THE WISE LEADER

June 11, 2021

Leading in crisis requires collaboration, not competition.

If only India had a leader with gravitas who would say, “Let us temporarily bury our political differences and focus on the wellbeing of our voters. Let us act like the rainbow nation that we are.”
May 24, 2021

Why our brain resists diversity-one way to fight it.

If company boards or citizens of a nation do not welcome variation, their eventual homogeneity can pose an existential threat. This can be asserted through both corporate experience and history.
May 24, 2021

How social context influences human behavior.

Many crises are leadership failures rather than technical ones. Leaders focus so intently on an agenda that they fail to factor in their team’s social context. A dose of healthy humility and empathy can mitigate the resultant humiliation.  
May 24, 2021

Slow down to reach faster.

Transformational leaders chart the four stages of start, roadmap, time plan, and end point. The former are planned, while the latter are flexible.
May 24, 2021

Transforming organizations-inattentional blindness.

I reviewed three transformation risks—demyelination risk (28th January), subsonic sounds (25th February) and capacity for change (25th March 2021).
May 24, 2021

Legality versus morality

Recently, there have been some commentaries on legality versus morality. The Securities and Exchange Board of India Chairman Ajay Tyagi bemoaned that the regulator and independent directors have failed to mitigate the influence of promoters.
January 27, 2021

The gyroscope of corporate governance

Corporate governance depends on checks and balances among four institutions--Board, Management, Stakeholders and Regulators—just as political governance depends on the four estates of Legislature,
December 20, 2020

The emerging future role of boards

Directors on boards have two distinct roles: a ‘map’ role and a ‘compass’ role. The former is the traditional role. It is about overseeing the short-term with a horizon of a few years.
October 20, 2020

What a ‘wise’ board director is

Wisdom is born out of controlling lower ground thinking by the discipline of higher ground thinking—the word discipline is noteworthy.