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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. And while the 'boat sale' was fake, the impact on your grades was real since your performance on the...
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Have a beginner’s mind
I once was interviewing a professional investor who invests in power plants and infrastructure. But when I asked him "What is 1 kilowatt-hour?" he...
Do what will give you peace of mind
We hear two extreme philosophies of life. One says, "Spend less, own less, and be minimalistic. The other says, "Live it up, enjoy the luxuries, and...
Train your people to build focus
In this deafening clamor of notifications, pings, and rings, do you know the one thing nobody cares about? You. And your attention, your well-being....
If you are a leader, the buck stops with you
On his desk in the Oval Office, US President Harry Truman famously had a wooden sign which said, "The buck stops here." No shifting responsibility,...
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How to rise up the leadership ladder
If you want to rapidly rise up the leadership ladder, these are the things to do: Don’t wait for people to tell you what to do. Identify problems or areas where can you contribute and then offer specific help. Take responsibility, even if small...
Overcoming perfectionism
Procrastination is NOT laziness. And unless we understand this, we can't fix our procrastination problem. We procrastinate when we don't know how to handle the negative emotions generated by a task (e.g., anxiety). We then avoid working on a task...
When looking for a job, find out what you hate
When looking for a job, first find out what you hate. Here is why I say that. During the networking events in my MBA (and even post that), I found it impossible to tell anyone that I was looking for a job. Whether it is selling my candidature or a...
Job-Hopping vs. Staying Long-Term
At an investment fund I worked with, one of my bosses (Victor Menezes) did something remarkable — after graduating from MIT’s MBA program, he never changed jobs. He worked at the same firm (Citi) all his life, becoming the global CEO of Citibank,...