Apoorva Pande

Focused Founder

Focused Founder is a mastermind company that puts tech Founders and operators into peer groups as they grow towards $20 million in revenue or $100 million in valuation. In addition, Focused Founder provides an end to end process for growing revenue, profit, and impact.  Founders and operators that join are focused on:  solving real world problems, being profitable, learning, and implementing systems.

Our core focuses are: green-tech, health-tech, AI, and resource allocation.

If you'd like to know more, go here: https://www.focusedfounder.com/

Advisor at Various Startups

Growth 

Different Hunger

We help digital agencies grow and automate their businesses.

President

Pande Solutions

A portfolio of companies that build solutions for the automation age.

Founder and Chairman

SPInternational

SPI builds multimillion dollar pipelines for high tech companies.

Principal

Awesm.io

Creating traction for Awesm Early Stage Products.

Chief Growth Hacker

Formsfield

A Utility-Based Curated 3D Printing Marketplace

Advisor

Cognitive Media Inc.

Medical 3D printing to increase surgery success rate.
CEO of their Novelties Subsidiary PhotoBiscuit.

Catalyst

Tara Designs

Interior, Retail, and Exterior Design Firm.

JunoWallet

First hire for the team that brought 3MM+ users to the App in under a year
Led and Managed a globally distributed team
Created Strategic Alliances with Amazon, InComm, Aarki and many more

Director of Business Development and Strategic Alliances

Mistakes, I've had a few...

❌Like running out of cash flow before making a profit

❌Like pouring my entire college career into a business that sank without a trace

❌Like draining my bank account, my friendships, and my will to keep going

❌Like watching a close friend make millions while I hit the big red FAIL button again

❌⌃⌃⌃Like not paying attention to the CLUES… 

❌Like scaling a service company to 7 figures in 4 months and realizing I'd built a prison for myself 

❌Like losing control of my own business

❌Like the time I crashed … and burned

❌ Like the time I built an ad agency from scratch and tapped out at 7 figures 

❌ Like the time I wasted years managing people instead of profits

❌Like the time my good friend invited me to create her well-oiled sales machine… 

And I failed so hard I still have whiplash all these years later.

There’s a word for this kind of “mistake”: 

Growth. 

Or more to the point: 

Sloppy growth. 

Sloppy growth is growth that doesn’t grow your impact.

Sloppy growth is sales that don’t scale your time, team or cash-flow.

Sloppy growth is losing control of your own purpose, time and freedom.

You get the idea. 

But life’s too short to put up with sloppy.

I wanted more. 

(MUCH more)

So I disappeared for a while.

Shut myself away.

Spent TWO years and a fistfull of days figuring out a growth system that actually works.

Here’s what I built:

A leverage-based growth model.

One that predictably closes more sales, bigger contracts, and more cash flow.

One minute in, ten minutes out. 

One dollar in, ten dollars out. 

One hire in, ten times the output – not ten times the stress.

One prod—well, you get the picture. 

I started Focused Founder.

Then I invited a small group of tech founders to oil the cogs of their own growth machine with hands-on coaching, scalable systems, and plug-and-play frameworks. 

Our small group of founders have already generated an extra $100+ million dollars:

✅Aviron Active went from ZERO sales to hundreds of thousands a month

✅Mailmonitor went from barely scraping by at $8K/month to $100K

✅That’s 11X cash-flow in just 30 days

✅iQi Air made $598K in the first month…

✅AND they landed a fat $30.5 million commitment

✅Blubanyan went from low 7 figures to solid 8 figures…

✅Massive cash reserves…

✅Another year of 100% growth…

✅And DELETED stress from their team…

✅Jan, the CEO, said getting this 10X growth felt "calm"

✅There’s plenty more where that came from.

Sloppy growth is a miserable grind that burns you out.

Leveraged growth lets you win.

Want to know more?

See below.

Scaling from $1M to $10M isn't luck.

It's a proven framework.

Most founders hit $1M and think they can keep doing what got them there.

That's the biggest mistake.

The playbook changes completely at scale.

VC firms come to me for advice on how structure their founder acceleration playbooks.

This is the exact guide I'll give them to help their portfolio companies break through the $1M ceiling and scale to $10M+.

Inside this framework:

→ Which pricing model actually scales (and why most founders choose wrong)
→ The exact math: leads, calls, and demos needed to hit $10M
→ How to restructure your sales motion for enterprise-level deals

This framework has helped 6+ B2B tech companies successfully scale add $10M+.

The difference between stalling at $1-2M and hitting $10M+ comes down to knowing which levers to pull and when.

If you're a founder currently between $1M-5M and serious about reaching $10M, this guide will save you years of trial and error.

Want the full framework?

1. Connect with me
2. Comment "10M" below

I'll send it directly to your DMs.

Simplicity is not the absence of complexity - it is the presence of clarity.

myDayOne

FOUNDER & CEO | READINESS ARCHITECT | SCALING GROWTH THROUGH TALENT AND SKILLS 

I lead the mission to enable high-growth organizations and individuals to achieve readiness at scale. 

