Blog Posts

To excel in your career, some skills matter more than others. They put you in front of others, connect you to them, build trust and enhance your credibility. But building these skills is hard—unlike tasks that are assigned to you in which you’re expected to excel, no one gives the opportunities to practice these skills explicitly. The burden to learn and master them is on you. Build these skills and you won't have a problem standing out.

Personal Development / Productivity

5 Skills To Excel In Your Career

To excel in your career, some skills matter more than others. They put you in front of others, connect you to them, build trust and enhance your credibility. But building these skills is hard—unlike tasks that are assigned to you in which you’re expected to excel, no one gives the opportunities to practice these skills explicitly. The burden to learn and master them is on you. If you’re stuck in your career or putting in a lot of time and energy into your work, but not getting the desired results, spend some time building these 5 skills. You will not only achieve great success at work, but mastering these skills will bring a sense of pleasure and fulfillment that will make you perform even better.

Difficult conversations though necessary are hard to crack. Fear of a bad outcome or not knowing what to say can prevent you from engaging in meaningful dialogue right when you need it the most. To handle difficult conversations well, practice these 6 rules of effective communication.

Communication / Leadership

6 Rules of Effective Communication in Difficult Conversations

Difficult conversations by nature are tricky. They are touchy topics that no one likes to talk about. They involve addressing differences of opinion, emotional issues, sensitive subjects or other potential reasons of conflict. They are challenging because they require us to navigate through discomfort, uncertainty and a wide range of complex emotions. No matter how hard a conversation is, you can’t put it off or delay it forever. Addressing issues directly, providing clarity and seeking closure can help you gain trust, respect and also alleviate stress.

Most managers are too busy playing a catch up game—handling unexpected issues, calendars filled with meetings and pacifying unhappy stakeholders—that they fail to pay attention to harmful practices and mistakes that hurt their team’s productivity and performance.

Leadership / Management

Good Managers Don’t Make These Mistakes

All managers make mistakes. However, some mistakes are not only avoidable, they’re costly to business and hinder team’s development and growth. Most managers are too busy playing a catch up game—handling unexpected issues, calendars filled with meetings and pacifying unhappy stakeholders—that they fail to pay attention to harmful practices that hurt their team’s productivity and performance. To break unhealthy patterns of thinking and acting, managers need to pay special attention to how they communicate, collaborate and get work done. In particular, they must pay attention to five critical mistakes that other good managers don’t make.

how-to-become-a-master-thinker

Decisions / Personal Development

5 Habits of Master Thinkers

Navigating complex problems, generating insights and finding solutions that others didn’t know existed is the most admired skill at work. Yet, very few people are able to do it well—the ability to think critically is a rare skill. Most people lack thinking muscles because they treat it as a born gift instead of being an acquired trait. Not sufficiently exercising their mind by thinking through tough problems keeps them falling for cognitive shortcuts, quick solutions and outdated beliefs. Becoming a master thinker doesn’t require an extraordinary brain. You only need to embrace healthy thinking habits that keep your mental machinery working at its best.

Ego is a destructive force for leaders because it not only impacts the way they think, but also how they act. Left unchecked, ego can make them turn down great opportunities, punish those who disagree with them and stick to outdated beliefs that no longer serve them well.

Leadership / Management

4 Ways to Keep Your Ego in Check as a Leader

Ego is our biggest enemy. It not only makes us blind to our flaws and imperfections, it magnifies our desire to be right and prove others wrong. Unlike threats in our environment that we can instantly feel and pay attention to, ego is hidden deep within our subconscious. When we react to other people, we often don’t realize that it’s our ego that has hijacked our mind and is making us act in self-destructive ways. While ego is harmful to everyone, it is the most dangerous thing in a leader. It compromises their ability to think clearly, makes them rigid to their ideas and beliefs and prevents them from staying closer to reality.

You know what you need to do and yet you act exactly the opposite. Procrastination sabotages your chance of success—delaying or putting off important work robs you of the opportunity to do quality work and achieve excellence.

Personal Development / Productivity

How to Stop Procrastinating and Get Down to Work

Procrastination is a silly habit—even when we know how important something is, we end up delaying or avoiding it. Procrastination wins when it over powers our sense of judgment—we know that not taking action is not right for us and yet that’s exactly what we do. Procrastination not only makes us fall through on our commitments, not being able to make progress on what we set out to do makes us feel powerless, helpless and ineffective. The constant guilt, shame and anxiety from not doing the work consumes us. We end up putting more effort and energy than it would have taken to do the work.

Emotionally charged conversations are often spontaneous—they come out of nowhere. When you’re caught off-guard and expected to navigate complex interactions in real time, without knowing how to handle them, you’re most likely to act in self-defeating ways—with arguments, debates or other negative behaviors that do not solve the problem at hand and only makes matters worse.

Communication / Productivity

How to Defuse an Emotionally Charged Conversation

Sometimes, for no good reason, conversations can get heated. Handling an unpleasant emotional reaction can trigger anxiety, cloud your judgment and make you react in unexpected ways. Losing your calm in such moments, reacting to the other person and saying mean things is a deadly mistake. You may not only lose the opportunity to bring the conversation back to normalcy and have a productive discussion, showing anger, frustration or judgment in emotionally charged conversations can potentially harm your relationship.

If your team is underperforming, stop pointing fingers and try to identify what might be causing it. Blaming, shaming or scolding people won’t fix the problem. It won’t turn your team around. Rather, being offensive or rude in such situations will demotivate your team and make them perform even worse.

Leadership / Management

5 Causes of Underperforming Teams

Dealing with an underperforming team can be quite overwhelming if you don’t understand what’s causing subpar performance in the first place. Without knowing the root cause, any strategies you apply to tackle poor performance will be ineffective—they will only make you feel defeated, discouraged and let down. Blaming, shaming or scolding people won’t fix the problem. It won’t turn your team around. Rather, being offensive or rude in such situations will demotivate your team and make them perform even worse.

Work without boundaries can impact your productivity and harm your mental health. Exhaustion from being available 24/7, never saying no or tolerating bad behavior can impact you emotionally and make you ineffective in your job. Apply the right strategies to set boundaries at work.

Communication / Personal Development

How to Set Boundaries At Work

If you’re constantly irritated, feel demotivated or drained out, there’s a strong possibility that you’ve failed to set personal boundaries at work. Your personal boundaries involve setting limits and defining expectations on what you will and will not tolerate. Work without boundaries can impact your productivity and harm your mental health. Exhaustion from being available 24/7, never saying no or tolerating bad behavior can impact you emotionally and make you ineffective in your job.

It doesn’t matter how smart, capable or intelligent you are. Navigating the challenges and unknowns as a leader requires a basic skill—curiosity. You’ve to be open to the idea of improvement. You have to differentiate between behaviors that push your team to the ground and those that lift them up. A great way to do this is a quarterly self-reflection exercise to take a fresh look at your leadership style.

Leadership / Management

Ask These 10 Questions to Take a Fresh Look at Your Leadership Style

Higher up in the hierarchy you go, the bigger are the problems you need to face. Not only do you need to deal with complexity, what others expect from you goes up as well. It’s also lonely at the top, which means there’s less feedback on how you’re doing and what you can do to improve. This is where most leaders go wrong. Instead of paying attention to their leadership style, they pack their schedules with meetings and run with a long list of things to do.

Positive feedback from your team is essential for your well-being while negative feedback from them is critical to your growth. Learn to handle negative feedback well.

Communication / Personal Development

How to Handle Negative Feedback From Team

When our team appreciates our work or applauds us for a job well done, we feel proud, joy and inspired. Having a team that celebrates our wins and keeps us motivated to do even better is key to happiness and long-lasting work satisfaction. However, to grow in our career, cheer and admiration is not enough. We also need people who can point out our faults, highlight our flaws and help us see our imperfections. Negative feedback, however good it may be for our growth, is hard to accept.

False urgency culture in an organization misleads employees by keeping them super busy, stressed and anxious without doing impactful work or creating any value. Here are the 5 strategies to root out false urgency culture in your organization.

