Mukesh Gupta's Blog, page 25

Insanely Interesting People who Influenced me – #14 Chip and Dan Heath

For the rest of the year, I would like to take a moment and thank the people who have had a significant impact on me as an individual. The way they have lived their lives and their body of work has had an outsized impact on how I think about life in general and and work, in particular. Some of these are contemporary thinkers and some of them are just a memory. Some of them are famous in their own rights and some of them are yet to be found by others. Some of them are young and some of […]

Leading in a VUCA World – One conversation at a Time

I recently read a blog post by Marcella Bremer for the Leadership and change magazine. You can read the entire blog post here. In the post she shares her learning from a talk that one of the founders of “Appreciative Inquiry” Ron Fry shared in one his talks during the Leadership Reset conference. Basically, the big idea from the blog is the importance of “Conversation” as the most significant and important tool in a leader’s toolkit in leading his organisation in a VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Com...

Wisdom and Leadership

One of the key responsibility of a leader is to be able to perceive the difference between reality and what appears to be the reality, i.e., we need leaders who are wise. The question then is what is wisdom and is there a simple way to becoming wise. An old Indian metaphor can come to our help. It is that time of the day when it is neither dark nor light. You are walking through a park and you see something lying on the ground and you instinctively jump. That is our body reacting to keep us aliv...

Insanely Interesting People who Influenced me: #13 Stephen Covey

For the rest of the year, I would like to take a moment and thank the people who have had a significant impact on me as an individual. The way they have lived their lives and their body of work has had an outsized impact on how I think about life in general and and work, in particular. Some of these are contemporary thinkers and some of them are just a memory. Some of them are famous in their own rights and some of them are yet to be found by others. Some of them are young and some of […]

Do you live “Above the Line” or “Below the Line”?

I first came across this phrase “Above the Line” when Matt Church used it in one of his sessions and since then continues to use it on an ongoing bases. This led me to dig a bit deeper and find a book titled, “Above the Line”, in which authors Stephen Klemich and Mara Klemich share the following, and I quote, Welcome to the line, where so often the best of yourself is pitted against the worst of yourself. – From the book “Above the Line” They go on to talk about the fact that our society, workpl...

Insanely Interesting People who Influenced me: #12 Alistair Maclean

For the rest of the year, I would like to take a moment and thank the people who have had a significant impact on me as an individual. The way they have lived their lives and their body of work has had an outsized impact on how I think about life in general and and work, in particular. Some of these are contemporary thinkers and some of them are just a memory. Some of them are famous in their own rights and some of them are yet to be found by others. Some of them are young and some of […]

The Fear of Looking Stupid vs Being Stupid

When we decide to lead, one of the primal feeling that we have to face is the fear of looking stupid to the people whom we lead. As Marshall Goldsmith says in this video, this fear of looking stupid is very deep and a primal fear. The more intelligent and smart we are the stronger this fear is. Marshall also talks about what we can do about this. As leaders it is not about showing how smart we are but to bring out the smartness and intelligence of the people that we lead and help them succeed. A...

The Responsibilities of a Leader

Observe: As leaders it is our responsibility to observe what is happening inside the organisation, within his team, with the people who we are leading. It is our responsibility to observe what is happening at the periphery of our organisation, with our customers (internal or external). And to observe what is happening within the industry that we operate in and at the intersections of the different industries that we might be participating in. And lastly to observe what is happening at the societ...

Insanely Interesting People who Influenced Me: #11 Zig Ziglar

For the rest of the year, I would like to take a moment and thank the people who have had a significant impact on me as an individual. The way they have lived their lives and their body of work has had an outsized impact on how I think about life in general and and work, in particular. Some of these are contemporary thinkers and some of them are just a memory. Some of them are famous in their own rights and some of them are yet to be found by others. Some of them are young and some of […]

Insanely Interesting People who Influenced Me: #10 Clayton Christensen

For the rest of the year, I would like to take a moment and thank the people who have had a significant impact on me as an individual. The way they have lived their lives and their body of work has had an outsized impact on how I think about life in general and and work, in particular. Some of these are contemporary thinkers and some of them are just a memory. Some of them are famous in their own rights and some of them are yet to be found by others. Some of them are young and some of […]