Leadership

Becoming Leaders worth Following: The Importance of Nuance

Premise: If there is one thing that we lack in our society and as an extension within our organisations is nuance. Almost everyone is polarised on almost every issue. We forget that there is not many things in the world that can be binary in nature. However, almost all the conversations we are having in public or private seems to be binary in nature. In terms of good and evil. In terms of left or right. In terms of oppressors or oppressed. In terms of aggressors or defenders. In terms of right or wrong. In terms of intellectual or emotional. […]

Leadership

Imposter Syndrome

Premise: One of the things that I have experienced myself and heard from many other leaders is the feeling of being an imposter. Everyone of us at some point in time, have felt the feeling of being an imposter. Sometimes it could be because, we don’t see what someone else sees in us, as capability and/or potential. Other times, it could be that we are not sure if we deserve the leadership position that we currently occupy, specially when we see some really good people on the team. This is self-doubt. In my opinion, any good leader, worth their salt, […]

Leadership

Foundation for a High Performance Culture

One of the most fundamental foundations of a culture that enables high performance is a sense of belonging amongst the people who are part of that culture. This sense of belonging takes root when we trust our colleagues enough to show up as who we are, with all our strengths and faults. This sense of belonging takes root when the arguments and debates are about ideas and their merits and not about people and their beliefs. This sense of belonging takes root when the people know and trust their leaders to have their best interest in mind. This sense of […]

Leadership

Becoming Better Communicators

In this very insightful and a short clip, advertising legend Bill Bernbach talks about the difference between writing and communicating. The writer is concerned with what (s)he puts into his/her writing, whereas a communicator is concerned with what the reader gets out of it. (S)He therefore becomes a student of how people read and listen. (S)He learns that most readers come away from their reading, not with a clear, precise, detailed registration of its contents on their minds, but rather with a vague misty idea which was formed as much by the pace, the proportions and the music of the […]

Leadership

Stories Provide Emotional Transport for Ideas!

Stories are powerful because they provide emotional transport to ideas. Emotions, specially strong one’s, have the ability to leave their imprints on our psyche. So, if we are in the business of spreading ideas or innovation, we need to get better at telling stories. If we are in the business of building influence, we need to get better at telling stories. If we are in the business of leading and want to share our visions, we need to get better at telling stories. If we are in the business of inspiring people, we need to get better at telling stories. […]