The value of being at the bottom

The most valuable lesson I learned at McKinsey was NOT making presentations or structured thinking, as valuable as they were. The best lesson was the experience of being at the bottom of an organization. Before my MBA, I was running a 3,500 strong police force,...

What is meaningful writing?

I was once talking to a lawyer, who was a partner at a law firm in London. I asked him, ‘How challenging is it to be a good lawyer?’ He said, ‘Anybody can write a contract or a legal document but writing a really good one is very hard. A good...

The power of communication beyond accents

During my MBA, McKinsey once visited our campus for a pre-placement talk. One of their consultants who addressed us was a South American with a very heavy Spanish accent. He joked saying, “Whenever people tell me that I don’t have an American accent, I...

Flow and happiness through work

3 years ago, I experienced one of the happiest days of my life. And in case you are wondering what life-changing thing happened that day, the answer is — nothing. All I was doing was teaching finance to a new class of investment bankers at Avendus, all sharp and...