Have you ever wondered when you write a story on your social media handle, it attracts much less traction or engagement as compared to someone else, while the stories are almost the same. Well then, you are no different. Almost everyone goes through that feeling, I have too and I still l continue to feel that way often. But, our guest for today, Anjana Menon, tells us where are we going wrong. She points out a super important thing which can actually make all the difference. This episode is dedicated to learning some worthy lessons for good storytelling, a skill each and every human being possess and yet can always become better at. She not just tells us what to do, but more importantly things which we should totally not do.
Tune in!
The discussion is based on her two books: What's Your Story, published by Penguin Random House and Onam in a Nightie published by Harper Collins.
This episode is special. A one of a kind storyteller we ever hosted on Secrets of Storytellers. Welcoming India's premier film critic whose reviews are our one-stop go-to for any movie. Today we have Anupama Chopra with us. Some movies and actors have a place in the heart of every Indian.
And that's why Anupama Chopra's latest book published by the Penguin Random House is rightly titled "A Place in my Heart".
But each one of us has strong preferences when it comes to the movies or the actors since they evoke such emotions in us, and hence a movie critic's job becomes so much more difficult to review a movie honestly from every angle without bringing personal likings and dislikings.
This discussion is on one hand a personal journey in the industry and on the other about her professional career over the years with the film industry.
Tune in!
An MBA in India is one of the most sought after degrees in the country. As usual tons of people compete for getting admissions into the top B-schools and the competition is no less than a dog-eat-dog situation. The competition is ruthless, why? Because the gap between the demand (disclaimer: the demand for quality institutes) and supply is humungous. Tarun Anand, understood this gap and set out on a journey to fill some of it, leaving behind an illustrious career. We do hear a lot about startups and new age businesses, but what does starting a business school entail and how does one compete with the top B-schools to create a space for themselves? Let us hear from him a little about his journey, the process of setting up a B-school and more importantly the challenges he faces in the current uncertain times.
Tune in!
The most important decisions about your career and growth in an organisation are taken in your absence! Do you agree? Hence, its super important that you have the correct perceptions about yourself at workplace among your peers and your seniors. We generally tend to shy away from office politics thinking it is probably unethical and wrong to indulge into it. I ran a short poll on how people think about workplace politics and a whooping 54% said they stay away and that's exactly which you shouldn't be doing. Why? Because "if you don't do politics, politics will do you", which is also the title of Niven's book. A perfect title I think. Niven goes onto claim in the book, 'there is strong evidence that our work ratings, bonuses, and promotions are weakly correlated to actual performance - in fact, performance may even matter less to our success than our political skills and how we are perceived by those who make the decisions', harsh and scary but true. I discuss at length with Niven trying to first clear the clouds around politics and make a strong case for why you should take the 'politics bull' by the horns. By the way, there is a thing called positive politics. Tune in!
Mahabharata is one of the oldest scriptures and its relevance transcends any era and situation. The beauty of the story is that the lessons we draw from every situation and character is subjective and could be totally different from the next person.
However, over the years the way the story has been depicted and narrated, it has always left us with deep perceptions which are difficult to shake. For eg., Do you think Shakuni was a great leader, regardless of the end result? We seem to have labelled him with everything negative and everything we shouldn't do. But maybe that's not true.
This discussion with Prof. Asha Kaul and Prof. Vishal Gupta at IIM A, is an objective discussion analysing some of these important characters, what they stand for and what we can learn from them.
The discussion is based on their book published by Bloomsbury, Demystifying Leadership: Unveiling the Mahabharata Code. You can pick up the book here
Tune in!
How cool would it be if we knew how our future boss is going to be before we were to join a new organization. Isn't it? Here's a suggestion, ask the to-be-future-boss at the interview, "Could you tell me a little about the people who have worked for you in the past?" Because bosses can make a lot of difference to your careers, remember the famous quote, "People leave managers, not companies". 100% true it is. There are both good and bad bosses but there are also these 'Superbosses' who can accelerate your careers by leaps and bounds. Have you worked for a Superboss? Or are you a Superboss yourself? But who is a Superboss? What is this concept? Listen to the episode with Sydney Finkelstein, Professor at Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business, where we dissect this breed of superbosses and explain in depth on:
Tune in!
