8AM
When problematic behaviours and performance gaps aren’t addressed in time, they can rear their ugly head down the line, leading to failures which could otherwise have been prevented. A lack of timely feedback can prove costly for your team and your company.| Monday 8AM
In the Buddhist school of thought, mudita is one of the most important qualities a person can cultivate, alongside “metta” (loving kindness) and “karuna” (compassion).| Monday 8AM
It creates a space to collectively celebrate achievements and exchange constructive feedback. Done in the right manner, team reflections can help increase trust and transparency and make the relationships among team members stronger.| Monday 8AM
The catalyst for this trend came from the beauty industry. Earlier this year, influencer Mikayla Nogueira was accused of wearing false eyelashes while promoting a new branded mascara on TikTok. This got users questioning the credibility of other popular influencers and brands, sparking the spread of #deinfluencing across categories like fashion, travel, and technology.| Monday 8AM
As leaders, we must develop the ability to not just dole out but also accept tough criticism. If we refuse to see the possibility of error in our judgment, then we will be unable to learn, grow and course-correct — all three prerequisites for success in today’s business arena.| Monday 8AM
For instance, if a manager gives a team member their pick of projects because they went to the same business school or have interests in common — that is personal preference at play. Or if a leader deploys favouritism as a weapon to garner unquestioning support from team members — that is about self-interest. These are examples of toxic favouritism, which impede team unity and undercut the organization’s diversity and inclusion efforts.| Monday 8AM
