There’s a line in an old poem I recited as a child that I only understood decades later. It was never about the crowd cheering you on. It was about what you do when the cheering stops. The poem is Veer Tum Badhe Chalo1, a rousing thing, really. Keep moving forward, brave one, it says.
Self-Trust: Leading From Within When No One Is Clapping Read More »
I was an hour late to pick up my eight-year-old from his swimming class. He had no phone on him, no way to reach me. He just waited. I had been so consumed by work that I simply forgot to come. I still sit with that hour sometimes. And that was the day I decided
It’s Lonely at the Top: The Hidden Cost of Senior Leadership (and What Actually Helps) Read More »
“Usha, your drawing is hopeless.” I was in grade two when my teacher said that to me. I don’t think she gave it a second thought. But I did. That one sentence stayed with me, quietly, for most of my life. For years I believed it without ever really questioning it. I found my creativity
How I Quieted My Inner Critic (and Finally Started to Paint) Read More »
Over the last week of August, I did a podcast on LinkedIn Live. And in the days before it, while I was sitting with the topic, something quietly dawned on me. Over the years I’ve managed to withstand a fair amount. There’s been real pressure, a few defining moments, and even illness. And yet through
How to Stay Calm Under Pressure: The Quiet Power of Calm Confidence Read More »
What Shaped Me By 2018, recruitment had become mundane to me. I want to be honest about that, because it is not the version of this story people expect. I was not chasing another title. I had stopped caring about titles years earlier. I remember completing a major recruitment project where we filled nearly fifty
What Shaped Me: Coaching, and the Season the House Went Quiet Read More »
In 2006, I did not have a mentor sitting across the table. I had my best companion since childhood, my books. I had just moved to Qatar to begin a career in HR. Everything felt new. The systems were different, the workplace was different, and I was trying to find my feet in a country
The Books That Quietly Became My Mentors Read More »
The Practice of Inner Work It was past midnight. The house was quiet, and I was sitting with a journal I had not opened in years. This was 2025. Three rounds of chemo behind me. Covid on top of it. I could not eat much. I could not go out. On paper, I had no
The Practice of Inner Work: Journaling, Reflection, and Learning to Pause Read More »
For years I helped run teams, sat in the big meetings, carried the title, and still some quiet part of me wondered whether I was actually a leader. Because like most people, I thought leadership was something you are handed. A manager title, a team, a bigger office, a seat at the table. I had
What Is Leadership? A Clear Answer for Every Senior Leader Read More »
A personal story about the moment my body stopped me, and the framework I have used with leaders ever since. Most of us think inner strength is something we have to go and find. We look for it in a book, in a course, in a conversation with someone we hope will hand it to
The Tea Pan That Taught Me What Inner Strength Really Is Read More »
In today’s world, we no longer have talking mirrors. Now, we have to talk to ourselves. This morning at breakfast, I was having a conversation about perception. One of my colleagues, a director, is often seen by people around him as someone who constantly challenges others and keeps pushing everyone toward the company’s objectives. He
Mirror Mirror on the Wall, What Do You See Read More »
