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  • Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable

    Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable
    2026/01/26
    Introduction: The Emotional Roller Coaster of the Workplace Life and work are never static; they operate on an emotional roller coaster where peaks of success are inevitably followed by valleys of struggle. Far too many leaders view their teams as "resources"—cogs in a machine designed for output—rather than recognizing the complex human beings behind the results. The most effective leaders possess the strategic agility to serve as both a sanctuary and a catalyst. Our core mandate is to build an environment where we provide psychological safety for the struggling while simultaneously disrupting the complacency of those hitting a stride of peak performance. Takeaway 1: Stop Managing "Resources," Start Leading People Leadership excellence begins with the paradigm shift of viewing every team member as a "whole person." This means acknowledging that every individual brings their own aspirations, challenges, strengths, and weaknesses to the office every single day. When we move beyond transactional management, we cultivate a culture of deep mutual respect. By understanding that our people are on the same emotional roller coaster as us, we transform the leadership relationship from a cold exchange of labor into a human-centric partnership. Takeaway 2: The Critical Responsibility of Comforting the Disturbed Every high-performer eventually hits a "lean period" where nothing goes according to plan, regardless of their effort. During these downturns, the leader's mandate is the preservation of human dignity over the scrutiny of short-term metrics. Our strategic intervention during a crisis is to ensure the individual feels seen and valued despite their current performance dip. This human-centric support is what builds a lasting legacy and identifies us as a role model worth following. We need to make them feel seen heard and that they matter, not just their performance, but they as a human being, that they are not just a resource to be exploited. By offering comfort when it is least expected but most needed, we earn a level of loyalty that cannot be bought. We prove that our leadership is an investment in the person, not just the output. Takeaway 3: The Success Trap—Why "Winning" Can Be Dangerous Operating in a season of abundance can be deceptively hazardous for organizational health. When luck and success align, people naturally begin to reside in "comfy worlds" where they take their winning streaks for granted. This comfort is a precursor to stagnation, as it often leads to a subtle decline in intention and energy. As a strategist, we must recognize that the very success someone on the team is enjoying can become the catalyst for their future decline if they stop putting in the necessary work. Takeaway 4: The Strategy of "Disturbing" the Comfortable When a team member is riding a wave of success, it is our responsibility to "shake things a bit" to prevent complacency. This isn't about creating unnecessary stress, but rather about believing in their potential to achieve even more than they originally thought possible. Disturbing the comfortable serves to extend the winning streak by demanding a return to the "smart or hard work" that created the success in the first place. It forces the individual to reconnect with the energy and intention required to maintain peak performance. We need to disturb them and their comfy world in a way that they realize that they can't take things for granted and start putting in the intention energy and effort. Furthermore, this disturbance prepares the individual for the moment the streak inevitably ends. By keeping them disciplined, we enable them to face future challenges with gratitude and acceptance, enabling them to move on without bitterness. Conclusion: The Leader's Dual Mandate The most profound leadership strategy is a simple dual mandate: comfort the disturbed and disturb those who are comfortable. This balance ensures that we are providing a safety net for those in lean periods while preventing stagnation during periods of peak performance. We must pay it forward by emulating the role models who stood by us and comforted us during our own professional trials. True leadership is about observing the emotional and professional state of our team and having the courage to act as the specific catalyst they need at any given moment. Look closely at your team today. Which individual is currently weathering a lean period and needs your comfort, and who has become so comfortable that they require a strategic disturbance?
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    3 分
  • How to Become an Inspirational Leader

    How to Become an Inspirational Leader
    2026/01/20

    In this episode, I discuss how to become an inspirational leader.

    I believe that leaders should not start with the goal of becoming an inspirational leader, as that is a self-centered perspective. Instead, becoming inspirational is a result of certain actions and learnings. Key ways to become an inspirational leader:

    1. Be inspired In order to be inspirational, you need to be inspired. One way to be inspired is by keeping the company of other inspired people. Inspiration, like energy, is contagious. Another way to be truly inspired is by having a clear purpose or intention behind all your actions. To be inspired, we need to live in the present moment. This means not only being present but also "showing presence". Showing presence is being fully engaged in that moment, in partnership with whoever you are with.

    2. Help people achieve their aspirations: Inspirational people are often just trying to be helpful. People feel seen, heard, and understood by them. Inspirational leaders actively help people achieve their aspirations "faster, cheaper, and better". They want to see others succeed. They inspire others to achieve and be more than what they thought was possible.

    3. Believe in the potential of people: Inspirational leaders spot potential in people and believe in it even before the person sees or believes in the potential themselves. Leaders who spot limiting beliefs in the people they lead and help them change these beliefs by reiterating their belief in the person's potential are seen as inspirational.

