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: wisdom
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…
Reflections from running a startup
Once upon a time, I was very passionate about creating a better platform for writers of Nepalese origin. I pitched the idea at a Startup Weekend event, met my team members there and then eventually registered a company. Reflecting on my startup journey, I can share some learnings. -Move fast with your product/service idea. Develop…
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’…
Who sets the company culture?
The people who care. The people who care think of an idea, an initiative and pursue an action. In a startup, people who care make or break the company culture. The values or ideals that the caring person or the caring group have will carryover and reflect in their initiatives and activities within the company….
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…
W.A.Y.T.O.G.O
“Our grandfathers and great grandfathers built schools to train people to have a lifetime of productive labor as part of the Industrialized economy. And it worked.” – Seth Godin Schools and colleges worked their magic and most of the graduates eventually made their way to a beautiful five day work week of 9am-5pm. Seems like…
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…
Unleash your superpower in 2021
2020 was an unprecedented year with many challenges, emotions, and narratives. We were all tested emotionally, mentally, and physically like never before. As we move towards 2021, the stories we hear, see, and especially what we tell ourselves serve as a compass and help us navigate forward. Storytelling is our authentic superpower. Here are a…
30 Stories: Jay Williams
@realjaywilliams Story by @thestorieshub Jay Williams was a high school all-American, national player of the year, national champion at Duke, and the No. 2 overall NBA draft selection in 2002. He was drafted by the Chicago Bulls and was on his way to play for the renowned basketball franchise. However, an afternoon in June, 2003 changed…