Analysts refer to LEGO as the Apple of Toys. And the system continues to thrive. LEGO’s steadfast belief in continuously learning, experimenting and reinventing, speaks to our research on the attributes that make businesses thrive and be resilient in the face of chaos and complexity.
As a Coach, as a Leader and as a Leader who is a Coach, perhaps the greatest gift to the self and others is a Beginner’s Mindset. It is the ability to be fully present, listen actively and not be thinking “I already know the answer to this”.
My coach once asked me: What is that one thing that holds you back from doing what you want? I said: Overthinking. The consequence is inaction. Analysis-paralysis – that’s my biggest challenge. I was reminded of this when my friend T, called me a couple of days ago, to give me the big news that …
The dread you feel of being ‘found out’. The anxiety and foreboding that the ‘fraud’ will be revealed one day. That you have been lucky in your career stints, the bosses and peers you have met. The new role will reveal not your hidden potential, but your actual incapacity. Like me, perhaps when you commit to an audacious …
As a mid-career professional there comes a time when you ask “Am I doing what really aligns with how I want to contribute?” “Should I change direction, and if so, where should I go?” After all, Herminia Ibarra’s seminal work on crafting career transitions does reveal that during our working lives most of us will …
Discover the unconventional career of Shweta Anand Arora, Founder and CEO of The Core Questin in conversation with Dr. Ramya Ranganathan.
As a Coach, I listen to clients describe the problem or issue they are trying to tackle. For ‘A’ the pandemic provided a big bang opportunity for her business, yet productivity is slipping because attrition rates are high. As CEO of the company, ‘D’ is struggling to address resistance and fear amongst her colleagues to …
For very long, leadership has been defined in a certain way. A charismatic yet distant presence that wields authority and power. However, in today’s world, leaders like Jacinda Ardern for example, point to the fact that a new model of leadership is emerging. One that is based on a very different set of principles.
Purpose can play a powerful performance-enhancing role for individuals, and for organisations. This is supported by neuroscience, and by research on company performance. Yet, there is distance to go.
A new strategy is announced on Monday. By Wednesday, budgets are being revisited, someone is worried about their role, and delivery is still expected to continue as planned. Almost none of that gets resolved by the strategy document. It gets uravels, or doesn’t, at one layer: that of the managers standing between the decision and …
I am a relatively new driver. An anxious one at that. Which means every time I get behind the wheel, my nervous system is already doing more work than it probably needs to. It also helps very little that I drive in Delhi. And yet, every day, I pull up to a traffic light and …
As facilitators, we rarely witness this moment. It’s the three weeks later moment, when one of the participants is sitting in a difficult performance conversation. Or walking into a board review. Or deciding whether to ask one more question instead of rushing to an answer. Those are the moments that determine whether the work has actually …
I am walking into a pitch meeting. The slides looked impeccable. The numbers were absolutely defensible. My team, on stand by with a rehearsed strategy. Under my blazer and the calm face however, my body is preparing for an unknown danger. The heart rate has shifted. Breathing has become shallower. The body, in its ancient …
There is a childhood memory that remains remarkably vivid for some of us: the first sighting of a lighthouse. Impossibly tall, unwavering, and reassuring, an absolute beacon of hope calling lost sailors home. For others, this perception may have been shaped by a steady diet of Enid Blyton’s adventure books. And then there is also …
(And Why That Wasn’t an Accident) You may have noticed we’ve been a little quiet over the last couple of weeks. No flurry of year-end posts.No reflective LinkedIn threads.No “here’s what’s coming in 2026” announcements. That pause was deliberate. Because December has a habit of doing something subtle but powerful to us. Even as calendars …
A simple truth we keep running into: every organisation wants to stretch, grow, and sometimes reshape—but none of that is easy if the middle is stuck. Unfortunately that’s where leadership capacity seems to run thin. Thriving organisations run on a leadership engine, leadership that’s visible across the organisation. Their real strength seems to lie in …
For decades, women in leadership have often been criticized for qualities like empathy, collaboration, and vulnerability—traits dismissed as “soft” or “unprofessional” in traditional corporate environments. Yet, as workplaces grapple with the complexities of today’s world, these very traits have emerged as critical to success. Consider Jacinda Ardern, the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, whose …
Everyone loves a reliable leader.The one who delivers, holds the line, and steps in before a problem becomes a crisis. The steady one. The go-to. But for many “star performers,” reliability slowly becomes a trap.The pressure, the solitude, the constant expectation, all add up. At first, you call it a phase. A busy quarter. A …
In 1914, Ernest Shackleton set off to cross Antarctica. The ship was called Endurance. Bold name. Didn’t quite live up to it. A few months in, the ice closed in. Slowly at first, then like a vice. The ship was trapped, then crushed. One moment they were explorers. The next? Castaways. Hundreds of miles from help, …