Have you ever had a life-changing idea that you think could be the next big thing or transform people's lives or if nothing else, could change the course of your own career? But haven't implemented it yet for the fear of the unknown or for the lack of direction? If it is so, this episode is for you. We have Kara Goldin, Founder & CEO, Hint Inc., speak to us about how she built the company with practically zero experience in making fruit-infused flavored water, in fact she wasn't anywhere closer at all. What's special about her journey is how it connects in many ways with each one of us.
She isn't a dropout from a big college or the founder of a highly funded start-up, she has come through the ranks with her consistent efforts, hard work, and most importantly "showing up". Intrigued with the last part? Tune in to listen to her story and find the much needed push and advice to propel your career and future into a wonderful tomorrow. The discussion is based on her best-selling book "Undaunted", you may want to check out the book here
What is the difference between 'mentoring' and 'coaching'?
"While mentoring is watching you from the balcony, and giving you lots of career advice over a long period of time. Coaching is being on the dance floor with a person, you roll up the sleeves, and you sort of get your hands dirty"
Isn't that a beautiful way of explaining the difference? I totally think so.
This episode with Ruchira, is all about:
Ah, and the secret at the end. It's what we live for. Tune in!
Every individual has a journey of their own, unique in almost every aspect possible. But there is definitely a thing or two we can learn from greats or legends. This episode on Secrets of Storytellers is about one such person - Virat Kohli. He has not only been an inspiration to people associated with the game of cricket but his dedication, hard work, grit, and passion are so infectious and teach many lessons on how to become a better version of ourselves. It is the actions and incidents in one's life that show their real character, their real strength. We discuss with Vijay Lokapally, India's most famous cricket journalist, about:
Life isn't fair, it's a thought unsettling but true. On the 51st episode of Secrets of Storytellers, we challenge things like meritocracy with Hasan Kubba, a serial entrepreneur and a coach.
We talk about how luck needs to be respected and how you can increase your chances of getting lucky.
Hasan goes on to claim and make a strong case for the fact that we all have lots of unfair advantages in life and we need to leverage them to the full.
But how do we know our Unfair Advantages?
Hasan gives us a solid framkework - 'MILES' to identify them and use them well.
Bartending in India.
Well this is a very very controversial statement in itself. Especially when you say that you want to be on the other side of the table and all the more when a woman decides that.
But it's not the gender, and neither the profession but rather the passion in today's day and age!
Today, in our 50th episode at SOS | Secrets of Storytellers, we have Shatbhi Basu with us, India's best, and most favorite bartender. She is also an author and has recently authored the book "The Can't Go Wrong book of Mocktails", which is by far the most comprehensive collection of non-alcoholic drinks ever, and even includes a brilliant 'hot' section. It is a must have this summer.
She tells how she got into the profession, what is it that she likes about it and how it has eerie similarities to what a doctor does or what a banker does or even what an academician does to their own professions.
Let's here the story of passion, fun and love for making people's drinks on point, right here, right now! Cheers!!
"Money is an echo of value"
Bob Burg, in this podcast, shares how a shift in our focus from taking and collecting things for ourselves to creating more value for others can not just be more fulfilling and satisfying but extremely financially profitable and sustainable.
Go-Giver, a WallStreet Journal and BusinessWeek Bestseller, is one of the most impactful reads that I have ever gone through and recommend highly to each and every one.
Bob shares all the learnings from the book and why Go-Giver as a philosophy works in this discussion.
Tune in!
"Intangibles drive the tangibles"
"You can buy competence on the shelf, you can't buy passion"
"micro-manage excellence"....
We have often heard of transformations in the private sector, but a transformation in the public sector and that too of a bank of the size of Bank of Baroda is simply unheard of. The reasons are simple, bureaucracy, government accountability, slow systems among other things that have for ages marred our public sector undertakings.
Meet Dr Anil K Khandelwal, a stalwart leader who turned around Bank of Baroda in just three years as the Chairman Managing Director of the bank. What's even more interesting is that he was never a banking expert or someone who was from the operations side.
He's also the one who turned the bank's image by revamping its brand, releasing a new logo (a controversial move, shh…you'll know more in the episode) and for the first time public sector organisation signed up a brand ambassador as Rahul Dravid.
This episode is a delight to listen. Don't miss out to hear about out his leadership code towards the end.
