In uncertain times amid looming job losses, you can fall back on ONLY three things: your skills, your brand, and your network. Everything else can vanish overnight -- especially your business card. Then how does one navigate this world? Here is a way to think about...

In my past life, when I routinely worked 12-16 hour days, I had to occasionally stop work at 7 pm because of some contingency (e.g., doctor's appointment). But surprisingly, even when I worked 25% fewer hours, my work wasn't really affected -- I prioritized the...

When I did my first startup, just updating my LinkedIn profile to "Founder, XYZ" got me tons of congratulatory messages. But soon, I realized that all that celebration was premature. Because the real grind comes next: building the product. But once the product...

When I first saw Yuvraj Singh in Bandra Gold's gym in Mumbai, around 2010, he was in poor form and sadly, a little pot-bellied. He was out of favour and "hope" was not in the air. Anyhow, nobody paid much attention, and after some time, he was not seen in the gym...

On transitioning to the corporate world from the rough and tumble of policing, I imagined that it would be very nice working here since people were so polite and formal. In policing, people can be quite blunt and rough. Shouting at subordinates was not unheard of, and...

When I was a cop, everybody else told us how to manage the city traffic better. Now that I am an entrepreneur, VCs seem to know exactly how entrepreneurs should scale their businesses. 😊 And lest it sound accusatory, let me confess this -- when I was an investor, I...

If you assign a task to my colleague Saranya, there is one thing you will never hear from her: "It was not my fault." She takes such complete ownership that she will either get it done or get back to you if there is an insurmountable obstacle. In contrast, in my...

In my first job (in the Civil Services), virtually every task marked for my personal attention was 'urgent.' And then, the next task would also be, unsurprisingly, urgent. Some days, I got so fed up that having a law and order problem almost came as a relief -- at...

Whenever I ask people about the best time in their lives, they rarely reminisce about fun stuff (e.g., exotic vacations). More often, I find people reminiscing about the times when they immersed themselves into a hard challenge. For some, it might be preparing for...

How many people ACTUALLY work 9 to 5? And when I say work, I mean: 1. Working on something you deliberately prioritised (not playing email ping-pong). 2. While working, staying reasonably focused -- not stealing a glance at email, Slack, or WhatsApp every few minutes....

Earlier this week, a retired civil servant (IAS officer) dropped in at our house. And during our conversation, she said that on many, many occasions, she had the urge to quit the Civil Services and explore the world outside. But she could never gather the courage to...

Sensing an opportunity created by Karnataka's self-goal (the proposed reservation for locals), Kerala's Industries minister lost no time in inviting businesses to move to Kerala. And it was a truly heartening to hear that but here is a backstory. 25 years ago, when I...

A friend, who used to be a partner at McKinsey, occasionally conducts a training exercise for team effectiveness in which one person has to perform a complicated physical task blindfolded. Everybody else on the team is given some role (e.g., advising the "doer"). And...

I was once listening to a meditation audiobook by Joseph Goldstein, in which he recounted the story of a guy who had moved into a new house where he could hear beautiful bird sounds coming from the basement. And it pleased him no end. But later, he realized that the...

During my MBA, an investment bank was visiting the campus for a pre-placement talk. After the talk, students were mobbing the visiting bankers, trying to impress them with earnest-sounding questions. So one of them asked, "What makes your bank different?" The guy...