Challenges with Changing Oneself – My personal experience
Introduction I grew up in a small town in a loving family and a sheltered environment. When I came to college in a big city, I noticed many bright minds from diverse backgrounds from different parts of the country. While it was all overwhelming, it led to an important a decision that “I need to […]
Empathy Vs Sympathy
During coaching for several Emerging Leaders, we encounter a pattern where they struggle to grow from Individual Contributor to a Lead role, like Team Lead or Manager or Technical Lead. One of the key reasons we notice is lack of Empathy – ability to sense other people’s emotional make up and to interface with them […]
CHOW #314: Tips for speaking up in the presence of senior management
A manager, who has recently been promoted to that role, had difficulty speaking up in the presence of senior management. She confessed to her mentor that she tended to escape into active listening mode instead of speaking up. She pointed three kinds of interaction opportunities with senior management: She sought practical tips from her mentor […]
Speaking ‘Up’
Introduction Many managers and emerging leaders have trouble with speaking up – may be expressing their opinion in a peer forum, speaking in the presence of senior leaders within the organization, expressing their views with customer leaders, etc. They then worry about lack of visibility. This problem reminds me of the story of the beautiful […]
Speak Up
Vishu is a mid-level Manager in a large multi-national company in India. He is one of the 20 participants in the current cohort for Leadership Development & Coaching, where we do several Workshops spread over a few months, interspersed with one-on-one (1:1) Coaching. During the first workshop I noticed that Vishu was very quiet, not […]
Why Intrinsic Motivation is so crucial for an effective leader in an organizational context
When you talk about how effective you are as a leader or how leadership is measured, the almost immediate answer from most experts is that leadership is measured by followership. When a leader’s followership is high – as with the greatest international leaders during the last century such as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King or […]
Leading Teams: Balancing 1:1 Meetings and Daily Interaction for success
Quite a few leaders, who have individual contributors reporting to them, tend to think that they are well connected with their team members. The daily interactions the leaders have with their team members creates this impression. Often there are surprises for the leaders, when they get down to performance reviews with their team members. This […]
Principles and Practice
Three decades ago, inspired by Lego™️, we founded a software company with a strong business case for developing integrable application components for custom software applications. We had a solid technology foundation and a clear vision. Over time, we navigated various hurdles, capitalized on tactical opportunities, and maintained our focus on core technology, finding challenging work […]
Dealing with Fear@Work
In our Full Stack Leadership program and Leadership Coaching engagements, one of the common challenges we come across is about dealing with Fear. People are afraid to bring this up initially. But as we establish trust and confidentiality, being external to the organization, people open up on their vulnerabilities and personal-professional issues, beyond just the […]
CHOW # 309: Taking responsibility for one’s feelings
In Nonviolent Communication, Dr Rosenberg recommends that “We take responsibility for our feelings, rather than blame other people, by acknowledging our own needs, desires, expectations, values, or thoughts”. In the following sentences, select the sentences where the speaker is acknowledging responsibility for his or her feelings: (Yes or No) <scroll down for solution> Suggested Solution:
