His was not hypothetical. Randy had been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer.

And yet he stood there with energy, humor, and a clarity most of us struggle to find on our best days. The room laughed, cried, and left changed.

How I Found It

It was mid-2008. I was home alone after work, scrolling through Google Videos — a platform most people have forgotten, long since discontinued after YouTube took over. I sat down to watch what I thought was just an interesting talk.

I don’t think I blinked.

Probably the most inspiring talk I have ever seen. The clarity of thought, the approach to life, the complete absence of self-pity — it was so refreshing. Not like someone running out of time. Like someone who had figured out exactly how to use it.

I only learned that same evening that Randy had already passed. The mark that left on me is difficult to express.

───

Five Things He Said That Have Stayed With Me

1. “The brick walls are not there to keep us out. They’re there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something.” - The wall is the filter. It separates those who truly want something from those who only think they do. Is this a stop sign, or is it a question?

2. “Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted. And experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer.” - Failure is not a detour from the journey — it is the journey. The wins are visible. The lessons are invisible. But the lessons are what compound.

3. “The key question to keep asking is, Are you spending your time on the right things? Because time is all you have.” - We fill calendars and optimize tasks. Weeks pass and we realize we have been busy doing things that don’t actually matter. Randy said this as a man who knew exactly how little time he had left. Most of us don’t — and that’s exactly why we need to manufacture that clarity.

4. “Complaining does not work as a strategy. Any time we spend whining is unlikely to help us achieve our goals.” - There is a version of leadership that vents and lists obstacles. And then there is a version that says: here is the problem, here is what I am doing about it. Teams need the second version.

5. “It’s not how hard you hit. It’s how hard you get hit and keep moving forward.” - Every one gets hit — by setbacks, by people, by things outside their control. The question is never whether the hit will come. The question is whether you get back up with the same intent.

The Head Fake

Randy talks about the “head fake” and I won’t do justice to the way he put if I try to replicate it here, so watch it!

I guess, for me, this space could be my head fake. Randy taught me that without ever knowing it.

Watch It

I have tried to convey what this lecture is and I know I have fallen short. The only way to feel what I felt that evening is to watch it yourself.

Set aside 76 minutes. You will not regret it.

Have you seen The Last Lecture? I’d love to know what stayed with you.

At the time, I did not think much of it. I only remember that it stayed with me. Years later, through work and through watching people handle pressure, I began to understand what was sitting inside those three words. When things go wrong at work, most people focus on the decision that follows. But before the decision comes something else — the first response. The tone. The face. The interruption. The visible disappointment. The rushed conclusion.

That first response shapes the room faster than any formal decision. A deadline slips. A mistake is made. A customer escalates. A meeting goes badly. In such moments, reaction is natural. Irritation, fear, embarrassment, and the urge to regain control all rise quickly. That is human.

The problem is not that we feel these things. The problem is when we let them speak too early. Because the moment other people depend on your steadiness, your reactions stop being private. They become part of the environment. People remember this more than we think. They don’t just remember what was decided. They remember how things felt when the moment got difficult. Over time, they begin adjusting themselves around your temperament.

If your responses are sharp, people become careful. If they are unpredictable, people become anxious. If they are theatrical, people become political. Without meaning to, you teach people how truth is received.

To act instead of react does not mean becoming cold or passive. It simply means not letting your first emotional impulse decide the quality of your response. An appropriate action asks:

• What actually happened?

• What does this moment require?

• What helps improve the situation?

That is the difference. A reaction tries to discharge emotion. An action tries to restore clarity. This matters because people often borrow the emotional weather of the room from whoever holds it. If you bring agitation, it spreads. If you bring calm seriousness, that spreads too. In this way, temperament does not remain personal for long. It becomes cultural. It gives people room to think, speak, and focus on the problem instead of the emotion around it. A few things help in practice:

• Don’t answer at the peak of emotion

• Ask one more question before concluding

• Focus on the next step, not emotional discharge

• Avoid turning a private issue into a public reaction

• Reflect later: Did I improve the situation, or did I merely express what I felt?

I overheard those words a long time ago. Act, don’t react. I understood them much later.

Have you ever seen one person’s reaction change the entire mood of a room? I’d love to hear what made that moment stay with you.

I am sure I am not the first one to write these thoughts, but here goes. For years, I chased the perfect productivity system.

I tried Wunderlist (now MS Todo). I tried Notion. I tried Things, and a handful of apps whose names I’ve already forgotten. Each one promised clarity. Each one delivered, for about two weeks, the satisfying illusion of control — color-coded categories, priority levels, recurring reminders, project hierarchies. And then, quietly, I stopped opening them.

It wasn’t that the apps were bad. It was that they asked too much of me before I could even begin.

Somewhere in between abandoning one system and adopting the next, I noticed something. My notebook — a plain, unassuming thing I’d been carrying for years — never failed me.

Not because it was sophisticated. Because it wasn’t.

I’d open it to a fresh page and write things down. Not in any particular order. Not sorted by work or personal, urgent or non-urgent. Just a list of things that existed in my life that needed doing. Call the insurance company. Finish the proposal. Book the flight. Fix the leaking tap. All of it, together, the way it actually lives in my head.

Through the day, I’d glance at the list. When something got done, I’d cross it out. That small act — pen through a line — was quietly one of the most satisfying things I did all day.

No categories. No reminders. No system. Just a list, a pen, and my own judgment about what to do next.

But notebooks have one honest flaw.

Items drift. Something that mattered — that I fully intended to get to — would sit near the top of the page while newer entries piled up below it. Not forgotten exactly, but fading. Losing urgency through sheer proximity to everything else. Until one day I’d flip back and see it staring at me, untouched, quietly patient in a way that felt like an accusation.

My workaround was manual and a little embarrassing. I’d cross the old item out and write it again at the bottom of the list. Fresh entry. Back in sight. Back in line.

