Many middle managers make the mistake of relying too much on their job performance, consequently leave too much to chance and fail to effectively manage their careers.

In Focus

Are modesty and quiet work not virtues in the corporate world?

But doesn’t good performance help you secure your job?

Is there a weak link between job performance and promotion?

Great job performance by itself is insufficient and may not even be necessary for getting and holding positions in the c-suite?

it is imperative to manage and have a good equation with your boss. But why is It often an uneasy relationship? 

Boss as a supporter and evaluator

Related episode:

KC’s manager is denting his confidence!

Podcast Description:

Vinod Wadhwani is long-time executive coach, who works with corporate leaders to help them in seeking new perspectives, while focusing on tangible benefits to them and their organization. On this show, he shares perspectives from the coaching conversations he has had with corporate leaders focusing on the specific leadership challenges they faced in their work life. 

Published:

9 February 2023 

Recent research on people’s life satisfaction by social scientists suggests, that in general, life satisfaction follows a “U” shape. It starts at the upper range in youth, bottoms out in 40s, and then picks up again in older age. 

In Focus

Why do you feel anxious despite being successful?

What are some of those specific things that start to get in our heads when we hit the 40’s?

What does your definition of success look like?

Related episode:

My manager is denting my confidence!

Host:

Vinod Wadhwani is an executive coach and facilitator. Vinod founded Life Acumen LLP with a mission to help corporate executives with purposeful integration of work & life; and help build high performance culture in organizations. Vinod leverages over three decades of leadership experience in investment banking, management consulting and merchant navy to help corporate leaders in seeking new perspectives, while focusing on tangible benefits to them and their organization. 

Podcast:   
On this podcast, Vinod shares perspectives from the coaching conversations he has had with corporate leaders focusing on the specific leadership challenges they faced in their work life.

Published:

26 January 2023 

Bad managers are the top cause of unhappiness in the workplace. According to a survey by an HR consulting firm, more than 50% employees leave their jobs to get away from a bad boss. Everyone who’s had a bad manager knows what it can do to your stress levels and job satisfaction. 

In Focus

Keeping you in an off-balance state

Passing along second-hand criticism

Intimidation – turning a simple request in to a threat

Shoring your sense of control

Looking to your past achievements

Related episode:

How to overcome distraction and regain focus at work?

Host:

Vinod Wadhwani is an executive coach and facilitator. Vinod founded Life Acumen LLP with a mission to help corporate executives with purposeful integration of work & life; and help build high performance culture in organizations. Vinod leverages over three decades of leadership experience in investment banking, management consulting and merchant navy to help corporate leaders in seeking new perspectives, while focusing on tangible benefits to them and their organization. 

Podcast:   
On this podcast, Vinod shares perspectives from the coaching conversations he has had with corporate leaders focusing on the specific leadership challenges they faced in their work life.

 
Published:

11 January 2023

Is multitasking a strength? Are human beings good at it? Or is this a delusion that majority of us have fallen for?

In Focus:

Where do we start in this distracted world to regain focus?

How can you slow down in a world which takes pride in speed?

What are the costs attached to constant switching?

Does constant switching makes us slower?

How do we fix this urge to constantly switch?

What damage can Internet addiction do to us?

How do we develop the skill of sustained attention?

Is focus related to our happiness?

What is a flow state? 

Related episode:

Why do we get distracted?

Host:

Vinod Wadhwani is an executive coach and facilitator. Vinod founded Life Acumen LLP with a mission to help corporate executives with purposeful integration of work & life; and help build high performance culture in organizations. Vinod leverages over three decades of leadership experience in investment banking, management consulting and merchant navy to help corporate leaders in seeking new perspectives, while focusing on tangible benefits to them and their organization. 

Podcast:   
On this podcast, Vinod shares perspectives from the coaching conversations he has had with corporate leaders focusing on the specific leadership challenges they faced in their work life.

Published:

29 December 2022 

There is usually a lot of optimism this time of the year as the world slows down and people get time to reflect about what actually matters. Amid this hope what resolutions are people making for the new year and how to keep them.

In Focus:

• Many people set personal and professional goals this time of year. Why choose new year to set resolutions?
• New years resolutions can be as fleeting as fireworks, one study found that about 25% give up after 2 weeks and only about 12% actually achieve their goal. Why is that most of us fail at sticking to new year’s resolutions?
• How do we get our new year resolutions become a reality?

Related Episode:
Why do we get distracted?

Host:

Vinod Wadhwani is an executive coach and facilitator. Vinod founded Life Acumen LLP with a mission to help corporate executives with purposeful integration of work & life; and help build high performance culture in organizations. Vinod leverages over three decades of leadership experience in investment banking, management consulting and merchant navy to help corporate leaders in seeking new perspectives, while focusing on tangible benefits to them and their organization. 

Podcast:   
On this podcast, Vinod shares perspectives from the coaching conversations he has had with corporate leaders focusing on the specific leadership challenges they faced in their work life.

 
Published:

16 December 2022 

A study by Professor Michael Posner at the University of Oregon found that if you are focusing on something and you get interrupted, on average it will take twenty-three minutes for you to get back to the same state of focus. Another study of office executives found that most of them never get an hour of uninterrupted work in a typical day. If this goes on for months and years, it scrambles your ability to figure out who you are and what you want. I believe one of the valuable gifts you can give yourself is focus, taking time to be more fully present. 

Can our attention be easily manipulated, do we have a fragile free will, why we feel so distracted so much of the time. We will be talking about these questions and many more in this episode. So, let’s dive straight into it. 

IN FOCUS:

*       Why is it important to pay attention to our attention?