    4. Believe in and aspire for something bigger than all of us: This belief can make a leader feel inspirational. It is about making the people in our charge feel that they are part of something much bigger than their individual selves. This can be done by creating a vision that is both challenging and inspiring, and by creating a sense of togetherness and camaraderie. This sense encourages everyone to do and be better.

    Conclusion:

    The shift needed to become an inspirational leader is to move from thinking about "me" to thinking about "you" (the people you lead), and then to "us" (everyone put together). This requires showing presence, being empathetic, and genuinely wanting to help people achieve their goals and aspirations. The intention to help must shine through, not just to become an inspirational leader, but because it is the right thing to do. Becoming an inspirational leader is a byproduct of doing everything else right.

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    11 分
  • The Play Advantage - Why Fun is the New Frontier of High Performance Leadership

    The Play Advantage - Why Fun is the New Frontier of High Performance Leadership
    2026/01/18
    Premise For decades, the standard leadership playbook has been built upon an ironclad, yet increasingly fragile, triad: vision, strategy, and execution. While these pillars are foundational, they are no longer sufficient to navigate the complexities of the modern knowledge economy. A significant, transformative chapter is missing from the manual—one that addresses the human engine of performance. We have been conditioned to believe that leadership is exclusively "serious work" and that joy is a frivolous activity, which is at best emerges as after work activities and at worst considered a liability to be checked at the door. This cultural perception has architected a structural deficit in our organizations. Leaders and their teams find themselves "drudging to work," trapped in a cycle of professional survival rather than creative thrive-states. This has led to a significant percentage of of employees having checked out at work and just going through the motions. We treat fun as a distraction, something reserved for after-hours or relegated to the periphery of "real" work. This is one of the most damaging assumptions in modern business. It creates a false dichotomy that suggests one must choose between delivering results and experiencing joy. As an Executive Leadership coach, I contend that this dichotomy is not only false but strategically dangerous. Treating play as a distraction rather than a performance engine directly degrades a team's capacity for innovation. In an era where the primary differentiator is the quality of thought, the traditional leadership playbook is suffering from a cognitive bottleneck. To remain competitive, we must dismantle this outdated view and recognize that play is a competitive necessity, a high-performance engine designed to galvanize teams and produce superior outcomes. The High-Performance Definition of Play To leverage play as a strategic asset, we must first strip away the superficiality that often surrounds the concept in corporate circles. Strategic play is not found in the aesthetics of Silicon Valley—it is not about installing ping-pong tables, stocking breakrooms with board games, or the hollow performance of "mandated fun" events that often feel more like an obligation than an escape. These are mere pastimes; they do not drive performance. Instead, we must adopt an operational definition: play as an intentional, high-performance psychological and physiological state. It is about architecting an environment where teams can achieve a state of "flow" while tackling their most rigorous and demanding objectives. In this state, the traditional friction of work evaporates and teams end up doing a lot more work with a lot less stress. This lack of stress, despite the immense workload proves that play is not the absence of work; it is the absence of the psychological friction that usually accompanies work. When work is operationalized as play, the team doesn't just work harder; they work with a clarity and resilience that "serious" drudgery can never replicate. Six Elements of Play To move from theory to tactical application, we must look at the structural components of play. Organizational researcher Scott Eberle identified six core elements that define a playful mindset. When leaders intentionally weave these elements into the cultural fabric of their teams, they transform the very nature of the work being produced. 1. Anticipation: The Catalyst for Engagement Anticipation is the palpable excitement that arises from looking forward to a challenge. In a professional context, this is the antidote to "initiative fatigue." Just as an athlete anticipates the opening whistle, a high-performing team thrives when the challenge ahead is framed not as a burden, but as an opportunity for discovery. Anticipation acts as the mental "hook." In modern business environments, specifically those utilizing Agile methodologies, anticipation transforms a "backlog" from a list of chores into a series of upcoming hurdles to be cleared. It primes the team to be mentally "in the game" before the first line of code is written or the first slide is designed. 2. Surprise: Disrupting Cognitive Entrenchment Surprise involves the novelty and unexpected discoveries encountered during a project. Significant challenges naturally produce new insights, both positive and negative. Surprise is the primary catalyst for innovation. In a "serious" environment, the unexpected is often viewed as a risk to be mitigated. In a playful environment, surprise is welcomed as a means to break routine thinking and force the brain to make new, non-linear connections. It disrupts "cognitive entrenchment"—the tendency for experts to rely on outdated mental models—and opens the door for genuine breakthroughs. 3. Pleasure: Sustaining the Performance Loop Pleasure is the intrinsic satisfaction derived from the activity itself. When the reward is the work, the ...
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    11 分
  • Here is Why You Are You Stuck in Middle Management According to India's Top Executive Coach

