On April 23, 1910, at around 3 pm at the Sorbonne (aka The University of) Paris, Ted Roosevelt delivered a rousing speech called “Citizenship in a Republic,” which would come to be known as “The Man in the Arena.” Little did Ted know that even a full 110 years after that event, people would still […]
Be honest — how many times have you screwed things up or annoyed everyone around by thinking out loud, “that’s just the way I am!”? If the answer is “all the time, Sunil,” you and I know that we have a problem, don’t we? Our faults, despite our conviction or our best efforts to rationalize, […]
While employee engagement is all the rage (and for the right reasons) these days, leaders need to realize that a large part often depends on how they show up as humans at the workplace. I found these simple and timeless insights on how to engage with your employees better. I’ve been trying these for years […]
I’ve had the privilege of meeting leaders who consider themselves smart, ambitious, successful, experienced, motivated, or any other adjective spend an inordinate chunk of time positioning themselves above the people they work with. If that’s you, let me tell you — it is damn annoying! Of course, all that positioning might not be apparent, but […]
A classic problem that almost every successful and competent leader has is this overwhelming desire to add their two cents to every discussion. And I mean every-single-discussion. It’s damn irritating. I know because I used to be one of them. The challenge with accomplished leaders (and you will see a lot of this among military […]
Destructive comments are the cutting, sarcastic comments we let fly with or without intention. They serve no other purpose than to put people down, hurt them, or assert themselves as “superior.” They are different from comments that add too much value. This type of comment adds nothing but pain. Are you making destructive comments? It’s […]
It’s easy for leaders to fall into the trap of rating others and imposing their standards on others. What starts with some helpful ‘opinions’ usually morphs into targeted judgment. Don’t believe me? Well, have you ever expressed approval or disapproval about something or someone? If the answer’s yes, that’s judgment, my friend. It’s much different […]
Regardless of who and where you are as a leader, refusing to admit that we’re wrong or take responsibility for our actions is one of the most destructive interpersonal flaws. And that because for most people expressing regret or apologising is a painstakingly tricky experience. Why? Because they think it’s akin to losing a contest. […]
I don’t know of any other talent that comes naturally to all human beings as making excuses. It’s something that we pick up; maybe from our parents, who picked it up from theirs, and so on. I don’t know the genesis of how we came about mastering this art, but there are simply no excuses […]
One of the most super-annoying habits is to overestimate one’s contribution to any team’s successes. Even if you genuinely believe you saved the day, chances are, you didn’t do it all by yourself. There are exceptions, of course, but let’s not go there for now. Instead, try this exercise: a) For one day, take a […]