Leadership / Management

How to Combat a Culture of False Urgency at Work

Some leaders ruthlessly prioritize to ensure important work is not compromised at the cost of urgent actions. Other leaders treat every request as a priority and don’t pay attention to how much something deserves their attention. Attaching a heightened sense of urgency to every request makes it difficult for their teams to get any meaningful work done. Jumping from one task to another and being in a constant state of overwhelm and reactivity can drain team energy, increase stress and can even lead to burnout.

Thinking clearly isn’t something you can achieve in a day. Building mastery in it is an iterative process because the things that get in the way of clear thinking never really go away. You only get better at catching errors in your thinking and applying the right strategies to remove brain fog that gets in the way of clear thinking.

Decisions / Leadership

What Gets in the Way of Clear Thinking?

Our thoughts aren’t clear most of the time. Instead of a clear blue sky, they often appear as dark clouds and storms in the sky. While some people are able to look beyond this temporary darkness into the hidden bright blue sky, others get bogged down by it and feel trapped, unable to think and act clearly. Clear thinking is a point of leverage—it helps you make better decisions and avoid deadly mistakes with far-reaching consequences. Many forces—some within our control and others outside it—delude our thinking and judgment.

We all have tremendous hidden potential waiting to be unleashed. Some people utilize their potential to achieve amazing feats while others never realize what they’re capable of as they let their self-limiting beliefs get in the way of their growth.

Leadership / Personal Development

How to Unleash Your Hidden Potential

We all have tremendous potential waiting to be unleashed. Some people utilize their potential to achieve amazing feats while others never realize what they’re capable of as they let their self-limiting beliefs get in the way of their growth. When you consider talent as the only measure of success and don’t give enough credit to effort, attitude and practice, you construct an artificial wall in your mind that limits your visibility and makes you believe you don’t have what it takes to reach the other side. It’s not your natural ability, but your attitude to learning that determines where you end up.

In all our endeavors, success is a desired end state. It brings a moment of exhilaration, joy and pride that’s hard to explain. Failure on the other hand is disappointing, frustrating and can even demotivate some people from trying to reach for their goals. There’s no playbook to success because it’s often a culmination of many different factors—depending on not only what you’re trying to do but also your circumstances, knowledge, experience and luck.

Leadership / Personal Development

6 Factors That Determine Whether You Will Succeed or Fail

In all our endeavors, success is a desired end state. It brings a moment of exhilaration, joy and pride that’s hard to explain. Failure on the other hand is disappointing, frustrating and can even demotivate some people from trying to reach for their goals. There’s no playbook to success because it’s often a culmination of many different factors—depending on not only what you’re trying to do but also your circumstances, knowledge, experience and luck. These 6 critical factors provide a blueprint to success to guide you in your journey towards your goals.

Learning to converse with others is one of the most important skills at work—we all need to learn and improve upon it. It requires conscious effort to hash things out, embrace uncomfortable conversations and desire to listen and learn from others. Use these practices to reduce communication gaps at work.

Communication / Personal Development

How to Reduce Communication Gaps at Work

Communication problems are the source of a lot of misery at work. They lead to expectation mismatch, misalignment, confusion and even friction between people. When communication breaks down, project deadlines are missed, stakeholders lose trust and business suffers. Poor communication makes it hard to get things done and achieve success. Learning to converse with others is one of the most important skills at work—we all need to learn and improve upon it. Reducing communication gaps requires conscious effort to hash things out, embrace uncomfortable conversations and desire to listen and learn from others.

You can’t get employees buy-in by enforcing change. You can’t let them play a guessing game. To lead through change, you have to be on top of your communication game. Here are the 5 strategies that work extremely well to lead effectively through change.

Leadership / Management

How to Lead Through Change

Change is necessary to adapt, innovate and move ahead with the changing times. Organizations that don’t embrace change and stick to the status quo are often left behind. When leading through change, leaders have to face many obstacles, but the biggest bottleneck isn’t the challenges along the way, it’s how change is presented and communicated to employees. There’s too much focus on strategy, execution and operational excellence and too little on ensuring effective communication. Communication which is the key driver of ensuring a smooth transition is mostly an afterthought.

There's a lack of leadership in organizations because managers with great leadership potential often get stuck fulfilling the demands of their role. Managers shouldn’t be promoted and given a leadership title without building essential skills first. Use these 5 strategies to rise from management to leadership.

Leadership / Management

How to Rise From Management to Leadership

The path from management to leadership is often not clear. This makes many managers with great leadership potential get stuck in their jobs. To rise from management to leadership, managers need to commit to practicing a few essential skills. They need to expand their thinking skills, contribute beyond their team and learn to connect ideas from different disciplines and domains. Instead of trying to earn the leadership title, they need to focus on being seen as a leader first.

Disagreeing with people above you is not easy. Fear of reprisal can make you nod in agreement even when you disagree. Holding back on your ideas and opinions keeps you safe, but it also means turning a blind eye to preventable mistakes. Practice courage and confidence to share your viewpoint without letting your fear get in the way.

Communication / Personal Development

How To Disagree With Someone More Powerful Than You

What do you do when you disagree with your manager or someone senior to you? Do you voice your opinion or do you choose to keep quiet? Speaking truth to power is a rare skill. Telling someone above you that they’re wrong requires courage and confidence. Holding your tongue and staying silent or nodding your head in agreement even when you disagree definitely feels safe.

Workplaces are filled with moments when it’s easy to lose your calm. Uncontrollable, sudden, and intense emotions that overwhelm you, can dramatically and unexpectedly lead to an emotional outburst.

Communication / Personal Development

Recovering From an Emotional Outburst At Work

Workplaces are filled with moments when it’s easy to lose your calm. Uncontrollable, sudden, and intense emotions that overwhelm you, can dramatically and unexpectedly lead to an emotional outburst. Negative emotions like anger, fear or frustration show up when your expectations aren’t met or people say or do things that conflict with your personal values and aspirations.

People refuse to give candid feedback to their managers because they don’t want to put their jobs at risk.This prevents most managers from getting an accurate picture of how others view them, often creating a huge gap between perception and reality.

Management / Personal Development

How To Give Feedback To Your Manager

People refuse to give candid feedback to their managers because they don’t want to put their jobs at risk. This prevents most managers from getting an accurate picture of how others view them, often creating a huge gap between perception and reality. Just like your manager is expected to share constant feedback to help you learn and grow, you also need to contribute to your manager’s growth.

If your employee is unpredictable or inconsistent in their performance or if they are not reaching for their potential, helping them bridge this gap is your responsibility as a manager. Don’t assume there’s something wrong with them or that they simply don’t care. Many factors play a role in determining how people put their talents to use.

Leadership / Management

What To Do If Your Employee Isn’t Reaching Their Full Potential

If your employee is unpredictable or inconsistent in their performance or if they are not reaching for their potential, helping them bridge this gap is your responsibility as a manager. Don’t assume there’s something wrong with them or that they simply don’t care. Many factors play a role in determining how people put their talents to use.

Good sponsors can take you to the next level in your career by identifying where your work might be valuable and signing you up for it.

Communication / Personal Development

How To Find a Sponsor Who Can Advocate For You

To succeed at work, you need someone to advocate for you. Someone with the real power to shape your career by aligning your aspirations with the opportunities you need and making them possible for you. Good sponsors can take you to the next level in your career by identifying where your work might be valuable and signing you up for it. Finding the right sponsor can help accelerate your career.

Pressure is inevitable when you’re trying to do worthwhile work. Reacting to pressure can put you at a disadvantage as you end up making poor choices and terrible decisions. Leading under pressure requires the ability to keep your calm and think with a clear head—being purposeful in the way you behave and act.

Leadership / Productivity

How To Stay Calm and Thrive Under Pressure

How can you bring your best to every situation when dealing with the pressure of high expectations? You know that you can’t screw up when doing something that matters to you or when you really care about the outcome, and yet high pressure situations make many people react poorly and lose their calm. It leads to poor choices, bad decisions and can sometimes even lead to inaction.

We take things personally because it’s easy to do—it’s the default setting hardwired into our brain that gets invoked most of the time without our conscious awareness. Taking things personally evokes a strong negative emotional response—we feel hurt, rejected, insulted, disappointed and let down. Left unhandled, these emotions create a downward spiral of negativity and rumination which takes a toll on our mental health and personal well-being.