It worked. But it required me to remember to do it, which is the opposite of what a system should ask of you.

I’ve thought a lot about why the notebook worked when the apps didn’t, and I think it comes down to something simple: the notebook made no assumptions about my life.

It didn’t need me to decide upfront whether something was a “work task” or a “personal task.” It didn’t ask me to assign a due date to things that didn’t have one. It didn’t sort my intentions into projects and sub-projects and priority tiers. It just held everything I told it to hold, and trusted me to figure out the rest.

The apps I tried were built on a different philosophy — that the path to getting things done is better organization. More structure. Smarter categorization. I’ve come to believe that’s wrong, at least for how my mind works. The friction of maintaining the system was always quietly competing with the energy needed to actually do the things.

A list doesn’t compete with you. It just waits.

There’s something else the notebook taught me, though it took a while to name it.

Time itself is information.

When something has been on a list for a day, that means one thing. When it’s been there for two weeks, that means something entirely different. The notebook doesn’t tell you this — you have to notice it yourself. But that passage of time is real signal. It tells you that something kept getting passed over. That you kept choosing other things instead. That maybe it needs to move back to the front of the line, or maybe it needs to be crossed out not because it’s done, but because it was never really going to happen.

A good system would surface that signal for you. Not with an alarm. Not with a guilt-inducing notification. Just a gentle visual shift — the way an aging order at a restaurant counter might start to stand out on the screen, calling for attention without anyone having to say a word.

I don’t think productivity is a solved problem. I think most of us have just made our peace with systems that half-work.

The notebook half-works too. But it half-works in a way that feels honest — in a way that matches how attention and intention actually function in a real day, with real interruptions and shifting energy and the constant negotiation between what matters and what’s urgent.

What I’ve started to wonder is whether the right digital tool isn’t a smarter, more powerful version of every app I’ve tried — but a simpler, more faithful version of the notebook. One that holds everything without judging it. One that lets time do some of the work. One that asks very little of you, so you have more left over for the actual doing.

I’m working on finding out.

If this resonated with you, I’d love to know how you manage your list — the real one, not the idealized version. Hit reply.

During the mid-90s, he was introduced to Total Quality Management (TQM)—a popular framework for problem-solving and continuous improvement at the time. While TQM isn’t as commonly mentioned now, its principles remain foundational and are embedded in methodologies like Six Sigma. One of the most enduring lessons he shared with me from his TQM experience was the PDCA cycle: Plan, Do, Check, Act.

What Is PDCA?

PDCA is a simple yet powerful framework for achieving goals through iterative improvement. Its clarity is its strength—most people can intuit its essence just from the name. Here’s how I define each step:

• Plan: Clearly define your goals and gather the necessary data to frame them accurately.

• Do: Execute your plan with focus and intent.

• Check: Assess the outcomes and measure them against your original goals.

• Act: If the results align with your expectations, great! If not, revisit the Plan phase, adjust, and repeat.

This iterative cycle continues until you achieve the desired results, making PDCA a cornerstone of continuous improvement.

Why PDCA Works

The beauty of PDCA lies in its simplicity and adaptability. Whether you’re tackling work projects or personal goals, it provides a structured approach to stay on track and make progress. It’s not just about theory—its true power emerges in practice.

Applying PDCA in Your Work and Life

The next time you embark on a project, whether professional or personal, try visualizing the PDCA cycle. Use it as a guide to organize your efforts, evaluate your progress, and refine your approach. Over time, you’ll likely find it becomes second nature—a mental model for effective problem-solving.

Thanks for reading, and I hope PDCA serves you as well as it has for me. Let me know your thoughts or share your own experiences with this timeless concept!

A process is a sequence of steps that requires manual execution and monitoring. Imagine it as following a paper map—you must continuously check your progress along the way, and any mistakes may only become apparent after you've strayed off course.

In contrast, a system is an automated framework that guides, corrects, and optimizes your journey. Like a GPS in your car/phone, it provides real-time feedback and automatic course corrections, minimizing the time between identifying an error and resolving it.

Now, reflect on your current workflows. Are you still relying on processes that demand constant attention and manual intervention? If so, it’s time to evolve. Identify these processes and work to systematically automate them. Introduce guardrails that prevent deviations and mechanisms to flag issues immediately.

For leaders and managers, this shift is not just a productivity hack—it's a strategic imperative. Systems empower teams to operate with autonomy and efficiency, freeing leaders to focus on vision, innovation, and driving meaningful impact.

Make 2025 the year of systems. Turn manual checklists into automated workflows. Replace repetitive tasks with streamlined operations. In today’s fast-paced world, success is not about working harder—it’s about building systems that work smarter.

Let’s move beyond following paper maps. Let’s create the GPS for our goals.

Thanks for reading. If you have any thoughts around this, would love to hear them in the comments below.

If you want to know where you stand on this fact, just ask yourself, "When is it that I last changed my opinion on something?" Let it be anything. If you are struggling to find one or even manufacture one, rest assured that you have built yourself a bubble and you have started believing that this bubble is all that the world has to offer.

Changing one's opinion about something takes courage. It takes the effort to break down your understanding or in some cases the belief of something that you have had for years together and rewire yourself with a newly found explanation.

Learning involves, in some cases, unlearning. And unlearning happens when you are open to other opinions. We should work on being open and develop the capacity to be able to update our opinion when a better explanation or understanding comes across. This is easier said than done. It takes immense practice and more importantly conscious practice.

There are several benefits to building out this capacity, especially at work and more importantly for a leader. Great leaders are great not because they were born with a core understanding about all things around them. They had to cultivate it, and many times, by breaking old cemented opinions so that new ones could grow. One of the most important outcomes is that of the compounding effect of knowledge building. It is only when you are open to new ideas, concepts and reevaluating your own understanding, will you see yourself connecting with others.