    Here is Why You Are You Stuck in Middle Management According to India's Top Executive Coach
    2026/01/15
    Premise In this podcast episode, we host India's biggest and best Executive Coach Shital Kakkar Mehra. She has trained more than 1000 CxO's and more than 40000 leaders about how to develop their executive presence. We talk about how the we lead and what is expected from us shifts as we continue to grow in our careers and what makes us successful early in our career is no longer enough when we become managers (managing people) and it changes again, when we start leading managers and agains shifts when we start leading functions and organisations. Apart from all the technical skills and the ability to make decisions and lead their team, we all also need what is called "Executive Presence". Let's figure out what it is and how can one go about developing it within ourselves. Lessons from the Conversation 1. The Invisible Ceiling In the high-stakes world of executive leadership, the ascent to the top is frequently compared to climbing Mount Everest. Reaching the "Base Camp" of your career requires physical stamina, technical aptitude, and raw motivation. However, as any seasoned strategist will tell you, the skills required to reach Base Camp are fundamentally insufficient for the final push to the Summit. To reach the peak—the C-suite—leaders must pivot from reliance on technical expertise to the mastery of "Executive Presence." This is the intangible "X-Factor" that distinguishes a high-performing manager from a true leader. Without it, even the most brilliant minds hit an invisible ceiling, possessing the data but lacking the gravitas to influence the board. 2. The "Hygiene Factor" Fallacy At senior levels, technical brilliance and intellectual capability are no longer competitive advantages; they are "hygiene factors." Much like basic cleanliness in a hospital, these traits are expected baseline requirements. They provide the foundation, but "presence" provides the leverage. To diagnose where a leader's impact is stalling, we utilize the POISE formula. This framework treats leadership as an iceberg: while 90% of your value (technicality) lies beneath the surface, the 10% that is visible (physicality) is what dictates whether others are willing to dive deeper. P – Physical Presence: The visual semiotics of leadership. Packaging and body language serve as the primary point of visibility, signaling readiness and authority.O – Online Presence: Your digital equity. This encompasses how you project authority on screen, in digital communications, and across professional social networks.I – Influencer Skills: The bedrock of executive maturity. This involves the strategic ability to say "no," the discernment to listen, and the emotional intelligence to navigate complex stakeholder landscapes.S – Stage Presence: The "General's Skill." Historically, battles were won not just by army size, but by a leader's ability to communicate a vision that galvanized the ranks.E – Engagement Presence: Relationship capital. The intentional building of networks within and outside the organization to ensure visibility, which remains the primary driver of opportunity. 3. The 33% Impact Tax: Why Your "Camera Off" Policy is Killing Your Career In the post-pandemic landscape, leadership impact is governed by the Triple V Formula: Visual: How you look and the environment you project.Verbal: The specific vocabulary and syntax you employ.Vocal: The modulation and delivery of your voice. If you choose to keep your camera off during virtual engagements, you are effectively paying a 33% tax on your potential impact. In a remote environment, your face is your most mobile and expressive tool for building trust. Showing up "camera ready" is a signal of professional respect and interpersonal equity. "I'm not Fox Studios. I'm not calling you to launch your Hollywood career… just switch on the camera so that we can build a good working relationship... when you look like you're ready for business, it says, 'Of course, I respect you and I'm serious about my work.'" Shital Kakkar Mehra 4. The 30-Second Rule: Why Preparation Trumps "Winging It" There is a persistent myth in corporate circles that executive presence is impromptu and that either you have it or you dont. In reality, the most seamless presence is the result of rigorous preparation - Pre-meeting Research. A leader's success in a high-stakes meeting is determined in the first 30 seconds. If you establish context and confidence immediately, the remaining 29 minutes and 30 seconds flow with ease. To achieve this, adopt the "Newspaper Headline" approach: speak in punchy, high-impact bullet points first, then deep-dive into the details only when you have secured the audience's interest. True "impromptu" excellence is a performance. Much like professional comedy, which relies on hours of perfecting timing and scripts, executive presence is the result of anticipating tangents and preparing intelligent questions before the first word is spoken. 5. Death by PPT vs. ...
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    48 分
  • The Hidden Leadership Skill: Leading for Evolution

