Mukesh Gupta's Blog, page 12

Emergent Leadership

Leaders must adopt emergent leadership in a rapidly changing world with new workforce expectations, technological advancements, and increasing competition. Becoming intentional, aware, and capable of sense-making is key, alongside viewing actions as experiments and monitoring for unintended consequences, thus necessitating continuous dynamic adaptation and a cultural shift away from rigid planning towards empowerment and engagement.

If You Want Something You’ve Never had…

This is a quote that resonated with me a lot! This one comes from Alexi Pappas, who is an actor, filmmaker, author and an Olympian and she wrote and directed a movie while pursuing her dream to become an Olympian. In a world where everyone is asked to niche down and focus on one thing and one thing only, she has proved that you can not only do multiple things at the same time and be successful at both of them simultaneously. It is my personal belief is very similar. At any given point in time, I...

The Rule of Thirds

In one of her interviews, Olympian, author and film maker Alexi Pappas shares what she learnt from her coach – The Rule of Thirds. According to the rule, if we are pursuing a worthy goal, a third of the time we are in pursuit we should feel great, a third of the time, we should feel ok and a third of the time we should feel bad. If the proportion of the time we feel great, ok and bad is around the same, we are on track. On days when we feel shitty, we can just attribute it to one […]

Is Trust Given or Earned?

Greatness comes from …

Rahul Dravid celebrates Ravichandran Ashwin's 100th test match, highlighting what it takes to be great. His wisdom transcends cricket, applying to all professional fields.

Insanely Interesting People who Influenced Me #18 Daniel Kahneman

The author expresses gratitude to various individuals who've shaped their outlook on life and work, including thinkers, leaders, and artists. A significant figure is the late Daniel Kahneman, whose research in Behavioral Economics and decision-making wisdom, articulated in "Thinking Fast and Slow," profoundly influenced the author. This piece serves both as an acknowledgment of Kahneman's genius and as an inspiration to others.

Games People Play

French Anthropologist Roger Caillois categorized games into four classes—Agon (competition), Alea (chance), Ilinx (consciousness altering), and Mimicry (alternate reality)—that, according to the content's author, are instrumental for leaders to create intentional, memorable experiences. The application of these games in leadership aims to encourage desired behaviors, mark special moments, foster deep connections, and engender a competitive spirit, ultimately differentiating exceptional leaders w...

Your Hidden Super Power

Superheroes emerge from a transformative inciting incident—this post equates such an occurrence with awakening "Curiosity," a potential superpower. Touted as "Radical Applied Curiosity," and envisioned for a hero called "The Common Man," it's an innate trait propelling humanity's survival and innovation. The narrative urges rediscovery of curiosity through slowing down, noticing changes, experimenting, acting on insights, and gathering support. Its application to empathy, creativity, and innovat...

Speaking from a Stage

To be a good communicator, especially on stage, remember these three core principles: 1) Initially, you're not the focus until trust is built with the audience. 2) People won't care about your message unless you give them a reason. 3) Speak the audience's language and address their aspirations to hold their attention. Consistency in these practices builds trust and improves your public speaking skills over time.

Unlocking Success: The Key Questions You NEED to Ask About Your Stakeholders

Premise: We now live in a world where we are going through a change of one kind or another. Even when we are not leading a change initiative, we are, at all times collaborating with others, who are not part of our team, people who have a different goal than our own, people whose contribution might be critical for our success. In such scenarios, one of the skills that becomes critical for our success is our ability to align and influence the various stakeholders that we work with. I have found th...