CEO Insights

“The present global scenario calls for a new leadership perspective emphasizing respect to all regions, religions, communities, and ethnicities. It calls for soft leadership involving negotiation and persuasion with an emphasis on empathy.” —Professor M.S. Rao Leadership styles have evolved from time to time leading to an improved version of...

“Soft leadership can be defined as the process of setting goals; influencing people through persuasion; building strong teams; negotiating them with a win-win attitude; respecting their failures; handholding them; motivating them constantly; aligning their energies and efforts; recognizing and appreciating their contribution in accomplishing organizational goals and objectives with an...

Several countries such as South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, and New Zealand have taken timely initiatives to stop COVID-19 pandemic from spreading. In this regard, we will discuss New Zealand for combating the coronavirus successfully under the leadership of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Crises are the unpredicted and unpleasant chronology...

I had arrived in Singapore to facilitate a three-day offsite for a newly formed regional leadership team within a global organization. Historically, the CEO, Pam, had enjoyed a tight team wrapped around her within the region. However, the organizational model had evolved, and Pam found herself leading a team where...

You can spend piles of money on leadership development workshops and seminars and still end up with leaders who have more knowledge than wisdom. But wisdom is what it takes to build the trust that strong leadership requires, and that trust comes from building relationships on the job, day by...

CEO Satya Nadella’s story of his first-ever interview at Microsoft, where he was asked how he would react seeing a baby crying in the middle of the road, and his response found short on empathy, has by now gone into corporate folklore. Rational, intelligent and effective actions have always been...

Two Powerful Practices for Encouraging Your People with Mindfulness and Resolve. The news remains jampacked with the latest developments surrounding COVID-19. Cities and entire states remain under “stay at home” orders, while medical professionals care for people and research cures. It is our duty as business leaders to help our...

A fellow father came up to me recently and shared a story about how his ten-year-old son came running home from school into the kitchen and asked for a chocolate biscuit. When the father asked him for the magic word, his son replied, “NOW!” Although leading in an instant generation...

We’re at the edge of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and in the midst of a global pandemic turning countless businesses upside down. The strains on corporate culture are profound — as are the pressures on leaders. But even before the recent economic and social upheavals, the corporate culture concept was...

A few months ago, I asked my daughters to read a few chapters from the manuscript of my new book.  One piece of feedback I received was about a section in the Introduction, where I defined some key terms. My daughter Kristin liked that these definitions created a shared understanding...