-- As leaders, what is our primary responsibility? Growth? Performance? Delivering results? But in a world defined by AI & technological disruption, shifting business models, and changing workforce expectations, one could argue that mere performance is no longer enough. I guess the real job of leadership today is simpler—and perhaps harder: build teams that know how to learn. Because skills expire. Strategies shift. Only learning endures. Yet despite lakhs spent on training,

- - Introduction As corporate governance evolves from being just a statutory necessity to becoming a true driver of value creation, Human Resources (HR) has steadily found its rightful place on the agenda of corporate Boards. Today , Boards devote significant attention to HR matters not merely as compliance issues but as strategic levers that shape long-term performance and sustainability. The HR-related areas that regularly feature on the Board’s agenda include: Leadership—

-- Global trade is undergoing a fundamental reset. While the tariff issue is still relevant, it is no longer the primary determinant of market access. Today, credibility on sustainability determines who supplies, who scales, and who is trusted over the long term.   Given this shift, Indian companies can benefit from it by treating Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) as a lever for global competitiveness.  This is already visible in the trade agreements that our compan

Years ago, when I was at Diageo, some of us from different parts of the world were pulled into a creative setting in Chicago to deal with a problem statement. At that point in time, we found that we were losing a significant number of high-potential employees – those the company had nurtured, moved across markets, and given higher roles, etc. And yet, they were either fired or left. So the Diageo exec asked the group of us in Chicago, What do we need to do to keep people? It

Companies ostensibly trying to drive a performance culture with calibration and forced ranking systems end up with serious, negative unintended consequences. The result? Mismatched and unmet expectations, demotivated employees and a process where everyone including leaders are relieved that its done with for the year . How did we get it so wrong? Let's examine this at 3 levels : 1. Context of Calibration 2. Pay for Performance 3. Organisation Performance 1. Isn’t calibration

-- After a career break of nearly ten years, my friend Radha decided to return to work. I was genuinely happy for her. She had given up her career soon after her marriage and had long resented that decision. Once her son moved to higher classes, she felt it was time to reclaim her professional life and rejoin her former employer. A couple of weeks later, I checked in on her. She mentioned there was just one problem. Her husband, Muthukumar, returned home by 6 p.m., while she

-- Leadership is often inferred from roles, résumés, and results. Yet its true quality becomes visible only when circumstances remove predictability. This reflection explores why mentoring matters before that moment arrives. Leadership is often described in terms of competence, capability, or experience. Yet many of us intuitively recognise that leadership is something more elusive—embedded, situational, and often invisible until it is tested. It is like culture, any number o

Are Longer Working-Hours Reforms Sliding into Worker Fatigue? - - Several states are advancing labour-law reforms to relax daily working-hour caps and raise overtime limits for certain sectors. Governments and employers promote these changes as steps toward greater flexibility, competitiveness (China+1), and ease of doing business. However, this push has ignited sharp criticism over the overshadowed consequences-escalating fatigue, health hazards, safety risks, and the erosio

A practical guide for professionals — and the managers who support them - - Most of us are told we should “have a development plan.” Performance management systems force us to put something! Too often, development plans become lists of training programs, generic competencies are ticked - annual HR paperwork that quietly dies after the appraisal cycle. Real development doesn’t work that way. Unfortunately, few are shown how to build a development plan that actually accelerates

The workplace of today moves at unprecedented speed. Technology advances daily, market dynamics shift rapidly, and the knowledge that made us experts yesterday may become obsolete tomorrow. The traditional model of knowledge flowing downward from senior to junior employees is not just outdated—it's counterproductive. The future belongs to organizations that harness collective intelligence and create fluid exchanges of expertise across all levels. The Cost of Knowledge Hoardin

-- Life is a war; some days, it is merely a battle. As we navigate through professions, relationships, friends, and foes, we suit up each day—armouring our hearts and masking our fears with a brave face. We march forward, sometimes with steady steps, sometimes staggering. Some battles are fought within, silent and unseen, while others are waged against the world. We fight to claim what is rightfully ours, to protect what we have painstakingly earned, to stand against injustic

What the rise of contract labour reveals about the health of India’s factories — and the future of India Inc. The latest Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) for 2023–24 carries a statistic that should stop every business leader in their tracks: 42% of the workforce in India’s organised manufacturing sector is now on contract. This is the highest level ever recorded — and it’s a number that will almost certainly grow in the years ahead. Yet, despite its significance, this govern

Rethinking How Organizations View Development -- What is the right Question? Have you ever been left wondering, “Are we asking the right question?” As an HR professional, I have often been asked by business leaders about the ROI of a training programme or any developmental input. Business leaders tend to view any expenditure on any part of the business as either a cost or an investment—so if you can't come up with an ROI, the amount quickly moves to a cost item, which is then

The streaks of grey in my unshaven face made me smile. A voice within bantered with me. It said, "Those whites are reminders of a lifetime you spent in the corporate world. Tell me what you have learned." If there's one learning I am sure about, it's this — real progress begins with openness. Fresh ideas are born in unexpected places. Progress happens when we listen more, judge less. This mindset creates fairer systems, knowledge flow, and collective success. In today's inter

-- Scaling an organization is often romanticized as a thrilling ascent—more customers, more revenue, more impact. But beneath the surface lies a complex web of tensions, trade-offs, and transformation. Leaders navigating this terrain must do more than manage growth—they must evolve the very DNA of their organizations while preserving what made them successful in the first place. First, what is scaling and how different is it from growth? Two of entrepreneurs’ favourite topics

Developing future leaders is a priority for most organizations. In fact, almost every competency framework includes “developing subordinates,” “building successors,” or “nurturing the next generation of leaders.” Leaders at every level emphasize its importance, and companies invest significantly in leadership development efforts. These investments usually include defining leadership competency models, running assessment centers to identify high potentials, partnering with con

In high-powered organizations, one lesson shines above all: rule number one—protect the boss’s ego. Disagree you may, but disagree gently. Words must be weighed like gold, and always leave space for the boss’s decision to stand as final. We like to believe that careers are built on talent and hard work. Yet often, they are shaped by the temperament of the person we report to. Employees do not leave organizations; they leave their bosses. And bosses can wound in many ways—the

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I’ve always had a strong personal interest in loyalty programs—probably because my journey into the world of analytics began with them....

Leadership has been described in countless ways—vision, influence, execution, character. Each has its merit, and in practice, all have...