We, as Indians, for so long have wanted to become a prosperous nation. We desire the stature we have wanted for 75 years now, but, have failed at it miserably. And a lot of it can be attributed to how the PSUs haven't been able to come through, on achieving the intended economic growth. But then there is Maruti Suzuki, a perfect example of a PSU turned private firm which has shown tremendous results despite the same conditions and socio-economic environment. RC Bhargava, an IAS for 25 years before joining and heading Maruti, tells us why we are where we are and what is it about the Maruti Suzuki model that the entire country can learn and carry the path towards long lost glory. The discussion is based on his marvellous book, 'Getting Competitive'. Highly recommended.
We touch leadership and entrepreneurship with a very important link in this episode. We touch topics like 'FEAR' or differences between 'leading' and 'managing', He also shares simple, rudimentary frameworks which could help you check, if the steps that you are taking are going in the right direction or not? There is much more to discussion ending with how his book 'Why Do Entrepreneurs Miss the Bus' failed to get printed thrice.
Tune in!
Ravana is one of the most well-known characters from Indian mythology, but also deeply hated. He is known for all the wrong things, especially the abduction of Sita. But, we easily forget the intelligence, his knowledge on almost every subject in the world, his leadership skills and what not. The episode, with Gaurav Kataria, a mythology enthusiast and the author of the book 'Ravana', is focussed to bring out what we can learn from and what should we not from the ultimate business leader.
Tune in!
Here's the episode with Wayne Brockbank, professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. He talks about HR at length and depth, and explains the role of the leadership in strengthening the HR.
"HRs are in the people business but they take care of only half of it", he goes on to explain the other half. What is the HRs core business?
Wayne shares Dave's famous quote, "if you put 5 best basketball players on a team, you still do not get the best team" , Wayne goes on to tell why and what is missing in the equation.
He answers questions like: What role does the HR play in handling talent, and what can you do different, from your competitor, to manage talent?
All this and some more wisdom at the end as his secret of life, tune in to the episode.
Sandeep Krishnan is the COO & Senior Partner, People Business and Visiting faculty at IIM A.
We discuss about how we can Leverage a Consulting Mindset for Professional Success. Key takeaways from the discussion:
Hacking?
The term sounds so much like 'cheat', right? So why is our guest for today, Apurva Chamaria, SVP and Chief of Staff to CEO & MD at Tech Mahindra, propagating "Growth Hacking"? Growth Hacking is definitely the
way to exponentially grow your business and customer base multiple folds within no time. Companies like Shopclues, Zomato, Urbanclap, UpGrad, among others have all cracked this code and Apurva helps us how each of them did and how
can everyone else too.
How to get the right unit economics and optimum growth curves? How growth is more than the responsibility of just the growth team. What are the most important elements of a successful growth campaign? What are the most important traits
of a growth hacking team?
These are some of the questions covered in this episode.
The fight between the new and old is actually not new at all. But no amount of any rule can bend the lines for a good product. Here we have Rajesh Srivastava with us today who recently authored the book, 'The New Rules of Business'.
We sat down with him to have a heart to heart conversation about all things business and trying to understand the 'new' behind it!
When people you know, walk in the room. You can almost every time, define a person as an adjective. 'Punctual', 'overconfident', 'helpful', and the list goes on. Don't you think this adjective is your 'Brand'! Today, we have Mainak Dhar, who tells us how no one but You, define your brand!
From almost shutting shop to becoming one of the most iconic Indian brands, Royal Enfield is a cult with a very cool follower-ship. But how it went from 0 to what it is today and how it came around as the ultimate champion that it is,
is definitely an interesting journey.
Let's hear it from Amrit Raj, who has been following the brand since long and has authored the book titled Indian Icon: a cult called Royal Enfield.
Here's to the dug-dug-dug-dug-dug-dug
sound..
We have had prior episodes on Millennials. But this one is a bit different. It talks about the emotional side of the millennials. Dr. Mona Shah a renowned academician is here to talk all about them, for them. The discussion spans across
books, use of social media, relationships and new terms like, The Perfect Problem, that is precisely coined by her in the context of millennials.
This episode can't come at a better time, when even the fast-paced millennials were
forced to slow down and breathe.
What made the tatas they are today? They stand tall to be a great inspiration for many. Let's look into the basics of what made Tata the mighty company. Who better to explain the roots than the man who worked with the Tatas for 25 years
and has served as a part of the Planning Commission of India.
