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Most Recent Articles

The Benefits of Silence for a productive and meaningful life

Let me start with a story to illustrate the benefits of silence There was an old man whose most beloved possession was a watch left to him by his late wife. He treasured the timepiece and had it on his person wherever he went.  One day, in anticipation of his grandchildren arriving for a visit, he was cleaning out the spare room when he...

The Choice of Responsibility, And How Is It Different From Accountability?

“Politicians are of no use.”  “Bureaucrats just slow everyone down.” “The new CEO is no good. Look at what he did in his previous company.” While the above sentences don’t directly mention “responsibility”, all of them are blaming people for not taking responsibility for what they are accountable for. These kinds of statements are all too common...

How To Run Effective And Quick Meetings? Are You Making These Mistakes?

Meetings can be among the biggest time and energy suckers in an organization if you let them be. According to a survey done by the Harvard Business Review, over 70% of senior managers consider meetings to be unproductive and ineffective. Additionally, 65% of the respondents said meetings routinely hindered them from completing their own work....

How I Discovered My Body? And The 4 Body Dispositions

I have always taken pride in my analytical and logic-driven reasoning skills. As a child, I remember myself not being physically strong. Sports was never a priority in the culture I grew up in, and we never had the finances to focus on any sports training anyways. As a natural corollary of that, I focussed on reading and studies. I vividly...

36 Communication Quotes for Better Relationships & Leadership

Please find below my favourite collection of quotes and one-liners about effective and deep communication, building strong relationships - both at work and in life, and effective team management and leadership. “Paradoxically, the ability to be alone is the condition for the ability to love.”—Erich Fromm“If you judge people, you have no time to...

Verbal Communication & Leadership Language For Leaders

Painters have a brush, digital artists use Photoshop, and musicians have their instruments to produce their results. Similarly, leaders have language - to produce results in their teams and organisations via having verbal communication. Ask yourself- What do leaders do all day? If you observe leaders operating during a workday via a neutral third...

How To Communicate and Handle Difficult Conversations as an Introvert?

Introverts are comfortable in being by themselves. Instead of getting energy from others, introverts draw it from solitude and quiet places. As a result, resolving conflicts and navigating tough conversations tend to be difficult and scary since it forces them to have conversations that they would rather not have. Unfortunately, avoiding conflict...

7 Steps To Build A Highly Effective Team

Every team is different as human beings are complex. And organizations can be even more complex. If the team members do not gel and work together effectively, problems can arise very quickly or they can slowly simmer under the surface. Talk about missed deadlines, infighting, declining productivity, poor customer service, etc. All of these have a...

31 Questions To Ask In One-on-One Meetings – The Complete Guide

In recent times, there has been a drastic shift in how organizations around the world view 1-on-1 meetings. For a long time, communication between managers and their employees typically revolved around either occasional over-the-desk check-ins or group meetings.  Without a regularly scheduled 1-on-1 meeting, employees don’t have an option...

8 Leadership Traits, Skills & Qualities for Effective Leaders

Many people view leadership with a narrow lens - as simply directing others to meet certain goals. However, leadership is not a role; it is a mindset. It is about taking a stand and operating from a place of responsibility in all situations - and that includes the possibility of making mistakes and stumbling on the way. A good illustration of why...

How to Answer People’s Questions To Serve Them Best

Whether it is from those who work under us or our coworkers, we are all faced with questions in our daily lives. Of course, not all questions may warrant a response. But when a reasonable person genuinely enquires about something, it is important to listen and respond in a manner that serves them best.  The truth is that answering questions...

6 Things You Must Not Do As a Leader To Ensure High Team Performance

While there are enough leadership experts, there isn’t any one-size-fits-all manual for leadership. That is because every team is different, every employee is different, and every leader is different. Leadership by definition means working with people, and people are more unpredictable and inconsistent than we might like to believe. It is easier...

5 Ways to Influence & Impact Your Emotions

Our emotions play a major role in determining the quality of our lives. Have you ever asked yourself why some people live a life full of joy and contentment while others struggle with anger and depression? It all comes down to how you cope with life’s stressors and unexpected events. No one is immune to emotions like cynicism, anger, and...

8 Reasons We Should Know Our Values, Worth, and Purpose

A lot of my coaching work involves working with people to figure out what their deepest held values are, and what they consider important in life. It is often surprising that many people have no idea what their values are. And that included me too for a long long time. If I introspect, I realize that I had never thought of my values before I...

5 Steps To Deploy Yourself And Live An Authentic Life

A lot of us, especially in our youthful days, struggle with how to deploy ourselves in the world. Instead of being true to ourselves and charting our own unique course, we tend to follow paths that others have decided on our behalf. However, if we take the long-term view, taking the path less traveled and Deploying Ourselves can make all the...

7 Essential Work Skills For The Future – The 2020s And 2030s

Do you remember a time when you couldn’t ‘Google’ something? Or had to rely on a piece of paper to find your way to a location? Or when ‘social networking’ just meant meeting up with people in real life? Our world is changing fast, with new technologies and ways of doing business. So much has changed since 2000 - and the next 20 years will be no...

How to Train, Grow, and Manage Your Middle-Level Leaders and Managers?

Middle management is usually the weakest link in the chain of every organization. A study that gathered data from the most unengaged employees found that middle-level managers form the biggest bulk of the bottom five percent. The results are startling, considering they play a key role crucial to the company's success. They have a direct impact on...

Know What Great Managers Do? A List of 8 Expectations From Managers That Employees Have.

According to research by Gallup, the most common reason why people leave their jobs is bad managers and bosses. The study, which questioned more than one million working Americans, revealed that 75% of workers who left their jobs did so because of their managers and not necessarily the position itself. No matter how many perks a position offers,...