*       Why do so many of us, feel so distracted so much of the time in the first place?

*       Is distraction an integral part of our existence as human beings?

*       Why is it now that we are acutely feeling that our ability to focus has diminished?

*       Does distraction have upside?

*       What is mind wandering?

Related Episodes:

Host:

Vinod Wadhwani is an executive coach and facilitator. Vinod founded Life Acumen LLP with a mission to help corporate executives with purposeful integration of work & life; and help build high performance culture in organizations. Vinod leverages over three decades of leadership experience in investment banking, management consulting and merchant navy to help corporate leaders in seeking new perspectives, while focusing on tangible benefits to them and their organization. 

Podcast:   
On this podcast, Vinod shares perspectives from the coaching conversations he has had with corporate leaders focusing on the specific leadership challenges they faced in their work life.

Published:

26 November 2022

Candor is not just about telling the truth. It requires openness, sincerity and some degree of vulnerability. Lack of candor is not just remaining silent, it’s deceit by omission, which means that an element of honesty and truth is intentionally ignored

IN FOCUS:   

• When we say there is lack of candor in organizations. What does it mean?
• Why is candor so important in the workplace?
• How can organizations encourage candor in employees?
• Is there some structure which organizations can follow to start creating an environment  of psychological safety?
• Can employees also help in creating a culture of positive candor?
•  What steps can team members take to promote productive dialog and debate, the foundations of positive candor?

Related Episodes:  

Can human beings be reliable raters of other human beings?
Why leaders need to be mindful how they are treating employees?

Host:

Vinod Wadhwani is an executive coach and facilitator. Vinod founded Life Acumen LLP with a mission to help corporate executives with purposeful integration of work & life; and help build high performance culture in organizations. Vinod leverages over three decades of leadership experience in investment banking, management consulting and merchant navy to help corporate leaders in seeking new perspectives, while focusing on tangible benefits to them and their organization. 

Podcast:   
On this podcast, Vinod shares perspectives from the coaching conversations he has had with corporate leaders focusing on the specific leadership challenges they faced in their work life.

Published: 
1 February 2021

Many people set personal and professional goals this time of year. Why choose new year to set resolutions?

New year’s resolutions can be as fleeting as fireworks, one study found that about 25% give up after 2 weeks and only about 12% actually achieve their goal. Why is that most of us fail at sticking to new year’s resolutions?

How do we get our new year resolutions become a reality?

What kind of goal should one set to increase its chances of success?

How can one break bad habits and start replacing them with required actions?

Related Episodes:

#17.1: Can human beings be reliable raters of other human beings?

#16: Why leaders need to be mindful how they are treating employees?

Host:

Vinod Wadhwani is an executive coach and facilitator. Vinod founded Life Acumen LLP with a mission to help corporate executives with purposeful integration of work & life; and help build high performance culture in organizations. Vinod leverages over three decades of leadership experience in investment banking, management consulting and merchant navy to help corporate leaders in seeking new perspectives, while focusing on tangible benefits to them and their organization. 

Podcast:   
On this podcast, Vinod shares perspectives from the coaching conversations he has had with corporate leaders focusing on the specific leadership challenges they faced in their work life.

Published:

10 January 2021

POINT OF VIEW:   

There seems to be a belief among managers that critical feedback is essential to push out complacency and drive performance in employees. But behind this belief we may be overlooking a fundamental question “Should managers point to weaknesses or nurture employee’s strengths to drive performance?”   

What is the issue with feedback reviews if they are used to improve performance?   

Isn’t it that we humans crave feedback?   

If feedback is perceived as a threat, how do managers point to employees when they are not performing well?   

Won’t employees prefer the manager tell them something that they are doing wrong rather than what they are doing right?    

Related Episodes:   

#17.1: Can human beings be reliable raters of other human beings?   

#9: The Pitfalls of Impostor Syndrome   

#12: How to Overcome Impostor Syndrome?   

Host:

Vinod Wadhwani is an executive coach and facilitator. Vinod founded Life Acumen LLP with a mission to help corporate executives with purposeful integration of work & life; and help build high performance culture in organizations. Vinod leverages over three decades of leadership experience in investment banking, management consulting and merchant navy to help corporate leaders in seeking new perspectives, while focusing on tangible benefits to them and their organization. 

Podcast:   
On this podcast, Vinod shares perspectives from the coaching conversations he has had with corporate leaders focusing on the specific leadership challenges they faced in their work life.

 

Published:   

2 January 2021   

POINT OF VIEW:   

360-degree reviews are well entrenched in performance review systems of companies, then why the skepticism around their utility? 

 Does our evaluation of others tainted by our own understanding of  abstract qualities like "assertiveness", "business acumen" etc? 

 Does it mean 360-degree reviews are meaningless and companies will eventually move away from them? 

 Isn’t it that 360-degree reviews uncover a person’s blind spots?

How can we make 360-degree reviews more meaningful? 

Related Episodes:

#17: Do feedback reviews help employees perform at their best?

#9: The Pitfalls of Impostor Syndrome

#12: How to Overcome Impostor Syndrome?

Host:

Vinod Wadhwani is an executive coach and facilitator. Vinod founded Life Acumen LLP with a mission to help corporate executives with purposeful integration of work & life; and help build high performance culture in organizations. Vinod leverages over three decades of leadership experience in investment banking, management consulting and merchant navy to help corporate leaders in seeking new perspectives, while focusing on tangible benefits to them and their organization. 

Podcast:   
On this podcast, Vinod shares perspectives from the coaching conversations he has had with corporate leaders focusing on the specific leadership challenges they faced in their work life.

Published:

28 December 2020