When you are open, others want to associate with you and bring forward their own suggestions thereby fostering constructive discussions. If you are not open to alternate approaches, suggestions or a radical re-understanding of a given scenario you will tend to steer your team to the things that only you know and potentially let go of some good creative and innovative ideas.

Another observation of managers and leaders who are not open to changing their opinions when better suggestions come along, is that they often end up not being able to hire team members with complementary strengths. The team tends to grow without diverse skill sets which directly impacts the team. And in turn, the team as a whole tend to make ineffective decisions.

A manager or a leader who is engrossed in their own wired methodologies alone, tends to stop listening to others. They are waiting for the other person to finish, to put forth what they have been wanting to say. Or worse, they may just start interrupting.

Their need to be right overpowers the need to know the truth.

Being closed - you stop growing, and you become stagnant, holding on dearly to and hoping things are always going to be the same way that you had perceived it. As a result, after some time others around you will move on.

It is never too late to become a person capable of being open to opinions, embracing unlearning and in the process continuously learn.

Here are few suggestions on how one should approach being open:

• Listen to understand, not to respond

• Question yourself, are you responding to reach the truth?

• Be open to experimenting with different approaches

• Spend a lot of time building awareness

• Read, write and ponder

Thanks for reading! If you found this post helpful, leave a comment below and share it with your friends.

In our daily lives, we often find ourselves engrossed in conversations about other people. It's a common tendency, and perhaps an easy one. Unintentionally, I have fallen prey to it several times. If you observe yourself, you may find that you do too. However, have you ever paused to consider the outcome of such discussions? I can make it easy for you - nothing!

However, if we focused on actually discussing ideas, you will realize that they have an incredible ability to bring people together. I try and make a conscious effort to steer discussions towards ideas. I have observed that they serve as the catalyst for innovation which is the driving force behind progress. When we engage in conversations that revolve around ideas, we switch gears to problem solving and leave no space in there to discuss about people.

By discussing ideas, we shift our focus from the shortcomings of individuals towards a more productive and positive direction. Instead of dwelling on faults, we learn to appreciate and celebrate achievements. We become catalysts for change and supporters of one another's aspirations.

When you hear yourself discussing people, take a step back think:

"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." - Eleanor Roosevelt

I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

This short essay is inspired by a thought from the book, titled “Find Yourself A Cato” and you can find it in the book on the page dated - March 10th.

Who was Cato?

Cato the Younger was a prominent figure in ancient Rome and is often regarded as one of the most notable Stoic philosophers of his time. He was born in 95 BCE and died in 46 BCE. Many references of Cato often mention his unwavering commitment to principles and his uncompromising integrity.

Cato's commitment to virtue made him an model for Stoic philosophy. He practiced self-discipline, frugality, and resilience, considering them essential for leading a good life. His indomitable spirit and commitment to principles continue to resonate today, offering valuable lessons for those seeking personal growth and self-improvement.

During his time, Cato was a role model to many. You can read more about him here - Cato the Younger.

Why are you telling me about Cato?

Ryan Holiday, the author of the book uses Cato’s example to convey what Seneca, a prominent Stoic philosopher wanted to state, that we all should have, a model, if not in person, but in our minds to guide us when taking actions. Our own Cato.

There should be someone to witness our behavior. A principled guiding force. A compass. Today, in a way, this could be interpreted as having a clear set of mental models to rely on when you are faced with a situation. Your own model could be a combination of other models, wisdom, quotes, phrases, articles, books, gestures, words, people, thoughts and more. They could all come together to manifest your own guiding force, your own Cato.

To build this guide in your mind, takes time. It is natural that everyone has a model but many don’t acknowledge its presence. If you are conscious about it you are going to nourish it with the best possible sources. The key element in building your own Cato is the actual effort to examine our own thoughts, actions, and motivations. This will help us align ourselves with our values and make intentional choices.

Introspection is key.

So, where is your Cato? It's a question for each of us to think about. Who or what inspires you to be a better person? What does better mean for you? What values do you want to live by?

Book Recommendation (Affiliate Link):

• The Daily Stoic - By Ryan Holiday

Whether it's in our professional or personal lives, many of us strive to present ourselves in a way that aligns with how we want others to perceive us. But is it really necessary to worry about how others perceive us? While it's not necessary to obsess over it, perception can have a significant impact. At the very least, we all want to ensure that our actions are not misunderstood. In most cases, decisions are based on how we perceive a person or situation. Changing someone's perception is difficult, so it's crucial to try and build the right impression from the beginning.

Building the Right Perception

It's important to note that we should never aim to create a false perception. Instead, our focus should be on providing all the necessary information to help others understand and interpret our actions. This allows them to form the best possible impression of us.

Managing Perceptions as Leaders and Managers

For leaders and managers, managing perceptions is essential. It helps them understand the dynamics of their teams. Being intelligent and hardworking is not enough; it's crucial to communicate the "why" behind our actions to create a lasting impression.

Focus on the Team's Perception

As a leader or manager, it's important to realize that what matters most is how the team perceives their work, not how they perceive you. The team's perception is established early on, and as a leader, you must provide the necessary support and information to shape the right perception. The team's perception of their work extends to their perception of you.

Influencing Your Own Perception

Just as your team perceives their work and you, you also form perceptions of your own leaders. While it's natural to have perceptions about your leaders, it's crucial to tactfully bring attention to the work your team is doing. This helps your leaders build an accurate perception of you. By mastering the art of perception, you ensure that both your team and management understand your contributions.

The Power of Truth

Perceptions built on truth and facts withstand the test of time. Team members use them as a lens to view the world around them. As a leader, it's vital to study the environment and present facts to the team, creating a more productive work environment.

Altering Perceptions

Is it too late to change perceptions? No. As long as you seek and communicate the truth about your team and yourself, you have the opportunity to alter perceptions for the better.

Perception holds immense power in the professional world. It's crucial to maximize the chances of being perceived accurately, with truth and facts as the foundation. Perception management is often underrated, but it plays a significant role in leadership and management. Take some time to reflect on perception and its impact.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this important topic.