Personal Development / Productivity

How Not to Take Things Personally At Work

Human mind which is capable of achieving amazing feats isn’t without its limits. Out of thousands of thoughts that run through our mind every single day, 80% are negative. This tendency to give extra weightage to negativity makes our mind, which is a meaning-making machine, attach meaning to things that don’t even exist. We start taking things personally even when it’s not about us.

Value creation and appreciation of that value doesn’t happen by simply doing great work—you also need to promote yourself and make yourself visible. It doesn’t require being noisy or bragging about your knowledge and skills. Just the right intent and a few good practices will do the trick.

Communication / Personal Development

How to Showcase Your Value Without Bragging

There are two types of people at work—those who make a lot of noise and others who actually do the work. Loud ones get the attention and opportunities even though they may not have the skills. Quiet ones keep adding value behind the scenes silently but never get the appreciation and recognition they deserve. Value creation and appreciation of that value doesn’t happen by simply doing great work—you also need to promote yourself and make yourself visible.

Spending all your time analyzing while failing to act leads to analysis paralysis. Desire to make the perfect decision turns into indecision. You struggle to reach a conclusion because you keep chasing certainty which does not exist—no one can know with surety if a particular decision is the best or will lead to the desired result.

Decisions / Leadership

How to Stop Analysis Paralysis and Make More Confident Decisions

When making important decisions with possible life altering effects, the uncertainty of the outcome and the fear of stepping into the unknown keeps us locked in an unproductive cycle where the more data we collect and the more we analyze it, the more we overthink our decision. Spending all your time analyzing while failing to act leads to analysis paralysis.

Effective leaders, though rare, are inspirational. They bring people together and enable them to collectively achieve great things together. They put the welfare of the organization and their people above their own self interests.

Leadership / Management

9 Powerful Behaviors of Highly Effective Leaders That Sets Them Apart

What makes some leaders produce excellent work while others barely do a part of their job? When leaders aren’t conscious of their time, let fear guide their decisions, worry about being disliked, and use excuses to delay or put off things that need their time and attention, they fail to do their job. Their behaviors push the organization back instead of lifting it up.

Many people confuse likability with popularity, bias and favoritism. They’re not the same. Likability is not people pleasing or going out of your way to charm others. It isn’t about refusing to take a stand or avoiding actions that might upset others.

Communication / Personal Development

How To Be More Likable At Work

Who would you like on your team or choose to work with—someone who’s highly competent but unpleasant and difficult to work with or someone with decent skills but an amazing attitude? Likability plays a crucial role in your success at work. Because after all, everyone likes to work with people they like. Competence, knowledge and skills are important to get the right opportunities and additional responsibilities at work, but those things alike, likability gives people an additional reason to choose you over others.

When you keep playing safe, you fail to leverage the right opportunities to advance your career. Using risk strategically and managing it well can build credibility, increase your influence and open the doors to bigger and better opportunities. Here's how you can get better at risk taking.

Decisions / Personal Development

How to Get Better at Risk Taking

Some people have the nerve for taking risks. Give them a challenge and they’ll jump right into it. You’ll find these people leading some of the biggest initiatives, driving the most challenging projects, and making bold decisions at work. They’re admired and respected for their ability to step up when everyone else is trying to escape the risk. These people are the change drivers, thought leaders and visionaries who have a knack for solving tough problems, courage to step into the unknown and the skills to handle the uncertainty. But what makes these people such good risk takers?

Becoming a manager may appear like a step up in your role. It definitely comes with a better pay and more responsibilities. But are you ready for it?

Leadership / Management

Am I Ready To Be a Manager?

A big mistake that employees at all levels make is confusing career development with attaining specific positions. Rush to climb the career ladder makes them take on positions which make them miserable because they actually don’t enjoy the role or not having the proper skills to do their job well leads to exhaustion and burnout. Becoming a manager when you’re not ready is the worst of all. Your job is not just about you. You’re now responsible for other human beings. Take a long term perspective. Don’t be short-sighted.

Giving power to circling negative thoughts in your mind refrains you from contributing and sharing your valuable ideas and opinions. Staying silent inhibits you from making meaningful contributions to your team and organization. Being able to speak up in meetings is a very valuable skill. Sharing your perspective or contributing to the discussion even in small ways not only projects confidence, it also builds credibility.

Communication / Personal Development

How to be Bold and Speak Up in Meetings

Are you bold enough to say what you need to say in a meeting or do you feel knots in your stomach and refuse to speak up? Being able to speak up on the spot is a very valuable skill. Sharing your perspective or contributing to the discussion even in small ways not only projects confidence, it also builds credibility. But how do you find the courage to do so when your heart starts racing at the thought of uttering even a few words? How can you say something that can potentially make you appear silly, feel embarrassed or look incompetent?

Make the most of your todo list by turning it from a bunch of meaningless line items to a more meaningful action oriented list.

Personal Development / Productivity

How to Make the Most of Your Todo List

Big or small, it’s impossible to remember everything you need to do. When you don’t actually write things down, it’s hard to prioritize complex, long-term, forward looking tasks over easy, short-term, time wasting activities. Not writing things down has another problem. Keeping track of all the unfinished tasks puts an unnecessary burden on the brain. To make the most of your todo list, you need to turn it from a bunch of meaningless line items to a more meaningful action oriented list.

Building credibility requires earning trust of people who work with you—your colleagues, manager, stakeholders and others. It requires more than just competence and knowledge. Being an expert in your domain or enthusiasm and motivation about your job can only take you so far when you lack credibility with your team and others.

Personal Development / Productivity

How to Build Credibility at Work

What erodes credibility at work and what builds it? Most employees don’t think about credibility consciously which prevents them from taking the right steps to build it. They think that if they keep their heads down and keep doing the good work, someone will take notice and good opportunities will land their way. But workplaces aren’t designed to lift people with good intentions and good skills. Building credibility requires earning trust of people who work with you. It requires more than just competence and knowledge.

As a leader, making your employees comfortable to criticize you isn’t easy. Don’t expect them to walk over to you and give you the feedback unless you take the first few steps in seeking it. Get actionable feedback by following the right practices.

Communication / Leadership

How Leaders Can Get the Actionable Feedback They Need to Grow

Feedback is a crucial part of growth. If you don’t know how you’re doing, it’s impossible to take corrective actions and improve. Many leaders fail at this. They either do not explicitly seek feedback or the way they ask for it only boosts their ego by getting feel-good praise about what they’re doing well without surfacing the actual areas where they’re falling short.

The human brain has this remarkable cognitive capacity to perform at levels far beyond what we consider as our natural abilities, but it’s not without its limits. The cognitive biases that enable the brain to prioritize and process large amounts of information quickly also gets in the way of our productivity. These mental shortcuts are the brain's way to conserve energy and work more efficiently. But they also lead to many thinking errors.

MentalModels / Productivity

4 Cognitive Biases That Impacts Productivity

The human brain has this remarkable cognitive capacity to perform at levels far beyond what we consider as our natural abilities, but it’s not without its limits. The cognitive biases that enable the brain to prioritize and process large amounts of information quickly also gets in the way of our productivity. These mental shortcuts are the brain’s way to conserve energy and work more efficiently. But they also lead to many thinking errors.

For a manager, being effective is not optional, it’s a crucial part of their job. Without effectiveness, more time is spent on inconsequential tasks and less on forward moving activities.

Leadership / Management

6 Micro Habits of Highly Effective Managers

For a manager, being effective is not optional, it’s a crucial part of their job. Without effectiveness more time is spent on inconsequential tasks and less on forward moving activities, effort spent never matches up to the results, opportunities are missed and problems linger on. Effectiveness is nothing but a habit and much like other habits in life, it too can be learned. If you want to be an effective manager, master these 6 micro habits.

Meetings can be extremely stressful unless you know how to run them well. Sharing your ideas and making others lean your way is not easy. The biggest mistake we all make when trying to make our meetings impactful is to place extreme focus on ourselves and the content of the meeting without paying much attention to the process. To create an unforgettable impact during meetings, practice these 4 key strategies.