Arun Maira is here to explain that there is nothing in life you can compare yourself with but it falls on you to grow bigger by ranking you against yourself. He
explains how important it is to focus on the core values and build up with potential management skills.
Arun Maira is the chairman of Help Agent international. He was the chairman at BCG India before this. He is here to help us
understand the need to change systems that bring in benefits for you and for everyone around us. He claims listening intently helps you with the strength to do anything in the world.
So why not listen to him and dig into the fundas
for great success!
Yes, it is that time of the year! Where you believe in Santa, Plum Cakes, Carols & everything good.
Well, we have someone very good too.
Today's episode features Puneet Kulraj, director at the Vector Consulting Group - Asia's largest
TOC Consulting firm (Theory of Constraints). TOC is a philosophy to identify the most limiting factor, i.e. a constraint, which is the real reason for limiting growth. It is an in-depth discussion to understand the basics of TOC and
the beliefs on which the theory stands. By the way don't miss out the section where Puneet tells us "How running an organization is easier than running a kitchen?".
Tune in!
With growing competition everywhere, Millennials are always under the scanners to make a difference and an identity. No one is better than to meet the person who can guide and pave the path with the real hacks of life and career. To make it easy, we have Sandeep Das enlightening us on the essential tricks to step up the ladder of success.
Nirav Modi is one of the smartest criminal minds that turned the tables upside and down with his witty tactics. But how did he manage to do everything without any chaos and hinderance? Did he have unseen forces that helped him pave his path to his goal? To help us understand the shocking crime, we have the man who penned an entire book on the mastermind game of fraud by Nirav Modi. Pavan Lall's "Flawed" gives us an entire outlook of the case and lets us dive into it's important aspects. He being the senior business analyst who has been persistent writer on the leading business magazines is here to decode the game. Tune in to learn the secret!
Since the olden days, Storytelling has always been the medium to make an impact on the importance of stories and their morals. And today, "Business Storytelling" has become a trend in the corporate world and to describe the need of a business storytelling, we have a veteran who can weave impactful stories to the top management of any organization. Indranil Chakraborty says that it is with skill that great leaders and businessmen have stirred entire workforces to build great organizations. Tune in to this episode to hear the seasoned professional who is a founder of StoryWorks that helps organizations to harness the power of effective storytelling.
What does it take to become a Brand Custodian at the Tatas and who is better to answer this than the Brand Custodian himself? Harish Bhat is here with us to explain his 31 years journey with Tatas and what it takes to be a marketer or rather anyone to grow in life and succeed. He also shares his love about his fiction novel about the love of coffee and the impact the beverage has on him. This episode is so deep yet so fun as we get to learn so much from the veteran. Join us to know more about Harish Bhat who had the privilege of working on multiple portfolios for the Tatas for 31 years. Also learn how to brew coffee with a hint of citrus!
Most of us have hard time planning our personal finances even though we know how important and essential it is in life. We are so lost because we have no idea where to start it and how to start it. And the internet has so much to offer that we often get back to where we started. To help us learn the best way to make our money twofold, we have Suresh Sadagopan in this episode. He is a SEBI certified Investment Advisor, who can help us from the very first step and pave a pth to make more money with what we earn. Don't let go of this opportunity because you will never have enough money in life! Tune in to become rich!
We often grapple with the question "Is my hard-work paying off?" on an almost continuous basis. No doubt about the fact that everyone tries to do their best and hence put in the required hard work to get the desired results. But where do we go wrong? What diverges us? How do we course correct these actions and how do we deal with it? The episode contains answers to all of these and much more in this discussion.
Being the founder of one of the best world's largest peer to peer career advice platforms, The Network Capital, Utkarsh Amitabh is the person who grab your attention in snap. He is someone who you cannot stop listening to as his stories range from his contribution in World Economic Forum, his hand in Microsoft's Business development and Government Affairs where he helped to make Indian's first smart village! Guess that's why you cannot miss this chance to reach out to him!
Almost all platforms today are trying to put their products/services on the online shelf. The pandemic initiated need for many products/services. Don't we see a ton of mask & sanitizers businesses suddenly spruce up recently? But not every product will fly, not to forget the competition in the market.
So, how do we inject need? Throwing some light on the question, we have Rajni Pathak the author of "Creating Need: Why Marketing is Not Enough". And, shh.. she tells us all about her Sneaker collection. Tune in & wear your sneakers for this episode!
Millennials!
Well, there is a lot that has been said and discussed about this generation. The point is why do we even need to define generation? If yes, then why is the generation known as the disruptors? Instead of questions, people
have notions about this breed of Homo Sapiens. So, here we have Subramanian Kalpathi who has authored the book "The Millennials: Exploring the World of the Largest Living Generation" to shed light on the professional aspect
of this group. Tune in and do share your thoughts on everything "millennial"!
The guest has had a myriad roles to play in his lifetime, right from HR to Consulting to Writing Columns and a lot more, professionally. But as he puts it, these diverse streams were not disconnected to each other but rather convergent and had an overarching theme which connects it all.
We always look at the startups and new age businesses as glamorous setups and establishments. However, we totally and entirely forget or miss the entrepreneur in it, the one who started it, the one who took the dreadful step of giving up a normal and regular lifestyle to put at risk his/her future. We hardly ever give any heed to this individual but there is a lot to it. This episode is dedicated to exploring the same in depth and understanding the right and wrong reasons behind entrepreneurship. If you have ever been an entrepreneur, tried and failed at it, wanted to try your hand at entrepreneurship or are a successful entrepreneur, this episode is definitely for you!
Swati Jena was a LinkedIn Top Voice in 2017, however more importantly she is a two-time entrepreneur and while she failed at the first stint, she took immense learnings from the first run that she incorporated in the second innings, therefore she is one of the most aware entrepreneurs that we know of. She is an MBA graduate from XLRI Jamshedpur and has had a successful stint in the corporate world. Tune in!
Isn't almost every brand/product/service or for that matter almost every human being too, looking to go viral? I think they are. The idea of going viral is just too alluring and rightly so, it does give a sudden spike to the follower-ship. But, how to make such content? Is there a process to it? There definitely is and this episode is all about discussing the science behind creating viral content one after the other. Don't miss it if you also wish to go viral.
Aashish Chopra is an award winning Viral Content Marketer. His videos and content has received millions of views within minutes of releasing the videos and he has been doing it consistently for years now. He is worth all the time, don't miss it!
We generally keep analysing, assessing and understanding leadership and related topics. However, we hardly look at it from a local lens and so we thought why not. We are talking about the Indian Boss in this episode, what guides them and what defines them, what makes them stand out and what makes them unique across the World. Listen to the episode to understand some very intricate details about the Indian Boss.
Steve Correa, author of the book Indian Boss at Work, was the CHRO at Diageo India in his last corporate stint. He is an XLRI Jamshedpur graduate and has a knack for using beautiful analogies from Indian mythology.
We have often either ridiculed the entire project or Aadhaar or always seen it with suspecting eyes. The premise is simple, there has been quite a bit of uproar on the entire system's security and privacy. Since, it contains THE most important data of 120 crore people, there is every reason to be concerned. What is the status of the project as it stands today. How has it performed? Has it been able to deliver its intended purpose. This episode is all about it, tune in to listen.
The guests, Charles Assisi and N S Ramnath are the co-founders at Founding Fuel, which is nationwide publication. Both Charles and Ramnath happen to be seasoned journalists. While Charles was the Managing Editor at Forbes India, Ramnath was previously with Forbes India, and Economic Times.
Flipkart is indeed one of the biggest ecommerce giants that did not boom over night. This start up paved path to every entrepreneur, startups, and any budding young minds, and gave them the guarantee that they can make it big in business with bold moves. Lets go find out what happened behind the scenes that Flipkart reached the heights never imagined.
To break down the mighty mystery, Mihir Dalal, a revered start up wrieter and the chief of Bureau at Live mint, is here. Lets hear from him about the tricks and twists Flipkart had to make to beat and shake the ecommerce stream.
We often come across the question "How are we as a person?", "What kind of first impressions do we leave on people?", "How do we become a better version of ourselves?" and many more such. There are different ways to go about the process, generally an external expert help can speed-up the process but what if we want to take on the journey of self-exploration and make it a constant process. The episode has answers to all such questions and tips on how can we take on this journey.
We have Ms.Vinita Vyas who is the best to answer all your queries in self exploration. She is super fun and adventurist who is pro certified life coach. She is the creative director at Darpan Theatre & Cine arts, founder director at Simply Improvise and co founded The Orange Sky which curates off beat adventure focussed travel experiences. Isnt it better to hear from this fun loving human who can quench our thirst for the deepest questions we all have!