But why do we truly work? And what will we really miss if we were to stop working some day? I can assure you that it is not the work. Then what is it?

It’s the people you worked with.

The bond and camaraderie you built along the way.

The experiences shared, the problems solved together, and the collaborative efforts are what truly bring value and fulfillment to our professional lives.

Working alongside people we genuinely enjoy being with is a remarkable privilege. Engaging in shared problem-solving, stimulating discussions, and continuous learning is the real thing. By working together, we often achieve more than we ever could alone, and in doing so, we create something meaningful from nothing.

If we keep an open mind and approach work with a true goal of being immersed in the experience of work, bonds are automatically built. This approach is contagious and rubs onto others as well. Despite this approach, misunderstandings are bound to arise, however, it is important to be careful that they don’t become personal. Managers and leaders play a vital role in establishing and nurturing an environment that values teamwork and cooperation.

You as managers and leaders should make it your priority to build such an environment for your teams.

For individuals starting their professional journey, should strive to build a collaborative outlook. This approach will propel you towards continuous personal growth, as it prioritizes the collective success over individual accomplishments. Embracing collaboration from the start ensures that work becomes an avenue for building lasting relationships and achieving shared goals.

While you may start your professional journey with financial stability and security in mind, they should not overshadow the true purpose of work. Collaboration, bond-building, and problem-solving together are the cornerstones of a fulfilling career.

Let’s make work, meaningful!

I hope you found this light read, insightful. Would love to hear your comments.

This particular quote has stayed with me from the very first time I watched the movie. It is pure wisdom in just a few words and is something that one can apply to personal as well as their own professional lives. It is a powerful tool that I have personally used to trigger action.

As a leader, you increase your chances of success with a corresponding increase in the number of actions you take. Success is one aspect, longevity is another. You can act everyday towards getting better and in turn ensure that you are living your life. Or, you can stay stagnant and allow time to pass by.

Another quote that comes to mind is the one from Confucius, the great Chinese philosopher:

While both of the above quotes were stated with reference to life in general, you can use it to your advantage to motivate your team and instill the importance of action. Here are a few ways you can use the essence of these quotes to foster a progressive and winning culture within your team:

• Use all the opportunities you get to remind your team that they can be a catalyst for change by gradually stepping out of their comfort zone any chance they get and taking the extra step to go above and beyond.

• Instill the attitude of, “how can I do” and eradicate the approach that begins “why I can’t do”

• Remind the team of the opportunity they have in their hands and the impact they can bring in for the organization as a whole.

• Allow the team to take calculated risks and reward them for going after something challenging, no matter the result. It is during such risks that innovation blossoms and the overall discomfort in the process, leads to learning.

• As the saying goes, “There is no better time for planting a tree than today”, remind your team the sooner they engage in bettering themselves the more opportunities that will come their way.

• It is quite possible that your team will only have a few years to work together before the individuals within the team branch out for further growth and opportunities. Urge them to collaborate selflessly so as to accelerate their learning from each other.

• Remember to celebrate tiny wins in any way possible.

While the suggestions above were directed to your team, these are directly applicable to you as a leader as well. Act on it and live each day.

You can surely be busy doing nothing and taking things as it comes, or you can choose to invest in each day to make it slightly better for you and the people around you. In other words, you can get busy living, or get busy dying.

I hope you found this piece insightful. If this resonated with you, let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

A team is made up of individuals with a wide range of skill sets and personalities. Every individual is at a different stage in their careers and needs guidance around different aspects. Sometimes, it is as simple as “how to do x”. Other times it can be something like, “I am not sure what I want to do with my career”. Both these scenarios require a leader to be able to play a role of mentor or a coach as needed.

In a simple way, tell me who is a mentor?

A mentor is someone (typically from your own domain) who will guide you on how to do your work and do it efficiently. From experience they will be able to quickly identify your knowledge gaps and help you bridge them. They are focused to ensure that you have all that you need in terms of resources and help to excel at your work. A mentor takes pride in getting you off the ground and getting you running as quickly as possible. A mentor shows you how to do things and in the process shares productive ways to get better at what you do. They are usually available when you need to brainstorm over something specific directly related to your task. A mentor is available to help and guide when you are struggling with your specific tasks. Over time, the engagement from a mentor diminishes as soon as they realize that you have all what you need and are on the path to excellence. A mentor is always available for guidance when it comes to the specific domain but usually not more than that.

So then, who is a coach?

A coach is someone who is there to guide you holistically. They may not be someone from your own domain but can guide you in the right direction. They do so by asking the right questions. The skill of asking right questions is something a coach develops over years of experience. While they may not know the nitty gritty details of the actual task you perform, they, by asking the right thought provoking questions and following it up by listening with intent, are able to learn about your strengths and weaknesses. They pose follow up questions to make you think in the right direction often leading you to think from first principles. Great coaches are someone who makes you tap into ideas and strategies that you thought you never had. Coaches are there to give you overall direction. A great coach helps you discover your own solutions.

Picture a boat and you are the operator. A mentor will teach you how to operate it, whereas a coach will show where to go.

Both mentors and coaches are important to the team to ensure that they have all the support when they need it. A great leader/manager is able to perform both these roles efficiently. 

As a good leader you may have to wear the hat of a mentor when you want to unblock someone in your team that is stuck on a specific task. Here, you as a leader would need to possess the necessary skills of the domain to be able to unblock the situation. 

Other times, when your team members need guidance and want to discuss things that may shape their professional future and career, you will need to wear the hat of a coach and listen with intent. You will need to pose questions to unearth more of what they are thinking and help guide them with their objectives. You will need to assist them gain clarity and help with any experiences you might have had that align with the situation they might be in.

To be a great leader, try to master the skill of the specific as well as the generic. This will ensure that you will be there when your team needs you, no matter what the situation. 