    The Hidden Leadership Skill: Leading for Evolution
    2026/01/13
    Premise: Almost all leaders today lead in an environment that is ripe with disruptions and ever changing competitive landscape. The challenges of leading in this constantly evolving landscape are very different from that of leading in a stable environment where the current management practices are rooted in. So, if we have to succeed in this new world, we need to change the lens through which we view leadership and management practices. That begs the questions - where can we draw inspiration for the new way of leading. Thankfully, we don't need to look far. We can learn from Evolutionary Biology. Leading an organisation today and how evolution works are very similar - they are both a part of and navigate complex adaptive systems. And nature has had a long time to perfect the techniques and tactics that have allowed life to bloom. So, I think there are some interesting and important lessons that we can learn from nature and the evolutionary process. Foundational Tenets of Evolutionary Biology Here are the most fundamental and foundational tenets on which the entire field of Evolutionary Biology is based on: Random events produced the first signs of life.Since then, variation (mutation - adjacent possible and genetic drift - random shifts) provides the impetus for evolution.Selection acts as the fitness test (ability to reproduce and stay alive)Inheritance ensures successful traits are passed on to next generations.Deep time allows cumulative change to produce new functions or species.Over time, simple rules lead to complex patterns, behaviors and species. The starting of our organisation was the random event that started this journey of survival. Embrace Variation - Adjacent Possible & Genetic Drift All evolution happens when there is some sort of variation - either within the organisation or its context. This variation results in something new, which is then put through a rigorous test by its environment and only those variations that are able to navigate the environment successfully are then preferred. Every other variant slowly but definitely dies out. Similarly, as leaders, we need to create an ecology of ideas. We need to look at adjacent possibles (continuous improvement) in our area of work all the time. We should also be on the look out for the genetic drift (random, breakthrough ideas) which can help us shift the level we operate at. Every time something changes - internally within our organisations or externally within the context in which we operate in, we need to explore and come up with experiments and the one that is able to navigate the changes the best, needs to be promoted, while the other ideas slowly but surely die out. Actionable Tip for Leaders: Invite everyone on the team to constantly explore ways to improve the existing processes by running small SMART experiments.And once in a while (maybe quarterly), explore to identify game changing ideas. It is great if you succeed, if not, you would have atleast some more interesting experiments to run. Idea is to engage in the process. Selection acts as the filter for fitness Evolution uses fitness as the only filter to assess whether a variation in a species continues to evolve or simply goes extinct. It is nature's job to be always creating variations, testing them for fitness, promoting the fit one's to be passed on and killing off all other variations. It is exactly our job as a leader. We need to continue to create experiments (variations) both in the adjacent possibles and attempt at breakthroughs (genetic drift), give them some air to test and continue to invest in those that are providing to be successful and kill those that are not. Actionable Tip for Leaders: Lets ideas clash for investments - money, attention and time.Let the best idea (defined before the process is run) win, and let the rest die quickly. Inheritance of successful traits: In addition to variation, evolution also ensures that the successful traits are always passed down from one generation to the next. In exactly the same way, as leaders it is our responsibility to ensure that good ideas and what we learn is spread across the organisation and passed on. This can be done by creating systematic process for documenting and sharing of ideas - good one's that work well. In evolution, the only key criteria is for the organism to continue to survive as a species by reproducing itself. In business, the most important criteria is similar - to survive for another day. Anything that can help in this regard needs to be well known and well shared within the teams. Actionable Tip for Leaders: Ensure that best practices and good ideas are widely shared among the team so that everyone can learn and build on them. Let time play out The biggest strength of the evolutionary process is that it takes its time and is in no hurry. It allows for simple variations to compound over time to create complex abilities and species as a result. As leaders, we can also leverage the power...
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    13 分
  • The Bomber with No Guns: 3 Lessons in Strategy from a World War II Secret Weapon

    The Bomber with No Guns: 3 Lessons in Strategy from a World War II Secret Weapon
    2026/01/08

    In this episode, I want to share a brilliant story written by one of my favorite marketers, Dave Trott, titled "Strategy is Sacrifice".

    The story takes us back to World War II. At the time, standard military strategy assumed that for a bomber to survive, it needed more armor, more guns, and a larger crew. Planes like the British Lancaster and the American B-17 were massive, heavy, and slow because they were weighed down by defenses.

    But Geoffrey de Havilland had a different idea—a creative strategy. He asked a simple question: What if the enemy couldn't catch you?.

    Instead of adding more gear, he stripped everything away. He built the Mosquito: a plane made of wood that carried no guns and had a tiny crew. Because it was so light, it flew at nearly 400 mph—faster than the German fighters trying to shoot it down.

