Mukesh Gupta's Blog, page 11

How Leaders Learn

Premise: One of the most important skill that leaders need to develop to continue to be effective is learning how to learn. It is a meta skill that can enable a host of other skills and getting better at this makes it easier to master other skills and therefore helps us become effective efficiently. So, the question then is how do you learn how to learn or how can leaders learn. I was invited to read a preview copy of a book “How Leaders Learn”, which is published by HBR Press. Here is a combina...

Lessons in Leadership Transition from the Transition of Leadership in Singapore

This post talks about the lessons all leaders can learn from the transition of leadership in the SIngapore Government announced earlier today.

Good Leadership needs High Level of Self Awareness

Good Leaders continually work on improving their self awareness. They want to understand what they do, why they do it, what drives them, what are their ambitions and why do they aspire to achieve them. As Pema Chodron indicates, They are not afraid to look at themselves honestly, gently and from time to time. They try to understand what are their strengths and weaknesses; what are their blindspots and biases. They do so by reflecting on their actions, by seeking feedback from all the relevant st...

Accessing FLOW State for Optimal Performance

This post shares strategies and recommendations for leaders to enable their teams to accesss the state of FLOW and therefore deliver optimal performance and be happier at the same time.

Being a Good Leader is Hard Because

Effective leadership demands mastery in various areas: making tough decisions with limited information, fostering self-awareness, ensuring the welfare of others, practicing active listening, cultivating high performance, upholding organizational culture, remaining humble yet driven, building trust, managing conflict, aligning team and individual goals, hiring sagely, bringing appropriate energy, learning from successes and failures, treating everyone equally, inviting feedback, seeing potential,...

Leading be Like..

This is not only a great way to live our lives but also a great way to lead in the fast changing world we operate in.

Culture is Your Primary Job

Death valley is known for its harsh weather and for being the place where the highest ever ambient air temperature was recorded (134F). It is a desert valley for most of the year. However, in 2005, the valley got heavy rainfall which led to, what is called a super bloom. The valley was blanketed with blooming flowers all around. When the environment becomes conducive, even the most harshest place for life to exist comes alive. The same thing is true when it comes to the performance of people. If...

Two Crucial Responsibilities of Good Leaders

As leaders, we have two crucial responsibilities: 1. Believe that you are at the right position and at the right time and that either you have the skills needed to succeed with the team or have the capacity to learn what you need to succeed as a team. 2. Help your team develop their self belief by believing in them and lead them to success. As they say, their success is their success and their failure is yours. In success and in failure, look for lessons to learn that can help us in becoming bet...

Because I am Worth It

Ilon Specht's iconic "L'Oréal" tagline, created in 1971, significantly impacted feminism and highlighted the power of clear communication. This post is about lessons for leaders that we can learn from this iconic piece of creativity.

Twenty-Five Lenses for Reframing Problems to Solve them like a Pro

Leaders must understand problems to guide teams effectively. A common mistake is not fully exploring issues. By adopting different perspectives and reframing problems—as suggested by James Gilmore and Stephen Shapiro—we can simplify or broaden our approach, focus on impactful factors, and innovate solutions. Reframing through 25 methods in 5 categories helps identify root issues and leverage various solutions. Quality solutions depend on the questions we ask, and combining reframes offers divers...