Communication / Productivity

How to Create an Unforgettable Impact During Meetings

Meetings can be extremely stressful unless you know how to run them well. Sharing your ideas and making others lean your way is not easy. The biggest mistake we all make when trying to make our meetings impactful is to place extreme focus on ourselves and the content of the meeting without paying much attention to the process. To create an unforgettable impact during meetings, practice these 4 key strategies.

To turn your managers into successful leaders, don’t be too involved or too disconnected. Find the sweet spot where you know just enough to coach when needed while giving them the space to explore, work things out on their own and learn from their mistakes. Ask your managers these 5 questions every month.

Leadership / Management

5 Questions to Ask Your Managers Every Month to Help Them Grow as a Leader

When you stop managing individual contributors and start managing other managers, a lot needs to change. Your role is no longer about assigning tasks, meeting deadlines or taking care of your team’s work assignments and other responsibilities. Your managers are now doing the work you used to do yourself. So, how can you let go of the control? How can you trust them to do the job while you’re still responsible for it? Ask these 5 questions to your managers every month.

The difference between high impact contributors and typical contributors isn’t talent, competence or skills. They’re equally capable, have similar potential and the urge to do well. Yet, impact players consistently find ways to add value while others are simply going through the motions.

Personal Development / Productivity

Master These 5 Behaviors to be an Impact Player

What makes some employees rise through challenges, tap into opportunities, find a way to break through and make an impact while others are taken aback by a difficult circumstance and don’t know what to do or how to move forward? The difference between high impact contributors and typical contributors isn’t talent, competence or skills. They’re equally capable, have similar potential and the urge to do well. Yet, impact players consistently find ways to add value while others are simply going through the motions.

Mental health at work should be everyone’s utmost priority. Instead of relying on organizations to offer a perfect work environment that caters to your well-being, stay mentally healthy by looking inward to your own behaviors and actions.

Personal Development / Productivity

4 Shifts in Behavior To Be Mentally Healthy At Work

There are definite benefits of being part of an organization that promotes employee well-being and work towards building a mentally healthy culture, but they’re not enough. What if it’s not the work culture but your own behavior that gets in the way? Most people look outward when it comes to addressing mental health challenges, without paying attention to their own behaviors and actions. Master these 4 behaviors to stay mentally healthy at work.

As important as it is to apply the right strategies to manage your imposter syndrome, equally important is to know what constitutes bad advice. Knowing what isn’t helpful will not only save you time, it will prevent you from applying advice that can amplify your feelings of uncertainty and self-doubt. #impostersyndrome #selfdoubt #limitingbeliefs #growthmindset #successatwork #unconsciousbias #ownyourgreatness #womeninbusiness #badadvice #lifelessons #productivity #mentalhealth

Personal Development / Productivity

Bad Advice for Imposter Syndrome

As important as it is to apply the right strategies to manage your imposter syndrome, equally important is to know what constitutes bad advice. Knowing what isn’t helpful will not only save you time, it will prevent you from applying advice that can amplify your feelings of uncertainty and self-doubt. Don’t settle. Don’t look for shortcuts or quick wins. Don’t go after the fake it till you make it, positive thinking and pushing on through advice.

To be an effective manager create a safe space for employees to voice their opinion, help them build creative thinking skills by leading with questions and strike the right balance between challenging and personally caring for them.

Leadership / Management

Want to be an Effective Manager? Build These 3 Skills

As a manager, you may feel that there are too many things to learn and too little time to put everything into practice. However, working hard to catch up to the demands and expectations of the job will only leave you tired and exhausted. Good management does not require being a superhuman with extraordinary skills. It only requires practicing these 3 important skills.

Beat feelings of self-doubt and unworthiness and build confidence by following this 3 step process.

Leadership / Personal Development

Bridge the Confidence Gap: How to Build Confidence That Lasts

When you fall for your mind’s thinking traps, you may assume it’s lack of competence that stops you from going after the things you want. But it’s not competence that’s holding you back, it’s your lack of confidence. When you lose sight of belief in yourself, no amount of competence can make you successful. Competence gives you the skills, confidence underpins your ability to actually get things done.

Building extraordinary workplaces with high performing teams requires more than hiring the right talent and equipping them with the right opportunities. It requires cultivating the right habits and incorporating them into daily work and life.

Leadership / Management

5 Excellent Habits of High Performing Teams

What makes some teams do exceptionally well and others to perform poorly? Do they have more talented team members, better resources or are simply being lucky? Teams that stand out are not more talented, better skilled or have greater opportunities. What sets them apart are their habits and practices. Empowering work culture, support from leaders in the organization and clarity of vision and goals is important, but they’re not sufficient to drive excellence and high performance in teams.

Making good decisions isn’t just about making the right choices, it’s also about being able to recognize and eliminate bad ones. Here are the other 4 thinking traps that add to leadership ineffectiveness. #effectiveleadership #cognitivebias #psychology #cognition #implicitbias #decisionmaking #thoughtleaders #entrepreneurship #makingdecisions #bias #leadership #mentalmodels #thinkingtraps

Leadership / MentalModels

Break Free From These 4 Leadership Thinking Traps

Thinking traps are the biggest cause of leadership ineffectiveness. When leaders don’t pay attention to how they think, make decisions and the impact it has on the organization and its people, their actions—however well intended they may be—cease to produce the desired effect. Making good decisions isn’t just about making the right choices, it’s also about being able to recognize and eliminate bad ones. Effective leaders make good decisions by paying attention to their errors in thinking and taking steps to reduce them.

Leaders are ordinary human beings who make mistakes from time to time. While some mistakes are insignificant or have minor negative consequences, others might be potentially harmful and damaging to the organization and its people. Most of these mistakes are unintentional—they stem from thinking errors, applying shortcuts and not using the right mental models. When leaders don’t pause and reflect, they make poor choices and terrible decisions which hurt the productivity of their people and performance of their entire organization.

Leadership / MentalModels

These Thinking Errors are the Biggest Cause of Leadership Ineffectiveness

Leaders are ordinary human beings who make mistakes from time to time. While some mistakes are insignificant or have minor negative consequences, others might be potentially harmful and damaging to the organization and its people. Most of these mistakes are unintentional—they stem from thinking errors, applying shortcuts and not using the right mental models. When leaders don’t pause and reflect, they make poor choices and terrible decisions which hurt the productivity of their people and performance of their entire organization.

We all want to get the job of our dreams and stay in them forever. But the world is not fair and most things do not end up the way we expected. Instead of wasting time ruminating about the past, follow these practices to get hired in a job of your choice and create the future you deserve—be strategic about social media, prepare your sell pitch, use the STAR technique and don’t give up.

Communication / Personal Development

Want to Get Hired? Here’s What You Need to Do to Land the Right Job

With the uncertainty in the economy, many companies have not only announced a hiring freeze but are also downsizing their entire divisions and non-profitable initiatives. Whether you’re forced to find another job or someone who’s doing it as a choice, the process to find another job is never easy. Making mistakes by not following good practices reduces the likelihood of you landing a job on time, builds stress and may even hurt you mentally and financially. If you want to get hired in a company of your choice, follow these practices.

When employees think they’re not fairly evaluated or their manager lacks information on their true value and worth, it affects their performance and productivity. Not being recognized for what they bring to the table hits them hard—they don’t see a point in taking up new challenges and opportunities or going the extra mile. That's why it's so important to take performance reviews seriously and do them well.

Leadership / Management

How to Put People at the Center of Performance Reviews

When employees think they’re not fairly evaluated or their manager lacks information on their true value and worth, it affects their performance and productivity. Not being recognized for what they bring to the table hits them hard—they don’t see a point in taking up new challenges and opportunities or going the extra mile. Doing performance reviews well requires intention and effort, but done right, it can give big returns on investment.

To build empathy at work, you have to be less wrong when judging other people’s behaviors and actions. You have to stop making assumptions about their circumstances and motivations. You have to step into their shoes to understand what they’re really thinking.

Communication / MentalModels

4 Powerful Mental Models to Build Empathy At Work

Most problems we face at work involve people. We think we know others, how they think and what drives them. But most of the time we’re wrong. You can’t be empathetic towards others and lead with your beliefs and notions. To build empathy at work, you have to be less wrong when judging other people’s behaviors and actions. You have to stop making assumptions about their circumstances and motivations. You have to step into their shoes to understand what they’re really thinking.

