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The Myth of the Top of the Hierarchy
I once met a mega business leader in his office in Mumbai. And on the office wall, there was a photo of the Indian PM with another head of state, behind whom he was standing quite deferentially. I am sure, when this business leader's direct reports...
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Not All Failures Are Equal
Everybody says, "Embrace failure." Sounds such bullshit, right? But here is the thing that we don't talk about. There are two kinds of failure: Type...
A Negotiation Win That Didn’t Feel Like Victory
In my 'Negotiations' course at Wharton, we had a live negotiation exercise, where I had to sell a boat (or something like that) to another student....
Micromanagement Is Not What You Think It Is
When I was working with a private equity fund, some of the companies we invested in were performing poorly. So what was our response? We would start...
Why Staying Small Became My Biggest Advantage
When I became a first-time entrepreneur, one question I dreaded was: "How big is your team?" Because everyone was trying to size you up. And my...
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The Real Reason My First EdTech Startup Failed
I expected my first EdTech startup to crash but for not for the reasons it did -- here is what happened. In the early days, my biggest worry was -- what if so many users show up that the website crashes? I had endless discussions about technology...
The Day You Stop Learning, You Become a Know-All
Just before I was leaving the Civil Services for my MBA, I went to say farewell to many of the senior folks I knew. One of them said that he also wanted to attend some program for senior executives at a US university, but only to network, not to...
9-to-5 Jobs Aren’t Slavery — The Wrong Fit Is
9-to-5 jobs are not slavery. Slavery is something that sucks your soul, energy, and hope but you can't escape because you need the money, the brand, or some semblance of stability. And this kind of slavery can come in any form -- a full-time job,...
Stop Confusing Busyness With Real Work
You don't walk into an annual performance appraisal meeting and boast -- "I sent 20,000 emails last year." You don't flaunt the number of meetings you have attended. Because nobody cares about those things -- these metrics are meaningless. But if...