Life Acumen at Work

Епізоди

• Is Your Career Future-Proof 22.06.2026 21хв

  Preview: You did everything right. You studied hard, built a successful career, earned the title, the credibility, and the rewards. But in a world where people live longer, careers last decades longer, and AI is reshaping work, a new question emerges: Is the career you built still enough for the life ahead? In this episode, we explore why the traditional career ladder may no longer be sufficient, and how leaders can redesign their careers as portfolios of relevance, contribution, learning, an...
• What Success Quietly Takes from You 26.05.2026 12хв

  What success quietly takes from you: This episode explores the hidden vitality cost of ambition - the patience, presence, humor, and energy leaders often lose long before burnout appears. Resources: Leading Off: A leader’s guide to strengthening employee health ‘You’ve got to find what you love,’ Jobs says | Stanford Report Half of Workers Around the World Are Struggling with Burnout Podcast Description: On Life Acumen at Work Podcast, Executive Coach Vinod Wadhwani shares perspectives from ...
• How to See Beyond Positions 29.04.2026 7хв

  How to See Beyond Positions: When a tough conversation gets tense, it often stops being about the real issue - and turns into a quiet battle over who will “blink first.” In this episode, you’ll learn how capable leaders get trapped defending a position, why that kills discovery and alignment, and the simple shift that lowers the emotional temperature fast: stop asking “How do I get them to agree?” and start asking, “What are they trying to protect?” If you want firmer decisions and better rel...
• Stop Negotiating Your Position 22.04.2026 17хв

  Stop Negotiating Your Position explains how positional bargaining turns problem-solving into a contest of credibility, slowing decisions and damaging trust - especially for senior executives who must preserve relationships beyond the deal. Using examples (Infosys board crisis, Camp David Accords, Disney–Pixar, and Oracle–PeopleSoft), it contrasts positions (what you demand) with interests (why you need it). It recommends diagnosing whether a situation is collaborative or a power contest, clar...
• Redefining Success in the Second Half of Your Career 24.01.2025 13хв

  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 durin...
• Adapting to Tech Disruption as a Senior Leader 03.12.2024 15хв

  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 alm...
• Creating a Culture of Accountability 16.11.2024 17хв

  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 ...
• Building Business-Savvy Executive Team 18.10.2024 16хв

  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 kin...
• Navigating Career Crossroads 04.10.2024 16хв

  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, is stil...
• Why "Effective Feedback" Critical for Leadership Growth 28.09.2024 12хв

  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...
• Prevent "Burnout" in the Workplace 19.09.2024 13хв

  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 f...
• How Do I Hone My Persuasive Communication Skills? 23.01.2024 14хв

  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? 09.02.2023 11хв

  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 imperati...
• Why do you feel dissonance despite having career success? 26.01.2023 11хв

  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 confidence! Host: Vi...
• Is your manager undermining you? 11.01.2023 11хв

  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 Related epi...
• How to overcome distraction and regain focus at work? 29.12.2022 10хв

  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 we develop the skill of sustained attention? Is focus relate...
• Making and keeping new year's resolutions! 16.12.2022 11хв

  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: Many people set personal and professional goals this time of year. Why choose new year to set resolutions?New years 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 ...
• Why is our attention span decreasing? 26.11.2022 11хв

  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 g...
• Why candor in organizations so important? 01.02.2021 14хв

  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: When we say there is lack of candor in organizations. What does it mean?Why is candor so important in the workplace?How can organizations encourage candor in employees?Is there some structure which organizations can fo...
• Why many of us give up new year's resolutions? 10.01.2021 13хв

  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 ...