While this may be the most simplistic view of mentoring and coaching, I hope I have been able to give you a glimpse of what both are and why they are important. I hope you found this post useful. I would love to hear your thoughts.

As humans, we are driven by goals. Great leaders too, believe in goals. However, they approach it in a slightly different way. While for most of us, our focus is the goal, for great leaders it is just a milestone. They have personal elusive goals which when they get closer to, become milestones, with a new goal out there in the distance waiting to be achieved. This is how they keep pushing themselves to greater things. Great leaders realize one thing early on:

“The goal is not what matters, the effort is the real reward”.

Our goals are like mountains. We put in all the effort to get to the top. But as soon as we get there, we learn very quickly it is not what we thought it would be. And then, we start defining newer measures of success and often end up confused. We try to hang on to the top. We cease to make progress. This has been the downfall for many who made it to the top. They feel completely lost without knowing what to do next. They defined the goal as the end and there was nothing more to achieve.

That is when fear begins to take over. 

As leaders, it is important to set goals, but it is more important to build systems to achieve those goals. The real achievement for a leader is when the system works. The actual achievement of the goal is just a moment in time, however, the system that was built to achieve it is the journey, which is more enjoyable. Leaders recognize this and are quick to learn from systems that worked, as well as from the ones that did not work. They move on to the next goal so that they can build out the next system and achieve more goals.

Leaders are always looking to exert the effort to build these systems as this is what really excites them. This effort involves the process of unlearning and subsequent learning, helping them gain wisdom over time. Every effort exerted, results in small rewards in the form of experience. And experience is gold. With every little bit you learn, you are refining yourself and gaining a better understanding of your world.

When you look back at your own wins, what is it that you remember? Yes, for sure you remember the moment of the win. But what is the actual memory that brings a smile? It is the memory and glimpses of all the efforts you put in, to win. The long hours, the several ups and downs, the exhaustion, the state of flow leading all the way to the moment of the win. And you also know all that the efforts made you better than what you were.

Despite all your efforts, some systems will fail. And if you are not really failing it is possible that you are playing it too safe. This may lead to you being stagnant and may leave your growth stunted. Learn to embrace the approach of making goals as tiny milestones and not anything more. This outlook will let you enjoy your process and your own systems and help you be a successful leader at work and in life.

So, to grow and move forward in your professional and personal lives, strive to focus on the effort and unlock the true power of success.

It is not the outcome that matters, rather, it is the effort that matters.

Recommended Reading (affiliate link):

• Atomic Habits - James Clear

I would love to hear your feedback. Leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts!

If we were meant to talk more than listen, we would have two mouths and one ear.

- Mark Twain

Across most of my posts, you might have observed a theme, especially around being a good listener and the importance of listening with intent.

What does “listen with intent” even mean?

When leading teams and managing people, it is key to develop the skill of listening. Listening with intent is when you listen to people with an intention to try and understand them and their perspective without judgment or personal bias.

It is easy to define it but difficult to practice.

As a leader you should always be attentive when listening and put all your other thoughts aside. Give the time and safe space to the person trying to articulate their thoughts to you. Don’t be in a rush to reply. In most cases, if a person feels heard, they feel much lighter. It takes a lot for a person to come up and speak to their leader. They have been preparing before they come up and you don’t want their efforts to go to waste only because you were impatient.

You are listening to learn.

Empathy is the key to listening. You are putting yourself in the other person’s shoes. If you see the person fumbling, searching for words or repeating, give them time. They are probably searching for the right words and want to ensure that they don’t miss anything they want to express. They are trying to bring their best, forward.

It is important to remember, when conversations are difficult for an individual, and they come to you, their leader, they are more or less not going to be able to open up completely. On their way to you, their minds would have already played with them to filter out most of the things they wanted to say. When you see that they are stuck and are unable to open up, prompt them with an open ended question, but don’t lose track that it is about them.

So, always wait for them to finish and mirror them by summarizing what they said in a calm and collected manner. Your tone is crucial. There should be no judgment. You are only summarizing to give the other person the confidence that you have understood them. Confirm your understanding with them and correct it based on feedback. Once they know that you have understood what they had to share, they will be at ease.

There is a difference between listening and agreeing. Ensure that when you are listening, you are focusing on discovering. You are discovering all that the other person wants/intends to say. You are not assuming and since you are not judging, you should not be thinking of agreeing or disagreeing.

Don’t rush for a solution. Take your time to work through all the facts you have discovered before you suggest a solution or come up with a response.

As leaders, you should practice listening with intent at every possible opportunity and practice is what will make you a Mindful Listener.

To summarize, here are a few things you could practice to become a Mindful Listener:

• Listen without judgment or personal bias

• Don’t listen to reply

• Listen to learn

• Empathy is key

• Be patient

• Focus on discovery

• Don’t assume

• Always summarize your understanding

I would love to hear from you. Leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts!

“Information Overload” is coming to get you. So, beware and be vigilant.

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Garbage In Garbage Out

The internet has brought information to our fingertips. Anything we want, we get. But like many other things with us humans, we don’t know when to stop. We start believing that, the more information we consume, the better. However, we spend very little time evaluating the quality of information before we consume it. And this leads to the problem of Garbage In Garbage Out.

Our human bodies are made up of what we eat. If we eat right, we will be healthy. If we eat junk, we will be weak. Just like our bodies, our minds need the same or more amount of care. You want to be careful what you feed it. If you feed it the right information it will form the right knowledge and eventually generate wisdom. If you feed it low quality information, it will generate noise. In other words if you feed your mind garbage, it will generate garbage.

Reading And The Vanity Metric

You hear a lot of people talking about “x” number of books they have read and how it changed their lives and why you should read them too. You also hear about speed reading and how fast they read them. And hearing them, there are many who will try to emulate the same feat. Unfortunately, it does not work for everyone. Most of us will stumble and fall.

