The Tea-Master's Column

Empathy is an emotional skill set that allows one to understand what someone is experiencing and to reflect back that understanding. It is the ability to understand and share the emotions of others by putting oneself in someone else's shoe. Empathy is not connecting to the experience but connecting to the feelings that underpin that experience. In this age of AI, empathy is one skill that will be of great demand and will distinguish one from other. A leader who can better comprehend what the other person might be experiencing, will lead to more compassionate and empathetic response in situations. That will create a more open and meaningful workplace. A common way to practice empathy and get that that level of understanding is a practice called " Just Like Me ". Just like me this person is worrying about something or experiencing a physical or emotional suffering and wishes to to be happy. Just like me, this person wishes to be safe, strong and healthy. So, how does one go...

When the pandemic hit in 2020 and as fear gripped the world, mobility was lost, restrictions were put in place and people suddenly felt imprisioned in their own homes, suddenly something adversely affected them without them knowing about it.  That was the mental health and psychological well-being! I did not quite realize this till I got introduced to the topic of "Mindfulness" at workplace. With everything going around in our external environment and news constantly hitting us on our social media profiles, we start becoming highly distracted and distanced from the present moment. Consider this - you are shopping out but back of your mind you're constantly thinking of something else and then you bump into someone !! That's when you realize that you were not present and attention was on something in the past or future. That when you are not being "mindful". Another example, while you're in a virtual meeting and after the initial conversation, you get a me...

Recently, this has becomes a favorite topic of discussion in Indian news media with some of the leaders touting for 80-100 hr work weeks, calling it a necessary to keep our momentum of growth to becoming a developed nation. Having grown up in that country, work is prioritized over everything else one has. As a young professional, I was made to understand that leaving office before 7pm (when others are still working or boss is still at work) was considered inappropriate. The very next day, I have experienced work being assigned that would make one toil. So, there would always be a guilty feeling and need to apologize multiple times, if one had to leave bit early from office (for some personal work). Working hard and long hours (including weekends) was celebrated, recognized and eulogized. One would be compared to peers and someone who slogged longer would be eligible for promotion (over someone who prioritized other personal activities).  Fast forward in consulting days, I would be ...

I first heard this term "Building Resilience" in Jan of 2023 as part of our organization brand update. However, little did I know the power of these words and how to embody that in real life. I would like to state that failure is a necessary thing that everyone faces but what all of need to learn is how to handle that setback (both emotionally and physically).  "Resilience" is all about  developing the muscles to quickly jump back and take desired actions. A more polished version from dictionary states, "Resilience is the capacity of a person to maintain their core purpose and integrity in the face of dramatically changed circumstances. The ability to not only overcome setbacks but to also move forward". Recall a time when your mindset and emotions were worst. What were the feelings and how did your body respond?  - Body just freezes, do not feel like doing anything.   - Feel like sleeping but do not get sleep - Wake up early even though going to bed late ...

I first heard this term "Comfortable Being Uncomfortable", 4 years ago when I first joined this company and written it down on my office whiteboard. To me it was another of those nice sayings and did not give much thought to this and it just passed off my memory. However, as part of a new Leadership series that am part of - when I again heard this term being repeated and elaborated upon, I was truly intrigued. Consider this, what does it take a seed to germinate. After soaking in water overnight, it needs to be pushed inside the tilled soil for the roots to grow and shoots to come out. It cannot just grow otherwise. Similarly, routines and habits make you feel at ease, in control and dull your sensitivities and creativity. Routines take less energy, require little effort and reduce creativity needed for problem solving. Sometimes, you just need those moments of chaos to shrug ourselves and wake up our brain from laziness. So, when challenge comes up - we are not running, hidi...

This year I have re-committed myself to journaling at least once every week. It helps clarify my thoughts and put things into perspective.  There are 2 forces that control your life - FAITH and FEAR. Consider  How do you accept your core? NE - New Experiences PM - Physical Mastery  & CM - Cognitive Mastery RBB - Rewire your brain and body PM is how you respond on a bad day. Adversity is a demonstration of true character. CM is when its in our mind as a natural thing.  NE is when you are actively involving yourself by coming out of the resting place and breaking the condition of being.  Our survival brain is our biggest enemy. So, we need to put NE + PM = RBB to rewire our brain and body!  What will guarantee your failure ? RA - Running Away RS - Rationalize softening NC - Not Corrigible/Coachable CM - Closed Mind RA is arguing for our limitations, not showing up and willing to be vulnerable.  RS is when you tell yourself that status quo is o...

Of late I have been going through some great seminars on managing your daily energy levels, resilience, self-awareness, self-mastery, decision making and getting to peak level of performance. It's just great to see that my life is becoming fuller again - the Universe is speaking to me through so many different channels and fueling my depleted state to new awakening, new state of blissfulness and hopefully a new state of being where my past limiting beliefs are overwritten with new self beliefs, optimistic thoughts and breakthroughs that I thought was never possible. I strongly belief that am laying a new strong foundation for self and family that will change the course of my career, finance, health, personal and social relationships and spiritual alignment. To start this new state of being, I would like to dwell a little on self-awareness. How much of us truly know our true self and what it wants. For years on, it was subjected to conditioning that created so many layers that you d...