Mukesh Gupta's Blog, page 8

Sustainable Systems with Donella Meadows

Here is a series of 4 videos in which Dana Meadows delivers a lecture on how we can think about and create Sustainable Systems. She starts off with “Systems 101” and goes on to show how important is to think in systems when we are trying to solve any complex problem, and specifically when we are trying to become more sustainable. Even though the video is old but the thinking is still fresh and extremely relevant for our times. Hope you enjoy watching and learning from a master systems thinker. G...

Three Fundamental Responsibilities of Any Manager

Hiring As a manager, we need to constantly be looking at people from the perspective of finding our next hire. In order for us to be effective at this, we need to know our current team composition really well. We understand what key skills or the kind of person or perspective that is missing or can add significant value to the impact we create. Once we know that, we can then always be looking for such a talent in every interactions we have, both within the company and outside (partners, customer...

Leading in Different Contexts

Most people who talk about leadership (including me) talk about it as if leading is the same across situations and contexts. However, in reality it is not. Leading an organisation or a team in a stable environment is very different from leading the same time in a dynamic, ever changing environment. Leading the same team to drive innovation is very different from the other two. Leading the same team in a hyper-growth environment is very different. Apart from a set of skills that are relevant in a...

Heard, Helped or Hugged

As a leader, there will always come a time when someone we lead is going through a tough time (personally and / or professionally). Firstly, good leaders notice this shift and have the ability to initiate a conversation about it, knowing fully well that it might lead to a difficult conversation for both. When such a situation arises, good leaders have the emotional acuity to know whether the colleague needs to be heard, helped or hugged. When we get this right, the colleague feels like they are ...

Commanding vs Inviting

We can be appointed as a leader of a team but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we should expect the team to follow us. We first need to earn their trust and respect. We do that by listening to them, understanding their ambitions and expectations, learn who and what matters to them, what their fears and inhibitions and the see the potential in them that they are unable to see themselves. Then we need to give them an invitation to join us to go on a journey that will be challenging, interesting ...

Leading in a White Water World

Premise John Seely Brown and Ann-Pendleton Jullian call the world we currently live in a white water world, constantly changing, evolving and emerging. In this two part series they share their insights from their book – Design Unbound. They talk about how do you design your systems for emergence rather than stability (large corporate) or growth (startup). I would highly recommend watching these two talks (each about an hour long) to understand what it would take to lead in such a white water wor...

A Culture of Belonging

One of the primary responsibilities of a leader is to create a culture where our teams can feel that they belong and are part of a team. And we help them do that without them feeling the need to change who they really are. A culture where one can bring their full selves is a culture where creativity is abound and innovation thrives.

Good Leadership

I found this note and a bottle of perfume in my hotel room, given as a gift by the housekeeper, one with whom I had a short interaction. I don’t know if this was something that he did on his own or was asked to do this as part of a process. Irrespective of that, I felt good. I wrote a thank you note, told the cashier when I was checking out, shared this story with at least 10 of my colleagues and now I am sharing it here. If this was a personal initiative of Kunal, it shows that […]

7 Powerful Questions Your Team Needs You to Ask

Premise A long time back, my first manager asked me a series of interesting questions. I had all but forgotten about them. I recently stumbled onto my old notes and realised that I had listed down those questions. I am adding a few questions of my own, based on my experience, both as someone who reports to a manager and my experience as a leader. I think all of us leaders could learn and would do well if we ask these questions to those we lead. Questions to ask and Ponder 1. How stressed are you...

Failure happens. What can we learn from it?

In this comic drawn by Michael Meier, Sanjay Khosla, a senior fellow and adjunct professor at the Kellogg School, lays out lessons that you can take away from five common leadership failures. Below is the comic strip. Conclusion: In conclusion, I am reminded of something that I once shared with my team: “If you are not making mistakes, you aren’t pushing boundaries and so not growing. If you are making the same mistakes, you are not learning and so not growing” Mukesh gupta