If our goal is to build knowledge and wisdom, I strongly believe reading “x” number of books should never be the metric we should be chasing. Instead, we should focus on reading a few extremely good books and consider re-reading them multiple times at different stages of our lives. Same goes for blog posts, interviews, videos, podcasts and so on.

Be Conscious

It is important to be judicious and conscious of your time and effort. If a book or any other resource you consume is something that does not engage you or appears to be of a lower quality, STOP and keep it aside. There are a bunch of good books, articles, podcasts etc. out there, unfortunately there are more that are bad. You have to be extremely picky of what you want to feed your mind with. Remember - “Garbage In, Garbage Out”

Spacing

It is key to give your mind the time to distill information. Just like us humans, our minds need their own space. Allow the mind to digest all that you have fed it. Don’t rush. It is not a race. Let the mind take its time to filter out the noise so that it can focus on the important stuff. One book well read is better than 10 books read in haste.

Nourishment

A plant thrives with the optimum amount of water, air and sunlight. Excess of any one of them is bound to hurt the plant. It needs to be nurtured. Likewise, nourish your mind with the highest quality of information you can consume. But don’t overdo it. Even the best quality information in excess is bad for your mind. Be extremely protective of your mind and focus on nourishment rather than abundance.

Information overload is rampant and has been the cause of burnouts for many. It leads to severe anxiety and confusion. The fear of missing out is one of the main reasons we continue to overload ourselves even when we are exhausted. By overloading you are only going to know too little of too many things. This in-turn kills productivity.

I would urge you all to reflect on everything you have been doing when it comes to consuming information. Try to slow down and observe yourself. Be careful what your mind is consuming and always remember, too much of a good thing is also bad!

“Garbage In, Garbage Out”

What do you think? Have you experienced anything similar? I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to drop a comment below and let’s discuss.

For several thousands of years it has been believed that when great leaders are faced with challenges, they retreat to a secretive place only known to them. The place is quiet with a zen-like feeling. No one speaks. Everything happens within the mind. In this secret place they have a wealth of knowledge and information readily accessible to them. They spend hours perusing through it without feeling hunger or thirst. They are immersed. They are determined to find a solution for the challenge they are facing and they are absolutely sure that this place will yield a solution. They don’t give up. If one solution does not work, they move onto the next. They stay there till they get what they want. They have been here before and they have never gone back empty handed. They believe in the powers of this place. 

Have you heard of this place? Do you know what it is called? It is,

“The Wisdom Island”

Well, that was a bit too dramatic, right? Sorry, but I thank you for humoring me and I promise you, I will get to the point 🙂! The picture painted above is going to come in handy as you read on.

Well, as you might have already figured out, The Wisdom Island is not a physical place but more of a metaphor for the state of mind the great leaders leverage when needed. This state is called the state of flow.

Each one of us has visited this place at some point in our lives. Do you remember a time..

• ..when you were working on solving a problem and you lost track of time? 

• ..watching a movie and you were part of it and not analyzing it?

• ..writing a document/working on a presentation and you were one with it?

• ..working on repairing your bike or car and forgetting to drink water or eat for hours?

• ..reading a book and becoming a bystander amongst the characters in their world?

• ..listening to a song and feeling every note of it?

• ..when you were writing a piece of code and was completely immersed till it was done?

If yes, this is the feeling of being in a state of flow. You were visiting Wisdom Island. While this is common across all walks of life, great leaders get into this state more than others. They develop the ability by practice to enter this state at will to generate ideas and find solutions to problems/challenges.

In one of my earlier posts, 3 Key Habits Of Successful Leaders I share a path leaders use to build wisdom. In a state of flow, they choose to apply this wisdom to come up with solutions and ideas which in turn continues to update their wisdom.

When you are in a state of flow, you are completely disconnected with everything around you. You are one with the task at hand. You are not tired or exhausted. You are engrossed in thought and subsequent action. And once you are out you are upgraded. You never return from Wisdom Island alone, there is usually a solution and a bit more wisdom that comes along with you.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the world renowned psychologist, also known as the “father of flow”, has written a book exploring the state of flow. In his book, Flow - The Psychology of Optimal Experience, defines flow as:

“a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience is so enjoyable that people will continue to do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.”

He also goes on to state that:

“The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile. Optimal experience is thus, something we make happen”

Visiting the Wisdom Island

So, how does one get into a state of flow? How to visit Wisdom Island at will? 

There are many factors that contribute to getting you into the state of flow and it may be specific for individuals. Here are a few common actions great leaders take to improve their odds of entering the state of flow, that may help you as well:

• Define your task clearly. 

• Approach the given task from aspects that are most interesting but challenging enough for you. To do this, break the task into many tiny tasks and hash them out one by one. Try to find part of the task that would be fun to solve. Gradually you will be tuning yourself to get into a state of flow.

• Avoid taking up any new tasks when trying to work on the task at hand. Pause your notifications. Start with a clear goal that you will spend the next twenty minutes on this task. If you enter the state of flow twenty minutes will fly by without you even noticing.

• Don’t think about what got you to do this task or what your next task will be. Be present. Everything before and after does not exist for you. 

• Don’t give up. Keep trying. When one approach does not work try another approach. Optimize for progress. If you are progressing you are going to get closer to the state of flow. 

This, like many other things, comes with practice. When you learn about the factors that let you enter the state of flow try to make a note of it. Observe yourself. Reflect on the times and the factors that led you to be in a state of flow. 

Visit Wisdom Island as often as you can, cause you know you will never return alone.

Recommended Reading

• Flow - The Psychology of Optimal Experience - By Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

I would love to hear your experiences with the state of flow. Leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts!

Many organizations have a tendency to throw teams into the deep end, assigning them extremely complex projects and measuring success based on the outcome of the entire project. The expectation is that the team will do everything in their power to survive and, in the process, gain valuable experience that will allow them to deliver high-quality results in the future.

This has proved to be successful, but could be extremely stressful. There is an alternative. Great leaders have embraced this alternative approach early on in their careers to build happy and motivated teams. So, what do they do?

