Life Acumen @ Work Podcast
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 podcast, 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.
Redefining success in the second half of your career
Picture this: You're standing at your office window on a quiet Friday evening, looking out at the setting sun. You've just closed a major deal, and by all traditional measures, you're at the peak of your career. You have been through the ruthless climb up the corporate ladder, the sacrifices, the wins, the losses, the political battles, the strategic victories. You've built the career, earned the respect, and achieved the position you wanted. Yet there is a question that keeps appearing during those rare moments of reflection. How to redefine what success means in the second half of the c...
Adapting to Tech Disruption as a Senior Leader
Imagine you're a senior leader who has navigated market shifts for decades. But suddenly, you're confronted with technologies that don't just change how business operates, but fundamentally redefine what's possible. The question isn't just how you'll adjust – it's whether your leadership can transform this disruption from a threat into your organization's greatest competitive advantage
In Focus
How do you maintain strategic clarity when the technological landscape shifts beneath your feet almost daily?
How do you lead with confidence when your younger team members might understand new technologies better than you do?
Creating a Culture of Accountability
What is a culture of accountability? How crucial it is for leaders to model accountability? What environment makes accountability thrive?
In Focus
How do we, as senior leaders, foster a culture of accountability?
How do we navigate the complex web of human emotions, corporate politics, and bottom-line pressures to create an environment where accountability isn't just a buzzword, but a way of life?
How do we create accountability without resorting to fear tactics?
How do we ensure fairness in our accountability practices?
How do we mo...
Building Business-Savvy Executive Team
Picture this, a founder CEO struggling to build a business savvy team? What exactly does it mean to have a 'business savvy' team? How to build such a team?
In Focus
How do you nurture holistic business acumen among your top-tier leaders?
How do we help executives develop the breadth of understanding, needed to navigate the complexities of modern business?
How do you balance this kind of broad exposure with the need for deep functional expertise?
How do you create an environment where this kind of stretch-thinking...
Navigating Career Crossroads
Whether you’ve been a C-suite leader for just a few years or a seasoned veteran of many years, there comes a time when you reach a pivotal moment. A moment where you're faced with critical decisions that could reshape not just your career, but your legacy. Have you ever paused, to wonder, if the path you’re on, is still the right one? Or maybe, you’ve considered stepping away, but are not sure, how to take that next leap?
In Focus
Have you ever paused to wonder, if the path you’re on, i...
Why "Effective Feedback" Critical for Leadership Growth
Many senior executives struggle to get effective feedback from their team. That’s a pivotal challenge leaders face constantly. When leaders don’t receive clear insights, into their strengths and areas of improvement, it can create a cascading effect, that ultimately impacts team performance.
In Focus
How can leaders effectively break down the barriers that hinder candid feedback from their teams?
How can leaders create an open environment for feedback?
Collaborative and respectful communication a must for effective feedback
Modelling openness and vulnerability
Detachment from person...
Prevent "Burnout" in the Workplace
The World Health Organization has officially recognized burnout as an occupational syndrome. According to some estimates more than a third of employees' experience burnout intermittently, with nearly 25% feeling it recurrently or constantly.
In Focus
What is Burnout?
Does, each one of us experience burnout differently?
Why is burnout so pervasive and what triggers it?
What is Employability?
“Role overload”, “Role conflict” and “Role ambiguity
Burnout in the workplace - Five things stand out for me.
Related episodes:
How do I h...
How Do I Hone My Persuasive Communication Skills?
Persuasion is not to be seen as tricking or forcing other people to your point of view, it is to be seen as understanding what engages and opens other people up to new ideas and insights.
In Focus
How do you define persuasion?
How does engagement influence persuasion?
What is physical and temporal proximity?
What are some techniques for increasing engagement?
What are some of the behaviors which come in the way of engaging persuasively with your stakeholders?
How to enhance a person’s s...
Why you must build bridges with your boss?
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 ma...
Why do you feel dissonance despite having career success?
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 confid...
Is your manager undermining you?
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
Rel...
How to overcome distraction and regain focus at work?
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...
Making and keeping new year's resolutions!
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:
Why is our attention span decreasing?
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...
Why candor in organizations so important?
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:
Why many of us give up new year's resolutions?
IN FOCUS:
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...
Is critical feedback important for high-performance?
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...
Can human beings be reliable raters of other human beings?
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 perf...
Do feedback reviews help employees perform at their best?
IN FOCUS:
What is the issue with feedback reviews?
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? And push them to do better?
Won’t employees prefer the manager tell them something that they are doing wrong rather than what they are doing right?
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...
Why leaders need to be mindful how they are treating employees?
IN FOCUS:
What is workplace incivility? And what kinds of behaviors in the workplace can be seen as uncivil?
Why is workplace incivility so prevalent?
If leaders know that treating employees with respect is critical, why is then they struggle to demonstrate it?
Do leaders need to tread carefully on how they are treating their employees?
What can leaders do to demonstrate respect?
Related Episodes:
#8: Why high-achievement oriented employees do not "speak up" in the work-place?
#9: The...
How to handle our inner critic?
POINT OF VIEW:
Many successful executives get worn down with putting on a mask of confidence while burdened with internal feelings of incompetence. How can they navigate this duality?
The inner critic in high achieving executives can be quite strong. How can one treat his or her inner critic?
Related Episodes:
#14: Better Things Happen When We View Ourselves as Work in Progress
#13: Reprogramming Our Internal Compass to Overcome Imposture
#9: The Pitfalls of Impostor syndrome
Host:
Vinod Wadhwani is...
Better things happen when we view ourselves as work in progress
POINT OF VIEW:
What can one do to alleviate the negative effects of Impostor syndrome?
How can people with Impostor Syndrome, overcome intense performance pressure, they build on themselves?
Related Episodes:
#9: The Pitfalls of Impostor Syndrome
#15: How to handle our Inner Critic?
#13: Reprogramming Our Internal Compass to Overcome Imposture
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 buil...
Reprogramming our internal compass to overcome impostor syndrome
POINT OF VIEW:
Learning Vs. Performance Mindset
Identifying consequences through series of “what” questions
Reframing and correcting negativity bias – simple techniques to overcome imposture
Related Episodes:
#14: Better Things Happen When We View Ourselves As Work-In-Progress
#15: How to handle our inner critic?
#9: The Pitfalls of 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 hi...
How to overcome impostor syndrome?
IN FOCUS:
What can one do to alleviate the negative effects of Impostor syndrome?
How can people with Impostor Syndrome, overcome intense performance pressure, they build on themselves?
How can one program his or her internal compass to overcome Impostor Syndrome?
People having Impostor Syndrome put on a mask of confidence though internally tend to have deep feelings of incompetence. How to navigate this duality?
The inner critic can be quite hard in people with Impostor Syndrome. How can one suppress the inner critic?
Re...
How do leaders with impostor syndrome impact their organizations?
POINT OF VIEW:
Does perfectionism play a role in Impostor Syndrome?
The underlying traits that researchers connect with Impostor syndrome; perfectionism and Neuroticism; seem to be a dangerous combo. You seek perfection, but you’re also neurotic, which probably makes you anxious, when you don’t achieve perfection. Seems like a vicious cycle?
How do leaders with negative imposture syndrome, impact their organizations?
Related Episodes:
#12: How to Overcome Impostor Syndrome?
#10: What is Impostor Syndrome? Is it Real?
Host:
Vinod...
What is Impostor Syndrome? Is it Real?
POINT OF VIEW:
What is Imposter Syndrome? Is it real?
What are some common thoughts and feelings, exhibited by people who seem to have Imposter Syndrome?
Do events and experiences, in an individual’s formative years, have a bearing on developing Impostor syndrome in adulthood?
Related Episodes:
#11: How Do Leaders with Impostor Syndrome Impact their Organizations?
#12: How to Overcome Impostor Syndrome?
Host:
Vinod Wadhwani is an execu...
The pitfalls of impostor syndrome
IN FOCUS: In a survey of senior corporate executives on what are some of their deep-seated fears, researchers found that the biggest fear among these c-suite executives was the fear of being discovered to be incompetent, also known as the “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 and life, and help build high performance culture in organizations. Vinod leverages over three decades of leadership experience in investment banking, management consulting and merchant...
Why high-achievement oriented employees do not "speak up" in the work-place?
IN FOCUS:
Increase in fear of speaking up in the work place is a worrying trend as it may not only hamper innovation, productivity and performance but could also lead to circumstances that may cause more corporate debacles in times to come. In this episode we will discuss How do speaking up and high achievement orientation stack against each other and Are high achievement-oriented employees a risky asset for organizations in the long run.
Host:
Vinod Wadhwani is an executive coach and facilitator. Vinod founded Life Acumen LLP with a mission to he...
