Musings, published a few times every week, are my attempt at sharing diverse perspectives to help us better navigate our lives.
The key theme I explore is how can we progress towards achieving our potential, and thereby become more accomplished & secure. Some of these ideas come from my own experience, while others come from a thorough study of management research & leadership books, perspectives from science, arts, history, and discussions with industry practitioners across sectors & functions.
We have many aspirations and thoughts that keep evolving on a daily basis. Sometimes I think to myself what would happen if all we think of in our professional sphere materializes instantly.
The What’s In IT for Me Question?
What's in it for me?
Sometimes we are tapped to take up an assignments that is a stretch or outside of our comfort zone. In these situations we have 3 options
A. Say No
B. Say Yes, and Trust the System
C. Say Yes, But Ask What's in it for me
Shouldn’t Hard Choices Be Simple
Shouldn't our hardest professional decisions really often be the simplest ones? For, the reason they are hard is that, the options at hand are equally good (or bad).
Family Matters
When a family member is feeling low or in a downward spiral, it heavily weighs on everyone in the family.
Bike Riding with a Toddler
Last year, I was trying to teach my 5 year old how to ride a bike without supporters. It was challenging to say the least.
Last year, I was trying to teach my 5 year old how to ride a bike without supporters. It was challenging to say the least.
Every evening I would start by cajoling him to come for practice. Most days I managed to convince him, but not always!
Is Prepartion over rated @ Work
Almost all of us walk into some of the biggest roles in our life without any preparation. Be it as a spouse, a parent, a caregiver. We seem to fare decently, generation after generation, in learning and performing these role without much preparedness.
3 Pillars of Professional Life
EQ, IQ and Discipline are the three pillars of our professional life. The more equilateral they are the more sustainable our success.
Feedback the Right WaY
Most people are resilient and open to change, if we can give feedback in the right way.
What's your Ulysses Contract
What's Your Ulysses Contract
Story of the Trojan war winning Greek warrior, Ulysses, has some key learnings for us as we manage our careers. He pioneered the concept of the Ulysses contract that refers to the deal between your present self and future self.
Bide your Time
I remember this one incident that had happened many years ago. We were to have new super boss join our business unit. I and my boss came up with what seemed like a great idea to establish our credibility with the new leader - to do a white paper on something.
Anxiety is Personal
When we experience anxiety or depression, sometimes nothing around us has changed BUT a lot inside us changes.
Sometimes Change Does’t ChanGe Much
Yesterday I was chatting with a friend.
He was grateful to be have come out unscathed from the two COVID waves.
Quickly, the conversation digressed into how stuck he was feeling, holed up indoors for literally 16 months now. The working hours had increased, and so had the household responsibilities with schooling, cleaning, cooking being split by the couple.
Mistakes is not what define us
We all make mistakes. It's not whether we make a mistake, but how we show up, own it and fix it that makes the difference.
Is Reality Singular?
We always believe that there is a singular truth to our circumstances and reality is how we see it. This creates an illusion of objectively viewing things.
The Invisible Hand
Invisible hand is there not only in economics but our professional journeys as well. Sometimes, we get the right break or end up meeting the right people that propels us. Equally, there are times when we have done our best, yet things seem to be falling apart.