Celebrating Small Wins

Our lives, be it personal or professional, in a way, is a pursuit of finding solutions to problems. And we as humans are thrilled when we find these solutions. No matter how simple(small) or complex(big) a problem is, we experience a dopamine rush, the moment we solve it. And this experience is amplified if we have someone to share our success with.

As a leader you are always in search of different ways to keep your team motivated along with building and preserving a cohesive culture. Celebrating small wins is a good way to bring your team together and align them to the team’s and organization’s goals.

As a leader you should try and create an opportunity for a small win. Leaders have the tendency to spend most of their time thinking strategically, which is a good thing. When you have a strategy and you and your team are all-in working towards it, identify a few tiny milestones that you think will play an important role in achieving your strategic goals. When your team achieves them, ensure that they know the importance of it and take the time to appreciate their efforts.

Small wins are especially important when you have new members joining your team. You want them to have their first victory. Ensure that you have tasks laid out for them that they can execute faster but important enough to give them the feeling that they have contributed to the team. This immediate ability for them to deliver something for the team gives them a boost of confidence and the enthusiasm required to take on tasks that get progressively more complex and harder. They will always look back at their success and look forward to another instance of the same feeling.

For a leader it is equally important to have these wins celebrated as a team. This builds camaraderie. Choose your own organization's method for appreciation for e.g. emails, shout outs, spot bonuses, announcements within team meetings and other such forums.

Encourage your team to celebrate and convey the message that you see tremendous potential in them. Let them know that this is just the beginning of many more wins to come.

Small Wins Over Time

As your team matures, as a leader, you should progressively redefine what constitutes a small win for team members who have been with the team for a while, when compared to someone who has just joined. This is crucial. The tasks for people with tenure should get progressively challenging to achieve as they will start getting comfortable with easier tasks and the actual thrill to solve problems will diminish. They need to be kept interested.

So, start with small wins and gradually increase the unit size of a small win.

These small wins slowly will lead to larger wins. It is a snowball effect. With the confidence they have received by bagging small wins, the team pushes themselves to achieve bigger goals. The team banks on these small wins they have had over time to give you all they have when the times are tough.

If you are a manager, experiment with this approach and evaluate to see if this works for you. There is a good chance that you may see an increase in motivation within the team. And what follows is a sense of ownership and commitment with better teamwork.

It is from such little things, big things grow!

I would love to hear your feedback. Leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts!

When I was around 12-14 years old, I can recall several instances where I would approach my father and ask him for the next shiny thing, such as a new computer, music system, CDs, software, computer games and so on. Although my father always gave me what I asked for, it was not as simple as just asking for it. Every time I approached him with such a request, he would respond with,

"First, make a list.”

This response would always annoy me. I didn't understand why he wanted me to make a list of reasons for wanting a certain thing. All I knew was I wanted something, because I wanted it. He was not ready to accept the plain reason of, “I just want it”. He wanted me to understand the “why?”.

This was also the same response I would get when I would approach him for help on something or when we would discuss complex topics. He would ask me to pause and would say,

“First, let’s make a list”.

And in all cases, whenever I or we made a list, the outcome of the request or discussion was crystal clear. Over the years, after many repetitions of this exercise of list making across many scenarios, the habit of list making became part of me.

It was much later that I realized what my father had given me. He had provided me with a simple yet extremely productive tool for thinking clearly. He had taught me the basics of “how to think”.

Key Attributes And Benefits Of Lists

I use lists for everything. Whether I am preparing for a meeting, working with my team, planning the next project, writing this blog post, making my daily notes, writing my journal, making decisions, todos or any other thing where I need some clarity or brain bandwidth. Following are some of my observations:

A list:

• is the starting point of thought. It allows you to get all your facts together so that your thoughts can have order.

• removes anxiety out of your mind. The mind is calm when it is assured that it does not have to worry about remembering things. The mind is now free to connect the dots.

• brings clarity to a situation. It allows us to record a sequence of events, an inventory of items, etc.

• fosters creativity as you now have all the variables right in front of you.

• allows you to reason and do so, confidently.

• allows you to have a brain dump of all your ideas before starting a project. As the list grows, your confidence grows.

• allows you to prioritize.

What you just read through above, is also a list. Without you even realizing, you were more focused reading the list than anything else I had mentioned before it. Lists are powerful.

Lists In Action

Here is an example of how I used a list to plan this particular post:

- think of a title and subtitle that conveys the importance of lists
- talk about wanting something and Dad asking for list
- how you realized it is a framework for thinking
- write down a "list" of key attributes and benefits of lists
- mention clarity, anxiety, order, reason, confidence, prioritization
- mention an example of how you use lists
- conclusion: urge reader to use lists, have an image

Once I had the above list in front of me, all I had to do was worry about the right words to get these points across.

Using lists to trigger your thinking process sounds so basic that it is hard to believe it is so powerful. It feels fake to recommend it as a productivity hack. However, it is very easy to validate.

The next time you need clarity of thought, start with a list.

• Write down the words as they come to your mind. One word per line.

• Don’t be bothered about grammar, spelling, handwriting or ink color. Just write.

• Don’t worry about whether you are writing the list on your phone, paper or computer. Just write.

• Once you are done writing, go through the list once more. If new words come to mind, add them. Don’t worry about edits or deletes.

Now with the list in front you, allow your mind to start thinking with the list as your domain. You should see an immediate improvement in focus and clarity. Anytime you need to start thinking through a complex scenario, you need to make a decision that involves several variables, planning a new project, thinking about your next set of goals - “First, make a list”.

I hope you found this post insightful. What's your take on lists? Do you have any additional tips to share? Leave a comment below and let's keep the conversation going.

In today's world, where remote work is common and companies are forming more distributed and remote teams, it is more important than ever to communicate effectively with your team. Whether you are a manager or an individual contributor, digital communication is a skill that must be understood and mastered.