Ads, content, product campaigns and every other drive is all based on extensive consumer data that is available. But ever wondered how did the brands work out the magic a decade back? We still sing along the Nirma's "washing powder Nirma". How did the old brands establish such powerful impact on their customers in India. Were the Ads that out of the box that we still remember and connect to? .
Ambi Parameswaran is here to take us back and help us understand the significance of Ads from a decade ago and now. He is a brand strategist as well as the veteran who started Ulka, now FCB Ulka, which had a hand behind many legendary time transcending ads of India. Being the CEO for 27 years, he is the best when it comes to anything about advertisements! Tune in to understand why you love the brand you use! Is it because of the product or the magic of the ad!
Empathy, EQ, emotional Intelligence and all such concepts have gained a lot of relevance today. Reports and surveys from the corporate world environments tell that EQ is increasingly becoming the differentiator than IQ today. But is it because of the lack of it or is there some other reason to it. More importantly, how does EQ make sense and how do we practice it in the post-COVID world which is fast becoming a virtual and digital world. Tune in to find some really helpful tips and answers around the whole topic.
Suman Ghose, founder at Inroads Leadership Development has been working on the concept of EQ and has penned a book "From Command to Empathy" which is a deep dive into everything around EQ and how can it be practiced in daily life.
Yoga is literally the only activity that is hated and loved equally. Millennials love to get all the positive effects of it but yet they do not like to do all the hard work. Neither are the youth aware of why we have tremendous advantages out of those exhausting breathing exercises, and asans. Don't you think we need to know the science behind it to motivate us to actually do the Yoga with all our heart. We need Yoga to get rid of all the stress our work lives and personal lives shoulders us with. But why yoga? Why breathing exercises?
Anu Lall, a certified Yoga instructor and founder of YogaSmith is here to break down the knowledge. She is even a marketing professional at a big Pharma firm which makes her an empire of both sides of the court. I guess we cant ask for more perfect guest to grasp our attention on the topic!
While there have been an exponential increase int he number of startups in India, the success numbers are not just abysmal but troubling and demotivating. Yet there are examples who have come out with flying colours in India. One such start-up is BigBasket. What did they do different and what made them successful. Who better to answer this than the HR Head at the organisation.
TN Hari is one of the best start-up HRs in the country and one of the most respected in HR circles. He talks about the start-up objectively and practically while also giving us concrete structures as to why did it work and what are the most important elements.
There are innumerable books and gyaan on Leadership, all somehow a dissection into the lives of great leaders and managers. But is there a more simpler approach to the entire thing, is there a way to learn and become better at leadership simply by observing our surroundings and being aware about it? The simple answer is Yes, the episode is answer to the "How?" part of it. And remember, no one is born a leader. Check out.
Prakash Iyer, is a motivational speaker and a certified coach. In his last stint in the corporate world, he was the Managing Director at Kimberly Clark Lever. He also held the position of an Executive Director at PepsiCo. But above all, he is someone who draws energy by making a difference to people's lives and loves moments when he is appreciated in-front of his wife by someone completely unknown. A lovely human being to listen to, tune in!
Do you agree the answers lie in the more finer details and not the coarser or surface things. Well, one such important aspect is the kind of Opportunities that you onto in life. In-fact, the episode establishes with certainty how opportunities are the real make-or-break reason behind success and failure in life. Sounds interesting, ain't it? Will you use this opportunity to listen to the episode and never again miss a golden opportunity or let go of it once again?
Richard has served at the US Commercial Service for more than 22 years at American Consulate in various countries. He founded the first and the only opportunity consultancy in the world Open Mind Opportunity Consultancy, headquartered in Mumbai. But guess what, he fell in love with India and an Indian, his wife Tabu and settled down in the country.
As much as we try to take the new approach to business and entrepreneurship, there is no denying the fact that Tatas, HDFC, L&T or other such old organisations are the real successful ones and it no less than a miracle what they have pulled given the conditions and resource availability in India then. What's their secret? How did they do it and what makes it work? We asked these questions from someone who was at the helm of many such organisations. This is not an episode that you should miss?
The guest really doesn't need an introduction, as they say naam hi kaafi hai (the name is enough). We have R Gopalakrishnan, the veteran and industry stalwart from the Indian business arenas.