    I discuss why this is a perfect example of "brutal simplicity." Creative strategy isn't about adding more stuff; it's about taking things away until you are left with one powerful thought.

    I also share my three key takeaways from this story on how we can solve problems today:

    1. Imagination: Using creativity as our only legal unfair advantage.
    2. Intuition: Trusting our instincts to focus on the main goal.
    3. Challenging Assumptions: Breaking the rules of "how things are usually done".

    I hope this story inspires you to look at your own strategies differently.

    #Strategy #Creativity #DaveTrott #Marketing #ProblemSolving
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    9 分
  • The Most Important Question You Can Ask Your Team: "Are You Okay?"

    The Most Important Question You Can Ask Your Team: "Are You Okay?"
    2026/01/08

    Welcome back to another episode of Pushing Beyond the Obvious. I recently read a blog post from the MIT Sloan Management Review titled "Your people are not all right," which highlights the immense overwhelm and stress employees are currently facing. This inspired me to talk about a critical responsibility we have as leaders: having a clear understanding of what is happening in our team members' lives, not to spy on them, but to genuinely ensure their wellbeing.

    In this video, I break down the subtle but vital differences between an average leader, a good leader, and a leader worth following. While a good leader might only notice a problem when it negatively affects the team's results, a leader worth following is always on the lookout for shifts in behavior—whether it's a top performer slacking off, someone suddenly arriving late, or a typically cheerful person becoming withdrawn.

    I discuss why regular check-ins and asking simple questions like "Are you okay?" or "Tell me what's going on?" are the best tools you have. These questions give your people the space to share what they are comfortable with and help them feel truly seen, heard, and invested in.

    Listen in to learn how to spot these signals early so you can take care of your team before they burn out.
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    6 分
  • How to Be Remarkable And stand out from the crowd

    How to Be Remarkable And stand out from the crowd
    2026/01/07
    Standing out starts with choosing to see, think, and act differently from the default, and then designing your work, relationships, and systems around that choice. This means intentionally questioning "how things are done here" and repeatedly experimenting with better ways that reflect who you are and what you care about.youtube​ Why being different matters Most environments quietly push people to conform, to not make waves, and to follow existing templates for success. If you obey those pressures blindly, you become invisible, even when you are talented and hardworking.youtube​ Being different is how you become memorable in a noisy world of similar profiles, pitches, and products.youtube​ Differentiation is not about being weird for its own sake; it is about being meaningfully useful in a way that others are not.youtube​ Think differently Thinking differently begins with the questions you allow yourself to ask. Instead of accepting constraints as fixed, you look for hidden assumptions and test them.youtube​ Ask "Why do we do it this way?" and "What if the opposite were true?" in your work, business, or projects.youtube​ Study patterns in your industry and then deliberately look for ideas at the edges or in completely different fields.youtube​ See differently Seeing differently is about changing the lens through which you view people, problems, and opportunities. Two people can look at the same situation and one sees inconvenience while the other sees an opening.youtube​ Practice empathy: observe what your customers, colleagues, or audience actually feel, not only what they say.youtube​ Train yourself to spot non-obvious insights in everyday situations—how people queue, complain, improvise, or work around bad systems.youtube​ Hire and collaborate differently Who you surround yourself with determines the ideas you are exposed to and the standards you normalize. If you pick only people who look and think like you, you guarantee average outcomes.youtube​ Seek collaborators who challenge your thinking and bring complementary skills instead of clones of yourself.youtube​ Value mindset, learning agility, and character at least as much as credentials or years of experience.youtube​ Design and execute differently Difference must show up in how you design and execute, not just in slogans. Many people talk about innovation but run projects exactly like everyone else.youtube​ Simplify where others complicate: remove steps, jargon, and friction from your processes and experiences.youtube​ Obsess over small details that signal care and craftsmanship, because they compound into a distinctive experience over time.youtube​ Engage differently Engagement is where your difference becomes visible and felt by others. If your ideas stay in your head or your hard drive, they cannot set you apart.youtube​ Show up consistently on platforms where your audience is present—through writing, video, audio, or conversations—and share real, unfinished thinking.youtube​ Replace generic, broadcast-style messages with personal, specific, and generous interactions that make people feel seen.youtube​ Making "different" a daily practice Standing out is not a one-time campaign; it is a daily habit of choosing intentional over automatic. Over time, these small choices build a personal or professional brand that is hard to ignore.youtube​ Regularly review where you have quietly slipped into default mode and pick one area each week to experiment with a different approach.youtube​ Measure your success not only by results, but by how authentically you showed up and how courageously you chose to be different.youtube​
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    8 分