You need to learn to speak the language of the digital world.

Nowadays, most of our communication with our teams happens through platforms such as Slack, Teams, or email. Despite the variety of communication channels available, we still engage as if we were speaking in person. However, in these digital channels, the absence of a face creates a significant difference. This hinders effective communication.

It is extremely difficult to understand tone, body language, or expressions without seeing the person. In the absence of these visual cues, the reader's mind overlays its own interpretation of the words read. We tend to read and guess the tone, emotion, and expression of the sender. And this is where the breakdown begins.

To get right to the point, let's come up with a few takeaways on how to ensure that we communicate effectively through digital mediums:

• “Rohit:” vs “Hi Rohit” - Prefer to use the second one. A simple “Hi” prefixed before the name sets the right tone. This is a very basic one, however, this is something that catches everyone’s eye. Is the sender of the message “Rohit:” instructing something? Did I do something wrong? Is there a misunderstanding?

• Please don’t just say hello in chat - Avoid chat messages that just say “Hi” followed by a big silence waiting for the other party to respond. Practice adding more to your Hi or Hello by adding a sentence explaining the reason for your ping. Consider reading, “No Hello”

• “??” - Avoid the message that is just a question mark or worse multiple question marks to ask for an update. Be clear, ask politely and use your words. This will avoid causing any kind of anxiety.

• “May I call you?” vs “I am calling you now” - Use the first one. A request is always preferred over a command.

• “Do …” vs “Could you please do …?” - Again, ensure that you are requesting and respecting.

• Say Thank You more often - A simple thank you goes a long way.

• Set the context clearly and don’t assume.

• Avoid using all CAPS - Use of all uppercase in a sentence indicates that you are yelling and are not happy. Avoid it in all cases.

• Avoid using too many exclamations (!!!!!)

• Ensure that you read your message at least twice before sending it.

These are just a few examples. If you are careful (hyperconscious) with your messaging and take a moment to think about the person on the other end you will see a significant improvement in your digital communication.

In her book "The Digital Body Language: How to Build Trust and Connection, No Matter the Distance", Erica Dhawan, identifies four key elements of digital body language: responsiveness, clarity, personalization, and empathy. Each of these elements are essential for building trust and connection in digital communication. Her book is a must read.

I hope that this piece has given you something to ponder on. Act now and ensure that you bring empathy to all your words.

Did this post resonate with you? I would love to hear your feedback on this topic. Leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts!

A dish is delicious when all its ingredients are as per its recipe. They all have to come together in the right amounts to deliver the perfect punch. The chef is the one responsible.

Just like a dish, a team is also made of individuals with different skill sets and attributes and they all need to come together cohesively to deliver great results. Like a chef, the leader of the team is the one responsible.

Great leaders maintain a mental checklist of what they look for in a person. They curate this list from experience and have it ready for reference when they need it. A good leader is always hiring. Even if they don’t have an open position, they are always looking for potential candidates. Leaders will always be hiring, in their minds.

They are subconsciously checking off items from their mental hiring checklist whenever they interact with others.

In this post, let’s explore a few key attributes great leaders look for in individuals.

The Checklist

Evidence Of Exceptional Ability

You may hate or like Elon Musk. However, you can’t deny the fact that he is one of the few who has mastered the art of thinking from first principles. In one of his interviews, when asked about his hiring philosophy, he said:

“What I’m really looking for is evidence of exceptional ability. Did they face really difficult problems and overcome them? And of course you want to make sure if there was some significant accomplishment, were they really responsible or was someone else more responsible. Usually, someone who really had to struggle with a problem, they really understand it and they don’t forget.”

A great leader has a keen eye and is always looking for this evidence of exceptional ability. Evidence can be in any form. An open source side project that showcases your skills, authoring a book that goes deep into the domain, a project from a previous job, etc. Leaders look for one’s command over the domain.

Clarity Of Thought

During the process of hiring, leaders spend more time listening with intent. This is mainly to see how the individual is thinking. Are they able to articulate themselves clearly? Do they know how to lay facts that build on top of another? Are they able to present a clear picture of what is in their minds?

Comfortable With Doing Chores

No matter which domain or organization you are part of, every team has their share of chores. You don’t get to do the fun stuff all the time. You have to do the boring stuff too. They are your chores and you can’t avoid them. Leaders will try to gauge how the individuals take on the boring stuff. It is the consistency of executing your chores that will allow you the opportunity to experiment with the fun and exciting stuff.

Approach To Problem Solving

When interviewing candidates, leaders are trying to see the step by step approach an individual will take to navigate a given question, scenario or problem. Leaders primarily look for whether an individual has understood the problem before trying to solve it. Great leaders know that if one can arrive at understanding clearly what the problem is and are able to define it well, the solution is just a matter of time.

Being Relentlessly Resourceful

Individuals must possess the ability to think strategically and be willing to try new things when things don’t work. They need to be resourceful. They should showcase that they will leave no stone unturned and are flexible to adapt into new roles with a team first attitude. Paul Graham has a beautiful essay titled - Relentlessly Resourceful that drives home this point extremely well.

These are attributes that can’t be taught, but it is up to each one of us to cultivate and grow them within us. They can be learned by observation and introspection. If you are a manager, start incorporating this checklist as part of your own hiring process and hire the the right people with the right mindset.

Advice For Individual Contributors

If the above mentioned checklist is what great leaders use and if you are an individual contributor, you now have a blueprint for what leaders look for. Work on building these qualities by first being honest with your own self. Don’t fool yourself. Build your evidence of exceptional ability, practice thinking clearly, be comfortable doing your professional chores, learn the approach to problem solving and be relentlessly resourceful. Put your best self forward by mastering these qualities.

Start now.

Recommended Reading

• Relentlessly Resourceful - By Paul Graham

• Hiring Lessons From Elon Musk

I would love to hear your feedback. Leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts!