Jane Chen who was undergoing her MBA at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, took up a project with the university’s Center for Social Innovation. During this project, she came across a socio-economic issue which was resulting in about a million deaths each year. So, she started Embrace Innovations to somehow improve the lives of many through affordable solutions. This entire journey has been full of challenges along the way. Chen feels that human beings need to be defined and guided by their values and not what they achieve. For successful business innovations to see the light of day, periodic introspection or revaluation is a must. One need not fear failures, as those are bound to occur periodically. With courage one must take on new assignments, but only when there is complete conviction in that idea. Fortunately, several big firms have taken to Chen’s ideations, so she has received frequent funding from industry giants such as Salesforce.

Source:https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/jane-chen-be-courageous-because-you-will-fail?utm_source=TWITTER&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Insights&Date=20180822&linkId=55875299

Uploaded Date:01 September 2018

Professionals often dream about having that one great boss who will change their life and career. Being saddled with a bad one on the other hand can have the opposite effect. There is however a third kind of boss who is difficult to cluster within. It is that boss who won’t advocate for the subordinate. Most such advocacy takes place behind closed doors beyond the reach of the person being vouched for or not. So, it is difficult to really gauge. When one does get to know, the reaction is often self-destructive. Professionals take up the step of overtly promoting themselves. This can have the unintended consequence of them being considered as egoistic and narcissistic. Instead one could take the help of management training by enlisting the services of a corporate coach. One must also start by reducing one’s expectations about the boss. If the immediate superior does not bat for the subordinate, one may simply find another advocate. It could be in the form of a super-boss or some influencer within the team. Professionals must look to hone their networks both inside as well outside the organization. This approach may be known as 360-degree advocacy.

Source:https://hbr.org/2018/06/what-to-do-when-your-boss-wont-advocate-for-you

Uploaded Date:25 August 2018

Success or failure at work depends to a large extent on the kind of networks one maintains. This is equally true for investment banking as any other industry. But what distinguishes one in this industry is the fact that work hours are extremely long, so bonding in groups becomes particularly crucial. Unfortunately, a trait often observed in investment banking is homophily. This is act of finding comfort in only like-minded people. If this bias sticks to the top management, it will further dent the bank as is unfortunately often the case. It leads to problems in talent recruitment and retention as such bosses tend not select people from diverse pools. This ends up stagnating the talent pool within the organization.Source:

https://knowledge.insead.edu/leadership-organisations/how-your-network-can-help-and-hurt-you

Uploaded Date:25 August 2018

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is now top priority at most organizations, having gone mainstream. However, several EI-oriented management training workshops flounder due to a lack of clear focus. Trainers and coaching leaders say that instead of focusing only on areas identified by the company, one must also look at those external consultants point out. One then ends up inbuilding habits. To this end, three questions have been identified which need to be posed in order to build this. First of all, the organization needs to understand where it sees itself versus how others view them. The next area is outlining the topics that matter most to the organization. And finally, the company has to identify areas where it sees change as imperative to achieving the said goals.

Source:https://hbr.org/2018/08/boost-your-emotional-intelligence-with-these-3-questions

Uploaded Date:25 August 2018