Through Behaviour Intelligence-powered digital tools and insights, myDayOne delivers solutions for onboarding, continuous learning, and behavior change that align hands, heads, and hearts — unlocking performance and magnifying growth.

As Founder and CEO at myDayOne, I lead the mission of unlocking alignment and readiness at scale for individuals, teams, and organizations. Leveraging Behavioural Science, Behaviour Intelligence, Gamification, Data Analytics, and Organisation Development methodologies, I drive the design and delivery of digital solutions that power onboarding, reboarding, offboarding, continuous learning, and behavior change. 

Our readiness-first approach ensures that capability development is not just an activity, but a strategic enabler for business acceleration, creating sustainable value at the intersection of talent, technology, and transformation.

Chief Executive Officer

Career Growth and Skill Tech PLC

STRATEGIC ADVISOR TO THE BOARD | SHAPING READINESS AND CAREER GROWTH STRATEGIES 

As a Strategic Advisor to the Board of a forward-thinking company in the skill development and career counselling space, I contribute to shaping the roadmap for empowering early and mid-career professionals through tech-enabled learning and assessment platforms. 

My role focuses on embedding readiness-based methodologies into skill-building journeys, ensuring alignment between capability development, career aspirations, and market needs. I provide strategic insights on product design, learning architecture, and go-to-market approaches, drawing from my expertise in behavioral science, OD, and talent strategy. 

With a strong emphasis on measurable outcomes, I support the board in steering solutions that not only assess talent but also equip individuals to thrive in their chosen career paths — bridging the readiness gap between aspiration and achievement.

Mentor / Advisor to the Board

Exporter Group |  Personal Care Manufacturer

STRATEGIC ADVISOR TO THE BOARD / MENTOR | ENABLING PEOPLE, PROCESS & CAPABILITY READINESS FOR GLOBAL GROWTH 

As Strategic Advisor to the Directors of the company and its Senior Management engaged in the manufacturing and export of personal care products, I provide guidance on aligning people strategy, process excellence, and capability readiness with global growth ambitions. 

My role involves advising on leadership pipeline development, mentoring and coaching, succession planning, and organization design to ensure that the talent ecosystem is future-ready and responsive to business demands. 

I support the directors in integrating readiness diagnostics, learning interventions, and performance enablement mechanisms that foster agility, compliance, and innovation across geographies. 

By combining behavioral science insights with pragmatic OD practices, I help drive sustainable scale-up, strengthen cross-functional collaboration, and enhance leadership effectiveness for global market success.

Advisor to the Board

Leadership/Change/ OD Consulting Firm

OD & LEARNING STRATEGIST | ENABLING CHANGE, GROWTH & SCALE THROUGH BESPOKE SOLUTIONS

Catalyzing possibilities for next-gen leaders and enterprises, I design and deliver tailored OD strategies that power growth and transformation. Leading diverse teams across consulting, education, and technology, I focus on readiness-centric interventions that ensure profitable growth and client success.

Committed to catalyzing possibilities for next-generation leaders and changemakers, I conceptualize and deliver bespoke Organization Development solutions that enable businesses to scale, adapt, and grow. Leading a multidisciplinary team of consultants, OD practitioners, learning specialists, and technologists, I focus on co-creating strategies that bridge the gap between aspiration and capability. 

My role spans from solution innovation to client success realization—ensuring profitable growth, solution relevance, and deep impact through readiness-centric interventions.

Mentor / Advisor to the Board & CXO

Global Luxury Shopfitting Company

HR & OD LEADER | DRIVING PEOPLE STRATEGY AND LEADERSHIP EFFECTIVENESS FOR GROWTH ORBITS

As part of the top leadership team, I architect long-term people strategies and OD interventions that align talent processes with business vision. My work in succession planning, leadership development, and culture transformation is anchored in readiness acceleration — turning intent into sustainable capability.

As part of the Top Leadership Team, I champion the people agenda to enable organizations to shift into their next orbit of growth. I architect long-term people strategies and actionable HR plans, deeply rooted in the philosophy of readiness over mere potential. 

My work spans end-to-end OD cycles—entry, diagnosis, intervention design, implementation, and evaluation—with a focus on leadership development, culture transformation, succession planning, and performance enablement. By embedding digital and behavioral sciences into people processes, I ensure measurable outcomes and business-aligned growth.

Advisor and Leadership Coach - Organisation Development & HR 

Indian Business Group in Nutraceuticals, Functional Foods, Agriculture and Flavours 

PEOPLE & CULTURE PARTNER | ALIGNING PURPOSE, CULTURE, AND READINESS FOR BUSINESS IMPACT

Co-developing rolling people plans and readiness frameworks, I partner with business leaders to reinforce culture, purpose, and leadership effectiveness. My readiness-based approach to capability building delivers high-impact learning journeys and role-aligned talent development solutions.

