Growing up in a household or being in an environment where you get mostly or only positive feedback, you will expect that type of feedback in all areas of your personal and professional life. How helpful is the (mostly or only) positive feedback for the person receiving it in the long run? Is that positive…
Category: strategy
Asking questions to understand better
Simon Sinek, author of Start With Why and other books says that “asking questions doesn’t mean you’re the stupidest person in the room; it usually means you’re the only one brave enough to speak up.” Some of the reasons why we aren’t asking enough questions even when we don’t understand the topic of discussion are…
the perspective
With new adventures, everyday challenges, feedback from others, conversations between employees and managers, and many other moments in our daily experiences, it’s important to keep them in perspective. Imagine a scenario of a manager giving an employee honest feedback. It’s tempting for the employee to expect all positive feedback from his/her supervisor and vice versa….
Grades or growth?
When we put a lot of focus on the grade in school and college, are we limiting the growth of the students’ learning? If ultimately the course grade is what matters, then the students will study accordingly and stay within the framework of the course curriculum. In theory, the student’s grade is expected to represent…
Organizations that grow
In Carol S. Dweck’s groundbreaking book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, she talks about the research that Jim Collins and his team did on what made companies move from being good to being great. The five-year study showed that there were several factors that distinguished the thriving companies from the others. In Jim Collins’…
Grooming innovative companies
Airbnb’s co-founder Joe Gebbia stated that the company’s early days and exponential growth were actually fueled by a series of questions. Warren Berger’s book “A More Beautiful Question The power of inquiry to spark breakthrough ideas” covers at length how Airbnb’s cofounders, Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky went from jobless young San Franciscans with a decent apartment…
Can you learn how to ask better questions?
You certainly can. Asking questions is a skill. As with all skills, it can be learned and used everyday. If you want to ask better questions, you can learn them if you care deeply enough about it. There are many ways to become better at asking questions. One simple technique is by starting to ask…
Take care of your employees.
We’ve heard the phrase many times “Employees are a company’s greatest asset.” Do you think most companies actually believe that phrase in their core and behave accordingly? That’s a profound statement that companies have to visit and revisit all the time. Some well established companies tout all the benefits they provide to their employees but…
A better manager
In the beginning of anyone’s career, the company you choose to work for, your team, and the managers you have can shape your career trajectory. Your manager is a key facilitator to your professional growth. There is a lot of truth to the phrase that employees don’t leave companies, they leave bad managers. On the…
Few books I’ve loved reading
Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE by Phil Knight – When I went to college, there was only one company I wanted to work for after graduation and it was Nike. This was one of the reasons why I studied abroad in Amsterdam, The Netherlands which was very close to Hilversum where…
Any questions?
These days I’ve become more fascinated by the power of questions and the journey to unlock really good questions to activities, decisions, and the world around me. In my research on the art and science of questioning, I came across the book “A More Beautiful Question The power of inquiry to spark breakthrough ideas” by…
Storytelling is your authentic superpower
With the enormous amount of data that is being generated every minute of the day across various media platforms, it’s becoming harder than before for brands and creators to reach their targeted audience with the right message. The message, no matter how well crafted it could be can get lost in the sea of data….
Presentation series | Chamillionaire
Chamillionaire Presents Convoz | Upfront Summit 2018
What does success look like?
Two years ago, I was taking a podcasting workshop. One of the prompts was to pair up with a fellow workshop member and practice our podcasting skills using the tools we have. I scheduled a call with a team member and was ready to practice my newly created intro pitch and ask relevant questions to…
Asking Better Questions
I Asked A Ton of Questions. That’s the title of a section on Kobe Bryant’s book “The Mamba Mentality How I play”. In that section, Kobe talks about how he was curious, wanted to improve, learn, and fill his head with the history of the game. He also adds that no matter who he was…
30 Stories: Patagonia
@patagonia is excellent at storytelling. Patagonia shares its company’s values by making it’s customer the hero of the story. On their website and social media platforms, they feature a variety of customer stories. The stories move people, inspire their employees towards a shared mission, highlight the adventures of their current customers, and give potential customers’ insight…
1,000 business cards
Bryan was excited about printing 1,000 business cards for his new business. A founder starting his entrepreneurial journey, he wanted to let the world know that his business had arrived. That excitement carried over to me and I was just as ecstatic about the business cards. A college friend who wanted to start an online…
Trying to become the next Steve Jobs
I’m going to be the next Steve Jobs. That’s what I was thinking to myself. I had a business idea that I believed was going to change the world. It was an idea I had been pondering about for the last few months. Upon researching start up events, I found out that the first ever…
Perspectives on life
I’m always curious to hear about different perspectives on life. Perspectives are windows to how people see the world. Two people can be looking at the same thing and have two different perspectives. Here’s a perspective that I really enjoyed listening to: Harvard Business School AASU Conference: Kasseem Dean Keynote Some thoughts shared by Kasseem…
They made it to Forbes 30 under 30, class of 2020
Several entrepreneurs and an athlete from Nepal made it to the Forbes 30 under 30, class of 2020 list. A proud moment for all of us. They are: Nikita Acharya and Kiran Timsina who cofounded Urban Girl in 2012. Shubhangi Rana and Jesselina Rana who cofounded Pad2Go in 2018. Rohit Tiwari who cofounded Foodmario. Pratima…