Own My Growth

Helping folks with practical tips to manage themselves better

Embrace Solitude

Many feel uncomfortable with the idea of solitude. But, it is fundamental to any creative problem solving. ​


Daily Interactions

Our daily interactions are a key indicator of future success—improving the quality of these connections drives better outcomes.


Weekend Story-The Priest And Three Questions

Priest and three questions

Once upon a time, a priest on a walking tour in pre-revolutionary Russia was confronted by a soldier as he entered the town. The soldier pointed his bayonet at the priest and called out,  The priest was unfazed. Instead of Read more…


Beware Of The Curse Of Knowledge

curse of knowledge

In 1990, Elizabeth Newton, a Ph.D. candidate at Stanford University, did a study to check how confident people were about communicating some message to someone and how successful they were in getting the message across to the recipient.  In the Read more…


When The Team Is Struggling

When a team struggles, it is easy for the leader to conclude the team is the problem. Sometimes it is. But leadership requires asking a harder question first. Have I created the conditions for these people to succeed? Are priorities Read more…


Be Careful Who You Call Loyal

YOu call loyal

At work, it is easy to confuse loyalty with agreement. We naturally gravitate towards people who support us, reassure us, and make us feel good about our decisions. But the person protecting your ego is not always the person protecting Read more…


Weekend Story-The Weighing Stone

The Weighing Stone

A grain merchant used a weighing stone slightly lighter than the standard, so that every customer received a little more than they paid for. His son, taking over, replaced it with an accurate one and showed his father the arithmetic. Read more…


Where Good Ideas Come From

It is the long Deepavali weekend, and I finally got some time to catch up on articles I had bookmarked. One of them, by mathematician Dan Rockmore in The New Yorker, is titled The Myth and Magic of Generating New Read more…


The First Win Changes Everything

first win

The first successful deployment changes everything. Before that, you are selling possibility. The solution may be strong. The problem may be real. The team may believe deeply in what it has built. But the client is still being asked to Read more…


What Ownership Looks Like

Ownership

Ownership is easy to talk about. You see it more clearly when something is not moving. There will always be reasons. Someone has not responded. A dependency is pending. A decision is delayed. Another team has not done what was Read more…


Do Not Overanalyze The No

overanalyse the no

Whether it’s a proposal, an idea, a job application, or a sale, when something gets rejected, we instinctively want to understand why. We read the explanation carefully and start fixing ourselves around it. But not every rejection contains a lesson. Read more…


The Anchor Of Awareness

Awareness

Feeling a roving sense of anxiousness? Feeling stressed? A lot of it comes from not keeping our attention on one thing at a time. You are eating breakfast while thinking about an email you have to send. You are on Read more…


The Half Life Of Dissapointment

Half-Life Of dissapointment

Sharing this via Seth Godin’s blog post When things don’t turn out the way you pictured, how long does it take for you to move on? Reducing this window of disappointment unlocks the path to creativity and leadership. People who Read more…


Weekend Story-Still Water

Still Water

“It is entirely your fault,” the master said. “My fault?” said the disciple. “I sit in meditation every day. I study. And still the world interrupts me. My mind drifts, my emotions storm, and the peace I find vanishes in Read more…