Q: What’s one piece of management advice that you believe has become outdated?
Long-term loyalty to a single company. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, many employees no longer trust companies to “do what is right,” with actions like mass layoffs contributing significantly to this erosion. Employment has become increasingly transactional, with workers focusing on portable skills and quick wealth creation rather than organisational longevity.
Q: What’s the most underrated leadership skill that you think B -schools don’t teach enough?
Lee Kuan Yew famously said, “I do not yet know of a man who became a leader as a result of having undergone a leadership course.” Indeed, many critical leadership qualities are rarely taught in business schools—and if I had to pick the most crucial one, it would be compassion. While command-and-control models may yield temporary productivity spikes, they inevitably burn out talent. Compassion ensures human capital is nurtured rather than consumed, securing sustainable enterprise resilience.
Q: How can leaders balance speed in decision-making with thoughtful judgment in an AI-driven world?
Leaders must always remember the childhood story about the tortoise and the hare. Leaders may have the tendency to hurry with their decision-making because of FOMO, but a wrong decision can wipe out the company’s profit. The first-mover advantage may not always work; you can learn from the mistakes of the first mover! Rather than acting like the Fox—chasing dozens of fragmented, low-impact AI experiments—leaders must adopt the mindset of the Hedgehog: focusing single-mindedly on the one core capability that will redefine their business model and yield maximum impact.
Q: If you could change one management practice, what would it be and why?
Indian organisations must make every concerted effort to move up the technology and innovation value chain by significantly increasing their R&D expenditure.
To achieve the national vision of self-reliance (Atmanirbhar Bharat) and a fully developed nation (Viksit Bharat), innovation investments must increase manifold, with research directly targeted at solving strategic industrial and technological challenges.