Being a manager of managers is a great responsibility. Your behaviors and actions not only impacts your managers, but also people reporting to them. Even though you have a lot to learn, by applying the right practices you can step up and be the leader that your people expect you to be.

Leadership / Management

5 Things I learned the Hard Way as a Manager of Managers

Being a manager of managers is a great responsibility. The impact of your decisions and what you say or do not only impacts your managers, but also people reporting to them. Attracting great talent is not enough. You also need to hold them together and help them achieve excellence. Even though you have a lot to learn, by applying the right practices you can step up and be the leader that your people expect you to be.

Mental agility makes you confidently step up and solve difficult problems when everyone else is taken aback by an unpredictable situation or an unforeseen circumstance and wondering how to deal with it. It is necessary to innovate, embrace change, and thrive in the face of uncertainty. Cultivate it by adopting these 5 key practices.

Decisions / MentalModels

5 Practices to Cultivate Mental Agility and Thrive in Uncertainty

How do you deal with uncertainty? How do you handle unexpected events? How do you react to change? Do you panic and avoid dealing with the situation or do you look at the situation with curiosity, explore alternative ways to move forward and pivot, if need be? The ability to think on your feet and solve problems by quickly moving between different ideas is the key to creativity at work. Mental agility is necessary to innovate, embrace change, and thrive in the face of uncertainty.

Good mentors help unlock your hidden potential. They may not only offer advice when you’re stuck with a problem but also help you get over your own limiting beliefs. They tell you things you may not want to hear which keeps you grounded in reality. They’re your sounding board to determine which ideas are feasible and practical and which ones aren’t worth pursuing. With the support of a good mentor, you can build a kick-ass career instead of simply dragging your feet. But how do you find such a person and why should they mentor you?

Communication / Personal Development

How To Find a Mentor Who Can Accelerate Your Career

Good mentors help unlock your hidden potential. They may not only offer advice when you’re stuck with a problem but also help you get over your own limiting beliefs. They tell you things you may not want to hear which keeps you grounded in reality. They’re your sounding board to determine which ideas are feasible and practical and which ones aren’t worth pursuing. But how do you find such a person and why should they mentor you?

When you’re having a bad day at work, your mind spirals into all sad things. It’s like someone dimmed the light around you and everything appears dark and gloomy. You’re more likely to lose your nerve or react poorly to even minor inconveniences. Healthy disagreements turn into personal attacks. Minor conflicts into major issues.

Personal Development / Productivity

How to Deal With a Bad Day at Work

When you’re having a bad day at work, your mind spirals into all sad things. It’s like someone dimmed the light around you and everything appears dark and gloomy. You’re more likely to lose your nerve or react poorly to even minor inconveniences. Healthy disagreements turn into personal attacks. Minor conflicts into major issues. While it is difficult for you to look for the bright side of things when your mind is stuffed with negativity, there are specific things you must do to prevent a bad day from turning into a bad week.

Effective communication is a key ingredient to work together, advance your career and make work a happy experience. When communication breaks down at work, more time is wasted in filling gaps in alignment and expectations and less in productive work. Adopt this powerful framework to reduce communication gaps at work.

Communication / Productivity

Powerful Framework to Reduce Communication Gaps at Work

Effective communication is a key ingredient to work together, advance your career and make work a happy experience. When communication breaks down at work, more time is wasted in filling gaps in alignment and expectations and less in productive work. Instead of seeking a perfect work environment with 100% alignment between people and teams, adopt this powerful framework to reduce communication gaps at work.

What if employees at work mentally check out? They do not become lazy, irresponsible or stop taking their work seriously. Rather, they do what they are being asked to do—nothing more and nothing less. Quiet quitting is a mindset that safeguards employees from placing excessive focus on one’s work, ignoring personal time because their career comes first or becoming so dedicated to their jobs that friends, family and their own health turn into an afterthought. #quietquitting #greatresignation #tangping #lyingflat #quitjob #burnout #worklifebalance #lifebalance #timemanagement #career #balance #mentalhealth #mentalhealthmatters #wellness #wellbeing

Decisions / Leadership

Is Quiet Quitting a Good Idea?

What if employees at work mentally check out? They do what they are being asked to do—nothing more and nothing less. Quiet quitting is a mindset that safeguards employees from placing excessive focus on one’s work, ignoring personal time because their career comes first or becoming so dedicated to their jobs that friends, family and their own health turn into an afterthought. Disengaging from work can create a healthy balance between work and life but mentally checking out this way isn’t without negative side effects.

Letting difficult people have it their way for too long can cause damage beyond repair. Delivering feedback to difficult people is ineffective if it does not land right—they refuse to accept, become defensive and may even turn bitter which only makes working with them even harder. Apply the right strategies by embracing the difficult task of giving feedback to these difficult people. #toxicpeople #difficultpeople #toxicperson #toxicass #toxicity #givefeedback #constructivecriticism #honestfeedback #badbehavior #management #communication #leadership #teamgrowth #collaboration

Communication / Management

How to Give the Most Effective Feedback to a Difficult Person

Healthy boundaries are essential for the mental and personal well-being of all employees at work. When these boundaries are exploited by difficult people, the more time someone spends around them, the more damage they suffer. Apply these 4 strategies to give feedback to a difficult person without challenging them in a way that makes them quit or create more trouble.

As you grow in your career, the cost of not putting your time to best use is significantly high. Applying the makeshift tactics can get you through the day, but they also hurt your productivity in the long run. Use these 3 productivity frameworks to do work that matters.

Personal Development / Productivity

Struggling To Be Productive? Use These 3 Productivity Frameworks To Get Real Work Done

As you grow in your career, the cost of not putting your time to best use is significantly high. If you’re serious about utilizing your time well, use these 3 productivity frameworks to identify what deserves your attention and what shouldn’t be done at all, give life to your goals by utilizing the right opportunities and taking action, and staying focused by avoiding distractions when you actually get down to work.

Is your manager not paying attention to your work? Use this 3-step framework to break your manager’s default pattern so that they start paying attention to the things you need.

Personal Development / Productivity

What to Do If Your Manager Isn’t Paying Attention

Your manager should know about the areas you’re doing well, where you excel, your strengths and highlights. Keeping your manager in the loop is essential for your success and growth. But what if your manager isn’t paying attention? Should you keep your head down and keep doing the good work with the hope that they will take notice someday or can you do the work to get into the spotlight and make yourself visible?

Philosophical razors in day-to-day life serve as critical thinking tools to eliminate noise, strip away unnecessary parts and better understand the problem at hand thereby enabling you to make better decisions. Use these 4 razors to make better decisions. #razors #philosophy #cognitivedistortions #biases #mentalhealth #decisions #cognition #implicitbias #mentalmodels #baddecisions #thinkingfastandslow #neuroscience #cognitivebias

Decisions / MentalModels

The Most Powerful Decision-Making Razors

Philosophical razors in day-to-day life serve as critical thinking tools to eliminate noise, strip away unnecessary parts and better understand the problem at hand thereby enabling you to make better decisions. Like cognitive biases that lead to thinking errors and arise due to the ability of our mind to apply shortcuts, razors are mental tricks that enable better judgment but aren’t right 100% of the time. When used appropriately though, applying razors can be extremely valuable.

As a manager, hearing an employee quit is the most challenging experience. On the one hand, you’re worried about the impact it may have on your team, on the other you’re concerned about how it reflects on you as a manager. However by responding in a thoughtful manner, you can have a constructive discussion and may even convince them to stay.

Leadership / Management

How to Respond When an Employee Quits

As a manager, hearing that someone on your team quit is the most challenging experience. On the one hand, you’re worried about the impact it may have on your team, on the other you’re concerned about how it reflects on you as a manager. Losing a top performer, someone you value in the team or someone with great potential is definitely upsetting. It may be hard to believe at first especially if it comes off as a total surprise—they seemed committed and engaged and you really cared for them, so what went wrong?

When we don't pay attention to the cognitive distortions that impact communication, collaboration with others breaks down at work. To effectively communicate, learn about these cognitive distortions and practice the strategies to tackle them so that they don't get in the way of your goals and success.

