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The new site is up! Thanks for the feedback.

The good part about working in the open (or what we call the Digital way) is that feedback comes early. Early feedback means you only need a weekend to fully reorient yourself. Over the last few weeks, I got the following feedback: My two-site strategy was confusing. The layouts were different, and people weren’t sure if they had to subscribe to both. People liked the screengrab on LinkedIn or…

Troubleshooting a car and fun lessons in Measures and metrics!

Shh. Silence, please. A master chef is at work. There he is, dicing tomatoes. He’s efficient and yet relaxed. There’s an aesthetic sense in the air. He’s softly whistling a tune while he watches the food boil. Every few minutes, he uses his spoon to test the consistency or taste. He is continuously iterating – simmering the heat down or adding an extra dash of pepper. Watching a supreme dinner…

A right check at the right time – ensures customer delight!

SuprDaily is an app-based service delivering our daily milk and grocery. I love their customer onboarding process. On signing up, they start delivering in two days. I wondered why they needed two days – don’t today’s firms promise instant service? The reason appears to be this. SuprDaily has the delivery man validate your address in person and fit it into his route. This check ensures smooth…

Yippee – its a milestone! 12 Lessons from 60 days of daily writing

On the 24th of October, I started writing daily. Today is day-60. I am two-thirds done! Thanks, folks, for all the conversation – it means a lot.  There is a lot of learning to share. But since we are managers, let’s get the statistics done first. 60-day writing: Summary statistics Number of posts: 60  Platforms: WordPress (Nsubra for essays, angulam for mini-essays), LinkedIn and…

The leader with the boomerang!

COVID impacts required clients to rethink strategy. They needed to be online and offer “wow” experiences. Prakash, our Practice leader, brought teams together to help our clients succeed. Clients, sales teams, design gurus, internal teams, vendors all loved his leadership. He could get people from different backgrounds to work well together. As a consultant, he had excellent collaboration…

Reflections on work as the holidays approach

The holidays are approaching. You are itching to spend an idle-hour, feet propped up on a table, engrossed in a lovely book. I hear you thinking, “No self-improvement books or performance guru talk, please. We’ll do that next year! Alas, there’s much work to do. There are year-end appraisals to fill in, spreadsheets to compute, and reports to file. I am here to give you some happy advice. And…

Want success? Adopt a mindset word!

A “mindset word” aligns you to success. Sukumar and Kumaran introduced me to the power of the mindset word a few years ago. At that point, I had just started Yoga and wished to stay aware of what I ate, my thoughts, and my emotions. I, therefore, chose “Mindfulness” and loved how it helped me steer life. Today, as I embark on my writing sojourn, many new things demand my attention: What topics…

10 second subscription for a bucket-load of insight!

Our newsletter has a new tagline! Want to subscribe? Head to https://nsubra.com for a 10-second subscription. You’ll receive a fun and actionable 4-minute read every Friday, right in your mailbox.  Thanks for all the continuing support – you make my day.

We all need friends like Jewel

Tony Hsieh died too young. And the world mourned. Forbes reported that he had a visitor that week, his friend Jewel. She was pained by what she saw and sent him this note. When you look around and realize that every single person around you is on your payroll, then you are in trouble That is advice every leader needs. We need friends and mentors outside work. Mentors have been where the leader…

Can you write an email like this?

My friend is reading an email with a big smile on her face. Seeing my puzzled look, she hands it over. It reads:

From: AA (Sender) To: BB (recipient) Subject: Re: Collaboration initiative K L M

D

I look more puzzled now.

She: You don’t get it, huh?

Me: Nope.

She starts explaining as to a child.

She: K stands for OK, which stands for Okay. LM does not stand for “little monkey.” It…

This is one Culture you would love to be part of…

What does a great company culture mean to you? Here’s what a few professionals like you shared with me. 

1. Psychological Safety (a supportive environment)

2. Entrepreneurial 

3. Friendly

4. Big on learning

5. Non-judgemental (accepting of individual preferences) 

6. Has a “purpose” everyone on the team understands 

I love this list. But let’s get greedy for a minute. Is…

To lunch or not to virtual lunch, that’s the question!

To further collaboration, a leader is hosting more virtual team lunches. Apparently, people bond well over zoom and a sandwich.

This gets me thinking. Some friends prefer a solo lunch, reading a book, or listening to their favorite music. Some colleagues love to eat in silence, savoring every bite. Others love fun conversations.

This boss has good intentions, and maybe a quarterly…

Part II – Are companies more upgrade-centric than people-centric?

Downgrades are harder than upgrades. We saw this yesterday. Thanks to all the comments, I realize we have to discuss both technical capability and positioning.  

Yesterday’s post sets the stage for the capability conversation. I wanted to migrate from Windows 10 Pro to Windows 10 Home. Pro is for the professionals/ companies, and Home is for home users. They both belong to the same generation…

I am up late downgrading my PC Operating system to a lower version. It’s harder than I thought.

Upgrades are easy. All you have to do is share your credit card details. And a wizard will do the rest. Downgrades are a marathon Do-It-Yourself job. This does not seem to be an isolated case.

Our businesses appear more centered around “upgrades” than “customers!”

Upgrades are easy – be it…

No excuses! Start writing now.

Once in a while, writing seems hard. As we look to slack off, we imagine legends like Isaac Asimov looking askance at us. “But he’s a born writer,” we mumble.

That excuse is gone for good. Here’s what one of the world’s very best authors had to say.

It’s none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way.

Ernest Hemingway

If Hemingway wasn’t a…

Grandma’s leadership advice for first-timers!

“I am now a leader! What is your best advice for first-time leaders?” asks a young colleague. “And no business jargon. Tell me YOUR truth!”

OK, here it is. My Grandma passed on a secret that always works. “Miss a wedding, but never a funeral.”

When our team members go through personal tragedies and professional setbacks, we should be there to support them. Each team member is unique. Some…

Sharing is your Job!

Many people want to share their knowledge via a tweet, a LinkedIn post, a conversation, or a blog. But they don’t. Why not?

They fear the audience already knows what they have to say. “It’s nothing special.” is the refrain.

Remember, your audience isn’t you. Your experiences, learning, and background are unique. The knowledge you are withholding could be the very thing they are seeking.