India lacks on many development and growth parameters when compared to the best performing nations in the World. One of the most important reasons are the research opportunities in India or rather the lack of it and not just that but the huge gap between the research organisations and the startups of the country. The conditions are really worrisome. The episode tries to paint the true picture and also highlights what could be some steps in the direction of a brighter future.
Varun is the co-founder and CTO at Aspiring Minds. He was awarded the HUMIES award in 2006 for developing algorithms that mimic human intelligence and the AWA award for his article on Bose's contribution to the invention of radio. He has given multiple talks at Harvard University, MIT, INSEAD and IBM Research Center (NYC) among others.
Stakeholder Management, while one of the most ignored concepts in the past, is one of those secret ingredients to success and the differentiators between the biggies and the struggling organisations in the world. So much so, that the World Economic Forum has also only now woken up to this concept and has been harping on its importance in the last few years. What is this concept? How does it work? and What does it take to practice it?. The episode has it all.
Dr. Shashank Shah, is a stakeholder management strategist, researcher and a published business author. He is a Fellow from the Harvard University and was a Visiting Scholar at the Harvard Business School, where he spearheaded an advanced research on "Corporate Responsibility in Emerging Economies". Presently, he is the Consulting Editor at the Business India Group. He looks at work as his meditation, he makes a strong case as to why. Tune in!
Sales, while an art for some and science for others who are in this profession, has a lot of meanings for everyone. But our guest attributes it to a LIFE-SKILL. Now, that's a different game altogether. He has many reasons to believe so and has been one of the biggest proponents to it. He has coined a new term, called Salespreneur. You can't really skip learning about a new life-skill then, or can you? Listen and tell us if you agree with him or not?
Amit Agarwal is the Senior Vice President, Sales & Business Development at Manthan. A sales enthusiast for the last decade helping individuals and organizations better their sales strategies.
How do you think India does on banking and finance in the country? There are concerns, definitely. But what's important is what path are we on, a positive and a growth path or the opposite? Tune in to find out all about and find out about what did HDFC, one of the most successful banking stories in India did to become so.
Tamal Bandopadhyay, is one of the most respected business journalist of India and is known for his weekly, Banker's Trust in Business Standard and previously in HT Mint. He was part of the founding team at LiveMint and definitely one who is looked upto for every news that has finance and banking written on it.
India is as diverse as one could think of. It is so vast and so different, that it is really difficult to comprehend it or define it easily. You can just observe it and either see it all or none-at-all. Confused? Well, "we are like this only". Listen to this lovely picture of the Indian diaspora and how it is important for marketers to understand it well. Also, where are we headed?
Mr. Santosh Desai has an expertise in examining the evolving nature of consumer culture in India. He has been extensively writing columns on contemporary India across various publications, one of the most famous being "City City Bang Bang" in the Times of India. He has held the position of Vice President, Marketing at PepsiCo, he was the President of the Indian arm of McCann Erickson Worldwide and is presently the MD, CEO at Future Brands Consulting which helps companies establish their end-to-end brand & marketing strategies. He has seen the transition live, so let's hear his take on it.
India has been home to some great men who inhabited the lands 1000s of years back but are still relevant or were much ahead of us even today. One such name is the great Chanakya, his philosophies and teachings are extremely relevant and effective even today. In-fact, they could well be the differentiator or the out-of-the box approach that we all crave to find and implement. What are his teachings and do we need to know Sanskrit or other concepts before learning them. Well, our guest has really made it simple and extremely easy. Check it out how.
The guest is often acclaimed as the Modern Chanakya. Dr. Radhakrishnan Pillai, is the founder director of Chanakya Institute of Public Leadership and has written multiple books all around the teachings of the great Chanakya. There is a high probability you have already heard about him, so why not hear him out as well today. Tune in!
Whatever contributes to more than 67% of the country's GDP is definitely a very important topic to be discussed, isn't it. We are talking about Family Businesses in India. How are they different and what are the most common challenges. But not just highlighting that and rather taking a step ahead to look into structures and matrices which could become the building blocks of family businesses and guarantee success in both the short and long term.
Whatever contributes to more than 67% of the country's GDP is definitely a very important topic to be discussed, isn't it. We are talking about Family Businesses in India. How are they different and what are the most common challenges. But not just highlighting that and rather taking a step ahead to look into structures and matrices which could become the building blocks of family businesses and guarantee success in both the short and long term.