Decisions / MentalModels

Want to Communicate Effectively at Work? Eliminate these 5 Cognitive Distortions

Communicating effectively with others is a crucial element to get work done. When we don’t pay attention to the cognitive distortions that impact our thinking, we communicate in a manner that makes collaboration difficult. Without being self aware and catching ourselves with those occasional errors in thinking, biased views and irrational thoughts make us form an inaccurate view of reality and stick with it thereby impacting our behaviors and actions.

Combating cognitive distortions during high stakes decisions or events where irrational thoughts have long term implications requires self awareness and practicing good habits of the mind which enable you to make conscious decisions as opposed to letting your brain run on autopilot. #cognitivedistortions #biases #mentalhealth #cognition #implicitbias #mentalmodels #baddecisions #thinkingfastandslow #neuroscience #decision

Decisions / MentalModels

Want to Make Better Decisions? Avoid These 5 Cognitive Distortions

We work in environments that aren’t optimized for solid decision-making. We also have irrational or negative thought patterns from time to time. This leads to habitual errors in thinking which creates an inaccurate view of reality. Combating cognitive distortions during high stakes decisions or events where irrational thoughts have long term implications requires self awareness and practicing good habits of the mind which enable you to make conscious decisions as opposed to letting your brain run on autopilot.

The gap between how you view your behaviors and actions and how others perceive you is always huge. You may think you’re a great team player or the job that you just finished was outstanding. But how you view your performance may not align with how your boss or team members view it. Want to bridge this gap? Ask your manager these questions every month.

Communication / Personal Development

5 Questions to Ask Your Manager Every Month and 10X Your Impact

Do you want to 10x your impact at work? Do you know what behaviors hold you back? What about your team—do they admire, respect and acknowledge you? Do they find you helpful? The gap between how you view your behaviors and actions and how others perceive you is always huge. Don’t let your manager decide where you end up. Don’t wait for them to share feedback that you need. Ask these 5 questions every month to take charge of your own growth and 10x your impact.

Do you have a hard time saying no to last-minute requests from others with the worry that you might hurt or disappoint them? Saying no is not only healthy, it helps you recognize your limitations and empowers you to make the right choices.

Communication / Decisions

How to Say No to Last Minute Requests

Do you say yes to every last minute request? Being able to help others, put out fires, share your knowledge and expertise can lead to feelings of accomplishment. Knowing that others need you can make you feel important. But that dopamine hit comes at a cost. Accommodating all these requests into an already packed schedule leaves you feeling burnt out, and exhausted. Saying no is not only healthy, it helps you recognize your limitations and empowers you to make the right choices.

Finding it hard to assert authority as a new manager? Not sure how you can assign tasks to your team, how you can raise concerns or how you can have tough conversations? Asserting authority as a new manager is uncomfortable and but you can do it right by praticing the right behaviors.

Leadership / Management

How to Assert Authority as a Young Manager

Not sure how you can assign tasks to your team, how you can raise concerns or how you can have tough conversations? Some discomfort is natural as a new manager. But letting your discomfort get in the way of your decisions, holding yourself back from giving your ideas and suggestions, hesitating to set direction and guide your team or delaying feedback with the worry how it might land with the other person not only makes you ineffective as a manager, it also hurts your team’s productivity and performance.

The constant desire to improve ourselves and our life situation, seeking a better life, or the pursuit of pleasure is what keeps the human race thriving. But it also sets us on a hedonic treadmill constantly chasing the next big target.

Decisions / Personal Development

Stuck on the Hedonic Treadmill? Here’s How to Escape It

The constant desire to improve ourselves and our life situation, seeking a better life, or the pursuit of pleasure is what keeps the human race thriving. But it also sets us on a hedonic treadmill constantly chasing the next big target. We set goals and expectations. We run to gain those things. But once we succeed or reach that destination, instead of being euphoric, the feeling is more of a relief.

Faking it by posturing, pretending to be confident, and ignoring those nagging feelings of self-doubts can offer some temporary respite from those feelings of self-doubt, but once you’re done putting on a show, being inauthentic to yourself negatively impacts your perceptions of yourself. Don't fake it till you make it, build genuine confidence through action.

Personal Development / Productivity

Fake It Till You Make It: Good Advice or a Setup for failure?

Faking it by posturing, pretending to be confident, and ignoring those nagging feelings of self-doubt can offer some temporary respite, but once you’re done putting on a show, being inauthentic to yourself negatively impacts your perceptions of yourself. Imitating confidence and competency has long-term implications. Don’t fake it till you make it, build genuine confidence through action.

Getting laid off and losing your job is hard. It not only hurts you financially, but also personally. Left unhandled or dealt with badly, a layoff can make you adopt harmful behaviors that destroy your self-confidence. Handling a layoff well is not only about finding a new job. More than the job hunt, it requires mental strength to deal with the emotions that are bound to run high.

Decisions / Personal Development

How to Bounce Back After Getting Laid Off

Getting laid off and losing your job is hard. It not only hurts you financially but also personally. Left unhandled or dealt with badly, a layoff can make you adopt harmful behaviors that destroy your self-confidence. Handling a layoff well is not only about finding a new job. More than the job hunt, it requires mental strength to deal with the emotions that are bound to run high.

What’s the one big difference between employees who stand out within the first few months of joining and those who struggle to fit in? New hires who do well at work stand out because they own their onboarding experience.

Personal Development / Productivity

7 Effective Practices to Onboard Yourself in Your New Job

What’s the one big difference between employees who stand out within the first few months of joining and those who struggle to fit in? New hires who do well at work stand out because they own their onboarding experience. Instead of letting the onboarding process in their organization determine where they end up, they get into the driver’s seat, buckle themselves up and get to work.

Busyness creates an illusion of productivity. Being caught inside the ‘busy trap’ makes it harder for you to see that productivity is not based on the number of hours you put in; it’s the time spent creating value.

Personal Development / Productivity

Are You Keeping Busy or Being Productive?

Busyness creates an illusion of productivity. Being caught inside the ‘busy trap’ makes it harder for you to see that productivity is not based on the number of hours you put in; it’s the time spent creating value. Instead of accepting busyness as a way of life, practice behaviors that will make work more meaningful and impactful without taking a toll on your mental health and personal well-being.

To succeed in life and go after the things you desire, you need to incorporate behaviors and practices that open your mind to new opportunities by viewing the world with infinite possibilities and unlimited options. With abundance mindset, you’re no longer operating within the confines and constraints of your own limitations. You no longer see the world as a limited pie but view it as an endless ocean where there’s enough for everyone.

Decisions / Personal Development

5 Practices to Shift from Scarcity to Abundance Mindset

Do you consider the limitations of a situation by focusing on the negatives or see the opportunities in every situation by focusing on areas of growth and improvement? When you’re not operating within the confines and constraints of your own limitations, you no longer see the world as a limited pie but view it as an endless ocean where there’s enough for everyone.

If you're making these career limiting mistakes, you may work hard but never get the success you deserve. Watch out for these mistakes so that they don't stand in the path of your growth and success.

Decisions / Personal Development

8 Common Career Limiting Mistakes to Avoid at All Costs

Do you recognize and pay attention to mistakes that limit your career? Those who succeed at work do not have special skills and abilities. They aren’t more intelligent or talented than others. What makes them stand out are the little decisions they make every step of the way. If you’re frustrated that your growth isn’t aligned with your effort, identify the career limiting mistakes you are making.

Are you getting angry at work? Are these significant issues that are making you angry or are you losing your cool over small stuff? An enraged mind is in no condition to think strategically. Staying angry makes you prone to poor judgment; it makes you say things you will regret later.

Communication / Personal Development

Getting Angry at Work? Here’s How to Use Anger in More Positive Ways

Do you get mad at work? Are these significant issues that are making you angry or are you losing your cool over small stuff? An enraged mind is in no condition to think strategically. Staying angry makes you prone to poor judgment; it makes you say things you will regret later. Emotional regulation is the key to mastering your negative emotions.

