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Guiding vs Letting Go
To be a good manager, you need to do two seemingly contradictory things: 1. Hand-hold people, guide them, and occasionally, even show them how to do their job. 2. Give people the freedom to do their job, without unnecessarily meddling or imposing...
Recent Posts
The Invisible Currency That Makes Teams—and Markets—Work
When I was first exposed to the trading floor of a global bank (as a consultant), I learned about a curious phenomenon. Traders would sell or buy...
Don’t Let 3 AM Donkeys Define Your Work Ethic
When I started my policing career, a fellow officer heading another police unit started working in office till 3 am! He would come home, have...
The Conspiracy of Silence Around High-Paying but Torturous Jobs
After my MBA, whenever I met my classmates in New York, the way they described their jobs (especially in investment banking), it sounded like a...
Stop Normalizing 14–18 Hour Workdays
To anyone who thinks it is ok to overwork people for 14-18 hours a day: In the name of God, please stop! If you want to work those long hours,...
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How the Modern Grind Is Wrecking Young Professionals
I recently met a young member of my extended family who was looking overweight and out of shape, with deteriorating posture. It was a shocker because as a kid, he was solidly built like a rock and was very sporty. I asked him, "What happened?" He...
Digital Distractions, ADHD, and the Attention Crisis
These days, every other person seems to have ADHD. I am not a psychiatrist but ADHD is a real medical condition that requires proper therapy and treatment. It should not be casually bandied around, just as a stand-in for high degree of...
Give Bad News Early: Why Hiding Problems Backfires at Work
During my consulting days, we had project reviews every 2-3 days. And every review felt like a final exam -- you wanted to blow the audience away with your presentation! But sometimes, you get stuck -- it could be due to insufficient data, a hard...
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 1 failure: This is like you jumping from a plane and the parachute fails to open -- this failure...