What is the most important department that any businessman or entrepreneur should take care of? What is the secret to multiplying wealth? What is the answer to saving for the future? What is the secret to fulfilling all material personal goals? The answer to all these questions is knowing and managing your personal finances and the finances at work well. The episode has a lot of extremely important and helpful bits from a finance guru. The best part is that it has zero use of jargons or difficult finance concepts. The entire premise is to make it easy for anyone and everyone. If you feel you don't do enough with you personal and professional finance, this episode is a must for you.
Dr. Anil Lamba is a practicing Chartered Accountant and has degrees in Commerce, Law and a Doctorate in Taxation. He has held the position of Director at Lamcon School of Management for the last 30 years now and has done pioneering work in the field of finance. He is celebrated as a very quirky and fun teacher. We agree to it after having known him and interviewed him, tell us if you agree.
Marketing has evolved and companies have experimented a lot with their marketing ideas. But, most often these are expensive campaigns which sometimes makes it difficult, especially for new brands or products. What if we told you there is a frugal, inexpensive and highly effective way for it. It is called Outlier Marketing and this episode is all about it. Find out if you are interested in this creative new approach.
Pravin goes by various roles, as an outlier marketer, parallel entrepreneur and a raconteur! He runs various initiatives, Krux108 for marketing/ideation execution, KreaPLUS.in for Healthcare research and analytics and www.CANDO.ind.in for Social Entrepreneurship. He was the immediate past president at the Market Research Society of India. He has been awarded with the prestigious 4under40 award for "Emerging Leader" in Market Research by the American Marketing Association, Ginny Valentine Badge of Courage award for uplifting and helping people with disabilities.
What decides your success in organisations? Is it just work or is there something more that matters? Not just that, have you ever asked yourself which organisation is the right one for you before you join them, if yes then our guest tells you about everything about the relationship between you and your workplace. Tune in!
Dr. Shalini Lal went to St.Stephens for her under-grad in Economics, MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, holds a PhD degree in Organizational Change from UCLA and is a Global Fellow in Talent Management from Wharton. She was the Director HR at Deutsche Bank, writes a column at LiveMint, founder of Infinity OD, a boutique consulting firm enabling Organizational Transformations and co-founder, Unqbe, which helps organizations become future-ready.
There are many Indian startup founders who have taken their organisations at highly respectable positions. Ather Energy, Zerodha, FreshWorks and 12 more of them. But what is the one thread that binds them in common and what differentiates them from the others founders. Listen to this episode for that one ingredient which makes all the difference not just in business but in life too. Check it out.
Our guest is Nistha Tripathi who is a computer scientist from Univ. Of Illinois and an MBA dropout from NYU. She is also the founder of Scholar Strategy which is India's leading study abroad consulting company.
We sometimes get conscious when we walk into an interview room or into a restaurant. We wonder if we have the correct table manners and numerous such body-language concerns. Tune in what it takes to find the rhythm within. Not just that, are there some do's and don'ts during online conference calls or while connecting with anyone remotely? There definitely are, listen to find out.
Dr. Shalini Verma, has been on a mission to teach and groom people on improving their body language. She is a PhD in Communications and the founder of SamvadShaala a platform which helps people polish their non-verbal communications. She is also a communications professor at many reputed B-schools in India.
Many Indian brands have made their mark in the market and gone from nothing to becoming iconic brands. Every brand tells a unique and interesting story. The storyteller tells us about many brands, their stories of becoming greats and what are some of the most important things in this regard. Listen for some really interesting stories.
Harsh Pamnani comes with a diverse experience from being at startups like First Cry to think tanks like the World Bank and TiE. He is a management graduate from XLRI. He writes extensively in many business publications including Forbes, BW Businessworld and ET Brand Equity. He has been invited for talks at multiple prestigious forums such as TedX, Google Business Group and Josh Talks.
Life is no less than a sinusoidal curve with crests and troughs in the form of successes and failures. But whenever the low points hit us, we crave for motivation to push us once again, to make us get up and find the strength to get started on our dreams again. But how about a constant source of motivation? The episode has it for you!
Our guest, Mr. Arun Malik who is a master motivator and has penned about 8 books, all with the single vision to inspire, ignite spirits and give strength to people so that they can accomplish things they want in life. Mr. Malik is an Engineer and a Management Graduate from IRMA and has about 15 years of experience in the corporate world leading teams both domestically and internationally.
