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Micromanagement Is Not What You Think It Is
When I was working with a private equity fund, some of the companies we invested in were performing poorly. So what was our response? We would start doing monthly 'performance review' calls to put pressure on the management to act faster and...
Recent Posts
Why Even the Smartest People End Up Doing Meaningless Work
An ex-colleague of mine once worked for one of the world's best known private equity funds as an analyst after graduating from Harvard. His job was...
Real Character Reveals Itself Only in a Crisis
One of my bosses in the police service was a soft-spoken man -- more like a college professor than an intimidating, toughened-up cop. But the first...
Your Career Can’t Grow If Your Attention Breaks Every 5 Minutes
Everyone wants to make good money and build a great career. But you CAN'T build a great career if you disrupt your attention every 5 minutes. For...
Brilliance Is Nice, but Grit Is Everything
Early in my startup journey, an IIT/IIM guy reached out to me, wanting to join my startup. And he was simply brilliant. So after a discussion, I...
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The One Thing First-Time Managers Often Forget
I became a 'first-time manager' on the day 1 of my first job, when I took charge as Assistant Superintendent of Police in Karunagappally, a suburb of Kollam district in Kerala. I had two police inspectors and seven police stations under me. And...
Your Achievements Don’t Need to Compete With Anyone Else’s
Two days ago, at the breakfast table, my mother told me somewhat gleefully that she had walked for 1 hour and 10 minutes that morning. It was apparently her personal best 🙂 My mother is a bit overweight and not in the best of health. And when she...
Great Managers Don’t Create Clones
While working with McKinsey, I worked with two types of managers: Type 1: They wanted you to just solve the problem as best as you could. Type 2: They wanted your output (PPT slides) to look exactly like they would have done it. But the problem...
Why 24 Hours Is Always Enough
If you feel you don't have enough time, ask yourself: If your day had four extra hours, would it be enough? Be honest. I think the answer is pretty obvious. If 24 hours feel insufficient, 28 hours will feel no better. It is not the number of hours...