When you lose trust as a manager, it negatively impacts your team's productivity and performance. They are constantly on the lookout, watchful of how their actions will be perceived. Time and energy that’s better spent in doing work is wasted in useless arguments and discussions. Lack of trust turns minor disappointments into major setbacks. Negative outlook breeds suspicion, frustration, and resentment which leads to poor quality work.

Leadership / Management

Losing Trust As a Manager? Here’s How to Regain It

What’s the most important factor that impacts an employee’s motivation at work—the level of trust they feel towards their manager. High levels of trust make them feel valued, energizes them to work harder, and make them persist through difficulties and setbacks. Low levels of trust reverses the equation which negatively impacts their productivity and performance. You can lose trust as a manager if you don’t spend time noticing how you come across to others.

Instead of major victories with outsized expectations, target small wins. Small daily goals that give a sense of progress; work that moves you forward, is fulfilling and rewarding, where each step takes you closer to your destination.

Personal Development / Productivity

Instead of Those Lofty Goals, Go After the Small Wins

Big goals that are far off into the future can lead to procrastination, promote all-or-nothing thinking and provide momentary happiness without long lasting satisfaction. Instead of major victories with outsized expectations, what if you targeted small wins? Small daily goals that give a sense of progress; work that moves you forward, is fulfilling and rewarding, where each step takes you closer to your destination.

Don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions is a phrase used by many managers—even the well-intentioned ones—who believe that it encourages their team members to be creative thinkers, while all it does is promote siloed thinking.The message you want to pass is one of encouragement and empowerment, but instead, it dissuades your team from bringing up problems—problems they find hard to solve or ones that need your support and guidance.

Leadership / Management

“Don’t Bring Me Problems, Bring Me Solutions” is Hurting Your Team

Don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions is a phrase used by many managers—even the well-intentioned ones—who believe that it encourages their team members to be creative thinkers, while all it does is promote siloed thinking. The message you want to pass is one of encouragement and empowerment, but instead, it dissuades your team from bringing up problems—problems they find hard to solve or ones that need your support and guidance.

Out of hundreds of things a manager is expected to do, maintaining a healthy relationship with their people is just one of them. And it’s true that a good part of a manager’s job is to invest time in their people and their growth. But a relationship isn’t a one-way street. You can’t have a healthy relationship with your manager unless you are invested in your own growth.

Personal Development / Productivity

How To Create A Thriving Relationship With Your Manager

Out of hundreds of things a manager is expected to do, maintaining a healthy relationship with their people is just one of them. And it’s true that a good part of a manager’s job is to invest time in their people and their growth. But a relationship isn’t a one-way street. You can’t have a healthy relationship with your manager unless you are invested in your own growth. People who excel at work don’t blame a poor relationship on their manager. They’re willing to do the work necessary to make it work.

Finding it hard to be effective as a new manager? Apply these strategies to succeed.

Leadership / Management

Finding It Hard to Be Effective as a New Manager? Here’s How to Succeed

When you get promoted to a new manager, there are lots of questions in your mind. With so many questions unanswered, it’s completely natural to feel unprepared. Your struggles are real. When you started as an individual contributor and got to a lead position, you thought you made it. But now as a manager, you are back to square one. To be effective as a new manager, you’ll need to acquire a set of skills that can only come through practice.

How do you get better as a manager? You can use feedback from your manager, inputs from your team, and outcomes you achieve as a measure of your performance, but by themselves, they do not help you get better. Without a system in place to measure yourself and actively monitor how you’re doing, you cannot determine areas that need your attention and the steps you must take to improve. Ask these 9 questions to be a great boss.

Leadership / Management

9 Questions Great Bosses Ask Themselves 

How do you get better as a manager? You can use feedback from your manager, inputs from your team, and outcomes you achieve as a measure of your performance, but by themselves, they do not help you get better. Without a system in place to measure yourself and actively monitor how you’re doing, you cannot determine areas that need your attention and the steps you must take to improve. Use these 9 questions that all great bosses ask themselves to improve their team’s performance.

One-on-one meetings go wrong not because of lack of effort. They go wrong when you don’t pay attention to little things that are needed to get them right. Watch out for these common one-on-one meeting mistakes.

Leadership / Management

These One-on-One Meeting Mistakes are Hurting Your Team

Do you regularly meet your people, give them advice and help them with their growth? You might be doing a lot of things right, but do you also take time to analyze the mistakes that can turn your one-on-one meetings unproductive and leave your employees feeling dissatisfied? One-on-one meetings go wrong not because of lack of effort. They go wrong when you don’t pay attention to little things that are needed to get them right.

High agency is about finding a way to get what you want, without waiting for the conditions to be perfect or otherwise blaming the circumstances. High agency people either push through in the face of adversity or they manage to reverse it to achieve their goals. They either find a way, or they make a way.

Leadership / Management

High Agency: Quality that Sets Leaders Who Win From Those Who Whine Apart

High agency is important at every step of the career, but it’s even more crucial as you ascend the ladder and take up a leadership position in an organization. For a leader, vision and ability aren’t differentiating factors anymore. An ambitious vision for the future only sets the direction. It’s the high agency that gives life to that vision and makes it possible. It’s the high agency that sets a leader apart. Learn to recognize and cultivate it.

A leader’s job in any organization isn’t to tell people what to do, be involved in every problem, or deliver 100% perfect outcomes. Their job is to enable their people to use their knowledge to make their own decisions, motivate them to build the skills necessary to feel confident, and use their own time effectively to look into the future and solve hard problems. They can do this by effectively implementing decision tree model to seek better alignment at all levels.

Leadership / Management

The Decision Tree: Alignment Model Leaders Need to Make Better Decisions

A leader’s job in any organization isn’t to tell people what to do or be involved in every problem. Their job is to enable their people to make their own decisions, motivate them to build the skills necessary to feel confident, and use their own time effectively to look into the future and solve hard problems. They can do this by shifting from control to context and seeking alignment using the decision tree.

As a manager, the uncertainty of your decisions along with the daily struggle to make things happen can be quite taxing on your personal health and mental wellbeing. Unless you learn to take care of yourself, you can’t really be productive. Practicing self-care as a manager isn’t just necessary, it should be your topmost priority.

Leadership / Management

How to Practice Self Care as a Manager

As a manager, there isn’t a rule book for all the decisions you need to make and all the steps you need to take. You will make plenty of mistakes on the way. You will have a hard time getting your ideas heard and convincing others. The uncertainty of your decisions along with the daily struggle to make things happen can be quite taxing on your personal health and mental wellbeing. Practicing self-care as a manager isn’t just necessary, it should be your topmost priority.

Giving difficult feedback is the most difficult thing you may have to do at work, but building this skill is like building muscle. It only gets better with practice. It never gets easy, you only get better.

Leadership / Management

How To Be Comfortable Giving Difficult Feedback

What’s more dreadful than receiving difficult feedback? Giving one. Worried that negative feedback will hurt the other person and ruin your relationship is one of the biggest deterrents to avoid saying what you need to say. Giving difficult feedback is the most difficult thing you may have to do at work, but building this skill is like building muscle. It only gets better with practice. It never gets easy, you only get better.

The difference between leaders who push their teams to the ground and those who take their teams to great heights isn’t knowledge, capability, or competence. It isn’t even their motivation and desire to succeed. They both want to achieve success. What sets them apart is the difference in how they handle their ignorance. An ignorant leader's ignorance isn't limited to their skills and abilities, but also how they come across to others.

Leadership / Management

Your Ignorance is Causing You to Fail as a Leader

The difference between leaders who push their teams to the ground and those who take their teams to great heights isn’t knowledge, capability, or competence. It isn’t even their motivation and desire to succeed. They both want to achieve success. What sets them apart is the difference in how they handle their ignorance. Their ignorance isn’t limited to their skills and abilities, but also how they come across to others.

Pluralistic ignorance is a psychological state in which we believe that our private thoughts, feelings, beliefs, attitudes and judgments are different from those of others and yet when part of a group, we all seem to behave in the same way.

Decisions / MentalModels

Pluralistic Ignorance: Why Smart People Do Dumb Things

We do not conform to cultural and behavioral expectations around us that exist, but to a version we believe exists. Stuck in a vicious cycle of pluralistic ignorance, we continue to support the very behaviors we deem bad. Call it peer pressure, fear of rejection, our desire to fit in, or simply the fear of standing out, we think one thing and do another because we are deluded about other people’s real views and feel compelled to adhere to that delusion.

