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A person first, a professional later
I had a profound conversation with a fellow professional the other day on what truly makes people perform at the highest level. And unlike most discussions on this topic, we didn’t bother to discuss skills, knowledge, and attitude — attributes that make up most of all theories, including peer-to-peer studies, on employee engagement and high-performance.…
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Build routines around your life, not the other way around
The struggle around routines, motivation, and clarity on the direction one wants to take in life are real. But mindlessly mocking others isn’t going to help, even if your gurus have you convinced that success leaves clues. The proven way to accomplish any achievement is to understand oneself truly. Nothing more. Nothing less. Having a…
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Manager vs leader
I know you have had your share of “manager versus leader” debates, articles, studies, info-graphics comparisons, and even memes! It’s overwhelming. And I don’t want to burden you with more proof or my perspective on this pointless debate. Yeah, leadership is sexy. Everyone wants to be a leader, and nobody wants to be “just-a-manager.” I…
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Don’t give me problems, give me solutions
I’ve always hated the “don’t give me problems, give me solutions” approach. For two reasons: If people were to solve problems themselves, why would they need you? As a leader, you’re the one carrying “food and water” for them so that they can do their best work. If you can’t do that, how exactly are…
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People are different; don’t treat them the same
People are different, yet leaders have a hard time treating them justly. Most have a broad-brush approach that’s ‘fair’ and uncontroversial. And given that leaders are almost always in the spotlight, who would want to ruffle feathers or wrestle with other people’s opinions and judgment of their leadership in their right minds. No wonder treating…
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Yeah, but…
“Yeah, but…” is a conversation killer. It suppresses emotions, creativity, and an opportunity to understand the other person better. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve completely switched myself off during a conversation because the other person said, “yeah, but….” Why? Because that’s the point when a conversation transforms into a monologue in which…
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You don’t need mentors
I never realized having a mentor is one of the up and coming fads. It seems everyone’s got a mentor (and you don’t?). They’ve got mentors for startups, for senior leaders, for artists, and for every successful people you might know. But are they successful? That’s subjective, primarily because not every startup is successful. Not…
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The truth about the path to mastery
I don’t believe the 10,000 hours theory. You don’t need to log in for that many hours. It’s probably closer to 20,000 or more, and no, there aren’t any shortcuts. Now that’s out of the way, I would still encourage you to say on your path to mastery because the pursuit will teach you many…
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Don’t let “what-aboutism” get in the way of progress
“What-aboutism” is a disorder where the patient often searches for excuses for why a particular methodology or idea won’t work instead of giving it an honest try or finding ways to make it work. They are often found saying variations of “yeah, but…” or “let me play the devil’s advocate here.” If that sounds eerily…
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The haters will always be louder
Go to amazon.com and check out a bunch of articles that you’ve been planning to buy. Or perhaps, the stuff that you have already purchased in the past month or so. Now, check out the reviews. If you’re like me, you will go for products with the highest average rating and the most number of…