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Who Is Making Our Toxic Bosses?

Who Is Making Our Toxic Bosses?

Before this argument can go anywhere, it needs a definition. "Toxic" gets used loosely, often to describe a boss who is simply demanding, and that looseness does real damage to the word and to the case against it. The researcher who has studied this longest, Bennett Tepper, defines

The Great Unbossing and the Conscious Unbossing Are the Same Failure

The Great Unbossing and the Conscious Unbossing Are the Same Failure

The middle of the organisation is emptying out, and it's happening from two directions at once. We've named the two halves separately, blamed them on different people, and largely missed that they're the same event. The first half comes from the top. Companies are

Your Star Performer May Be the Most Expensive Mistake

Your Star Performer May Be the Most Expensive Mistake

Every organisation has done this. The engineer who always delivers. The sales lead who never misses quota. The lawyer who bills the most and wins the most. The analyst who everyone relies on. You reward them with a promotion into management. It feels right. It feels fair. The core failure

No One Can Predict the Jobs of 2035. So What Should We Be Teaching?

No One Can Predict the Jobs of 2035. So What Should We Be Teaching?

This is Part 3 of a 3-part series on India's demographic dividend in the age of AI. Part 1 laid out the credential crisis. Part 2 reflected on inability of the richest's countries to automate their way out. Today: what actually needs to change, and

Japan Lost 397 Companies Last Year - Not to Bad Strategy, But to Having No One Left to Hire

Japan Lost 397 Companies Last Year - Not to Bad Strategy, But to Having No One Left to Hire

This is Part 2 of a three-part series on India's demographic dividend in the age of AI. In Part 1, we examined the inconvenient math – India's credential crisis, youth unemployment, and the AI threat to entry-level jobs. Today, we flip the lens. Yesterday at

The Question That Matters: Is India's Demographic Dividend Dead in the Age of AI?

The Question That Matters: Is India's Demographic Dividend Dead in the Age of AI?

This is Part 1 of a three-part series examining whether India's demographic dividend, once considered its greatest economic asset, is turning into a liability in the age of AI. Part 2 exploring other economies and Part 3 with opportunities to follow. India has 800 million people under

If You Care About EBITDA, You Should Care About Employee Engagement

If You Care About EBITDA, You Should Care About Employee Engagement

For decades, CFOs have rightfully viewed employee engagement as a vague, difficult-to-quantify metric from the HR department. But what if you could connect it to EBITDA with the same rigor you apply to supply chain efficiency? The data now proves you can. Engagement isn't just a

India's Middle Managers Are Collapsing: And It's Costing Us ₹1.1 Lakh Crore

India's Middle Managers Are Collapsing: And It's Costing Us ₹1.1 Lakh Crore

India’s middle managers aren't just burned out, they're collapsing at triple the global rate. While we invested millions in AI, 78% of our management layer is on the edge. That's a business crisis, not an HR metric. The Hierarchy Paradox 71% of middle

The best thing I did in a session was stop trying to coach

The best thing I did in a session was stop trying to coach

"I'm under a lot of pressure. You won't get it." A coachee said that to me, mid-session, and I froze. Not for the reason you'd think. A coach's craft is to stay steady and ask the question that moves

You negotiated hard for the role. Then day one arrived

You negotiated hard for the role. Then day one arrived

Every new leader hits the same wall in the first 90 days. Most of us just never had a name for it. Picture this. You did your research, worked hard to get the role, negotiated an agreement that sits in your favour, and walked in with your goals already written.

Define "coach" for me.

Define "coach" for me.

Go on. Try. Merriam-Webster hands you a large, closed, four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage with a raised seat in front for the driver. Keep reading and a coach becomes a railway car, then the cheap seats on a flight, then a private tutor, then a verb - to coach. Noun

Senior leaders don't fail loudly. They fail quietly, in one of five specific ways

Senior leaders don't fail loudly. They fail quietly, in one of five specific ways

The first sign your most expensive hire is in trouble isn't a missed number. It's silence. And silence is the one thing no dashboard catches. Your most expensive hire of the year is already in trouble and the first sign won't be a missed

What makes a great coach, great?

What makes a great coach, great?

Is it the results they produce? Is it the long list of testimonials? Is it the flashy credentials? Is it the number of coaching hours they've logged? Is it simply their corporate pedigree? Ask that question in a room of ten coaching providers and you'll get

The Becoming of Titan's People

The Becoming of Titan's People

I haven't read the book on which this show is based. What follows are my reflections solely from watching Made In India: A Titan Story. I watched Made In India: A Titan Story recently, and it stayed with me longer than I expected, not because of the business

People-first organisations

People-First Infrastructure

People-first is a claim. Infrastructure makes it operational.

Every company says it puts people first. Almost none can prove it, and that is an infrastructure problem, not a content one.