Is it double standards when we go out to hire talent from competition, but belittle the same competition when a colleague joins them? Is there a classier way to raise our brand without putting down a competitor? When competition hires talent from our teams, can we consider it a compliment rather than feeling betrayed?

This sequel to Episode 11 is all about things we get wrong in carrying out successions. The fault-lines, heartburns and conflicts behind how we end up choosing successors. Failed succession plans are not a rarity, and its these failures that have driven the whole Executive Search industry.

If your successor does better than you, would you claim the credit and give the successor the credit? Who would you credit or blame for a succession gone bad? The management, or the outgoing leader or the new incumbent?

Are there roles you would like to just for the thrills of it? Or because you want to be a Hero? Have you felt used for stretch roles at work? Have you been lucky to bask in the glory of a role because someone else laid the foundation? If you answered Yes to one or more of the questions... then this episode is just for you!

No two C-Suite interviews are the same... even if it's the same candidate and at times even if it's the same interviewer! There are no playbooks for these high-stake exchanges where the company and the candidate are courting each other. Should one be aggressive or cautious about promises to deliver? If things do not work out, should the engagement always end bitter or sour? Is there a way to be prepared for the seesaws that C-Suite interviews are?

Getting fired from work is unfortunate irrespective of how and when it happens? No one has immunity against it, when the need and conditions for it arise in an enterprise. Is there a way to spot the signs of a firing or layoff coming up? Warning signals that one can pick up? In today's uncertain economic conditions, to have a playbook for responding to a layoff?

How do our skills and persona make a deadly combination? We all have that one Achilles' Heel that acts up at the wrong moment and creates unexpected tripping moments and undesirable outcome. All that skill and experience built over a career-span comes down to that point where our persona takes over. Which is your most irritating trait of yours that trips your colleagues, bosses and peers? Can it be fixed?

Do we go all out to Celebrate at work? Or do we underplay and always keep it a shade lower than personal celebrations? Does celebrating at work create a bond or set wrong precedence? Why should we celebrate and what's the sustainable guilt-free way to Celebrate at Work?

When do you feel the most frustrated with your boss, colleagues or team at work? Would it make a difference if all of us were more responsive and no one had to ever follow-up with anyone for anything? Imagine if responses to emails, messages and calls were immediate across the organization... would your workplace be different? If not anything else, all that time that we collectively spend on follow-ups can be put to better use.

Do we like to glorify the stretches we had in our past lives and previous jobs? And do it to an extent that it loses relevance? With long tenure in a company does entitlement also come along and do we expect to be treated Special? Does tenure along become a qualifier to deserve special treatment?