Imposter syndrome, though a commonly shared feeling turns out to be quite a unique experience. Its impact on each individual varies in not only how they feel, but also how they behave and act afterward. Look at these 5 types of behaviors to determine which one is your default strategy to deal with feelings of being a fraud. What type of imposter are you?

Personal Development / Productivity

What Type of Imposter Are You?

Although imposter syndrome is linked with feelings of inadequacy and thinking that nothing you do is ever good enough, how it plays out in your day-to-day life and impacts you varies from person to person. Acknowledging what you are feeling is important, but what’s even more important is to pay attention to the underlying behaviors and actions that such feelings tend to evoke. Your feelings of being a fraud can turn you into a procrastinator, perfectionist, overworker, people pleaser, or a self diminisher.

There’s no getting away with some amount of stress at work and we shouldn’t try to either. After all, all stress is not bad. But what if your stress is debilitating? What if it gets in the way of making meaningful contributions? What if instead of energizing you, workplace stress sucks into your energy and hurts your motivation?

Leadership / Personal Development

Workplace Stress is Costing You. Know How To Reduce It

All stress is not bad. Oftentimes, it signals you are doing worthwhile work. That you care about adding value and creating an impact. Stress can also energize you enabling you to put in the effort required to make something happen. But what if your stress is debilitating? What if it gets in the way of making meaningful contributions? What if instead of energizing you, workplace stress sucks into your energy and hurts your motivation?

Getting your ideas heard and approved is one of the first steps to creating impactful work. It’s easy to adopt a victim mindset and blame others for rejecting your ideas. But all it does is make you feel defeated and stressed. To get buy-in and gain support for your ideas, work on your process. Take responsibility for your outcomes.

Communication / Leadership

Not Getting Your Ideas Heard? Here’s How to Gain Support for Your Ideas

Failure to get buy-in and have your recommendations shut down can crush your confidence and make it difficult for you to voice your opinion the next time around. Apply these strategies to not only confidently present your ideas, but get your ideas heard and gain support too. Learn to influence the decision and make positive impact on your organization and your work.

What’s the difference between people who end up loving what they do and those who are on an endless pursuit looking for the one thing that will fulfill them only to be left disheartened, dissatisfied, and unhappy? What matters more - progress or passion?

Personal Development / Productivity

Progress Not Passion is the Answer to Loving the Work You Do

What’s the difference between people who end up loving what they do and those who are on an endless pursuit looking for the one thing that will fulfill them only to be left disheartened, dissatisfied, and unhappy? Progress and not passion was the answer I was looking for all along. 3 strategies that have worked for me over the years to love what I do while letting my passion grow behind the scenes for me.

In a fast-moving, ever-changing, dynamic work environment, the ability to collaborate effectively isn’t a necessity, it’s a superpower. Learn about the cross functional collaboration challenges and the steps managers can take to make it effective.

Leadership / Management

Challenges With Cross Functional Collaboration and What to Do About It

In a fast-moving, ever-changing, dynamic work environment, the ability to collaborate effectively isn’t a necessity, it’s a superpower. When collaborating across teams, communication, coordination, visibility, execution speed, and decision-making can turn into a mess. Learn about the cross functional collaboration challenges and the steps managers can take to make it effective.

Authentic leadership goes wrong when leaders try to live up to some grand image. To match their behaviors and actions to an idealized version of an authentic leader and feeling exhausted and defeated when they fail to inspire the necessary changes in their teams and their organizations. By getting hung up on becoming their best versions, they fail to show up their authentic versions.

Leadership / Management

Being on the Wrong Side of Authentic Leadership

Authentic leadership goes wrong when leaders try to match their behaviors and actions to an idealized version of an authentic leader and feel exhausted and defeated when they fail to inspire the necessary changes in their teams and their organizations. By getting hung up on becoming their best versions, they fail to show up their authentic versions. To practice true authenticity, knowing what not to do is as important as knowing what to do.

Organizations that thrive are run by leaders who see opportunity in uncertainty, who cut through ambiguity, and those who lead with the mindset to gain clarity. Done right, ambiguity can be exhilarating, rewarding, and mentally stimulating. Done wrong, it can be exhausting, emotionally consuming, and even downright demotivating. It’s only by considering different perspectives, asking better questions, and learning from their own systems, leaders can build the curiosity and flexibility required to purposefully deal with ambiguity.

Leadership / Management

How Great Leaders Deal With Ambiguity

Organizations that thrive are run by leaders who see opportunity in uncertainty, who cut through ambiguity, and those who lead with the mindset to gain clarity. Done right, ambiguity can be exhilarating, rewarding, and mentally stimulating. Done wrong, it can be exhausting, emotionally consuming, and even downright demotivating. Apply these 7 strategies to learn how to deal with ambiguity.

People who like to keep commitments are careful about their choices. They understand that doing something always comes at the cost of not doing something else. So, they carefully evaluate their priorities and say “yes” to only a few things. Identifying what adds value to them and to others and taking time to actually fulfill their commitments builds trust, creates strong relationships, and makes the other person feel valued and respected.

Decisions / Personal Development

7 Steps for Keeping Commitments at Work That Leads to Growth

There are two types of people at work – those who like to make commitments and others who like to keep them. People who like to make commitments don’t pay much attention to how those things fit into their schedule. People who like to keep commitments are careful about their choices. They understand that doing something always comes at the cost of not doing something else.

A sense of control in our life not only rids us of the fear and anxiety that comes with feeling out of control, it’s the single most critical factor in helping us stay productive at work. Apply these strategies to regain your freedom and take back control of your life.

Leadership / Personal Development

How to Reclaim Your Freedom and Take Back Control of Your Life

A sense of control in our life not only rids us of the fear and anxiety that comes with feeling out of control, it’s the single most critical factor in helping us stay productive at work. It’s our internal sense of freedom to know that we have the autonomy to make corrections, drive to be persistent and the power to influence the outcome. Apply these strategies to feel in control, do more and achieve more.

Ostrich effect is a cognitive bias that makes people avoid negative information, including any feedback that can help them get a sense of how they are doing on their goals especially when the information is perceived to be unpleasant, undesired or evokes strong negative emotional response.

Decisions / MentalModels

Ostrich Effect: Are You Avoiding Unpleasant Information?

Ostriches bury their heads in the sand when they sense danger assuming that the danger will pass if they just avoid it long enough. We humans are no different. When dealing with unpleasant information, or information that challenges us in a way that we don’t want to be challenged, we pretend the information doesn’t exist. We bury our heads in the sand just like the ostriches.

If you are around one of those people who have the tendency to constantly complain, who turn a perfectly good outcome into an unsatisfactory one with their negative outlook, those who are overly critical or bring out the worst in others with their offensive comments, toxic behavior and pessimistic attitude towards everything, chances are these negative people are already controlling your emotions and limiting what you can achieve. Learn to deal with negative people in your life.

Communication / Personal Development

How to Deal With Negative People Without Going Crazy

Negativity can be contagious. It may not be obvious at first, but it’s easy to get trapped into a negative person’s way of thinking if you are not careful around them. Left unhandled, their cynical, gloomy, and defeatist behavior can emotionally drain you, impact your productivity, and turn you into the very person you hated at first. Learn how to deal with a negative person without going crazy.

Becoming a manager isn’t easy. All the uncertainty and confusion can either leave you disoriented and feeling overwhelmed with a lack of control or you can embrace it and use it as the force to push ahead. You can succeed as a manager by looking beyond all the randomness and chaos to adopting a mentality where nothing can pull you down. You can lead and succeed by practicing these 20 principles.

Leadership / Management

Becoming A Manager: 20 Principles To Learn and Lead

Becoming a manager isn’t easy. All the uncertainty and confusion can either leave you disoriented and feeling overwhelmed with a lack of control or you can embrace it and use it as the force to push ahead. You can succeed as a manager by looking beyond all the randomness and chaos to adopting a mentality where nothing can pull you down. You can lead and succeed by practicing these 20 principles.