Driving people strategy in alignment with business objectives, I co-develop rolling four-year people plans and annual HR action frameworks designed to reinforce organizational culture, purpose, and engagement. 

My approach integrates readiness diagnostics with OD interventions, leveraging data-backed insights for capability building across leadership pipelines. 

Working closely with business and function heads, I align talent processes to vision and values while partnering with external experts to ensure cutting-edge delivery of learning journeys that drive career growth and role readiness.

Group Head - Corporate HR and Organisation Development

Large Utility Company 

TALENT DEVELOPMENT CHAMPION | CRAFTING LEARNING JOURNEYS FOR ROLE READINESS

Focused on leadership pipeline and skill acceleration, I design and facilitate development journeys that are custom-built for business contexts. My work includes talent assessments, leadership workshops, and engagement programs, all integrated with metrics to track RoI and business outcomes.

In close partnership with senior leadership, I architect talent development strategies that are hyper-personalized, outcome-focused, and readiness-driven. I design and roll out custom-built development journeys across business units, integrating performance management, engagement, and grievance redressal systems. 

From creating internal capability development programs to facilitating workshops and train-the-trainer sessions, my role ensures skill transfer, knowledge sharing, and business-relevant learning experiences. With a sharp focus on RoI, I implement metrics that track impact, budget utilization, and learning effectiveness.

Head - Corporate HR & Learning and Development

People Consulting Company 

BUSINESS & OD CONSULTANT | DELIVERING READINESS-FOCUSED CONSULTING AND CAPABILITY BUILDING SOLUTIONS

Leading OD engagements across regions and portfolios, I design, manage, and deliver solutions that address real client needs — from diagnostics to execution. With multi-project leadership and a consulting approach rooted in readiness thinking, I enable leadership capability enhancement and behavioral shifts.

I lead business growth and OD consulting engagements with a strong focus on client success and readiness acceleration. Responsible for revenue strategy and profitability across regions and service lines, I collaborate with business development and content teams to design bespoke solutions that align with client needs. 

Managing multi-project portfolios and senior client relationships, I deliver end-to-end OD projects—from diagnosis to execution—ensuring client delight, leadership capability enhancement, and behavioral change. 

My facilitation work is rooted in experiential methods, designed to enable action-oriented learning and measurable readiness shifts.

Senior Consultant & Business Head (West) 

Large Business Group with Interests in Telecom, Retail and Training 

CAPABILITY & ENGAGEMENT ENABLER | BUILDING LEARNING CULTURES ACROSS DISTRIBUTED TEAMS

Aligning regional talent development with corporate strategy, I create readiness-based programs for skill enhancement, leadership growth, and SOP-based behavioral learning. Through performance coaching, facilitation, and engagement initiatives, I foster learning cultures and develop future-ready talent.

Partnering with state-level HR and talent leadership, I align people development initiatives with corporate and regional strategies. My focus is on building a learning culture across distributed teams—including franchisees and store managers—through readiness-based programs that blend SOP adherence, behavioral skills, and leadership competencies. I design and facilitate training interventions, engagement programs, and performance coaching, enabling individuals to grow into higher roles with confidence and capability. 

My approach fosters skill enhancement, retention, and growth through structured, measurable development paths.

Chief Manager and State Lead (Talent Transformation), Trainer & Business Performance Coach 

Management Consulting and Marketing Services Firm 

BUSINESS GROWTH LEADER | ALIGNING PEOPLE, STRATEGY, AND SOLUTIONS FOR CLIENT SUCCESS

Driving business strategy and operational excellence, I ensure business-focused outcomes that enable clients and teams to translate aspirations into action. From capability acqusition to setting up business teams, my approach delivers measurable results in leadership readiness and business growth.

Steering business strategy and operations, I ensure profitability while leading client engagements anchored in readiness and growth. I focus on translating organizational aspirations into actionable projects, aligning people policies and processes with business outcomes. Driving capability development through need-based solutions, I lead teams to deliver customer-centric interventions, sustaining client relationships and enhancing talent effectiveness. My business development and customer service efforts emphasize skill application, behavioral alignment, and leadership readiness, ensuring individuals and teams are equipped to succeed in their roles today—and prepared for the challenges of tomorrow.

Executive Director (People and Operations)

ACCELERATING READINESS | ENABLING GROWTH | POWERING POSSIBILITIES

I help individuals, teams, and organizations move from potential to readiness to performance by focusing on the critical missing link — Readiness. Readiness is the coming together of 5 components like Skills, Speed, Self Awareness.......With 29+ years of global leadership across HR, OD, Learning, and Business Growth roles, I blend action research, coaching science, and experiential methods to curate hyper-personalized talent journeys.

As the Founder of myDayOne, I lead the creation of IoB-powered digital solutions and readiness acceleration platforms that unlock alignment at the behavior level — enabling career growth, leadership effectiveness, and business scalability. My work integrates the best of behavioral science, gamification, data analytics, and OD tools, with a focus on real-world application and measurable RoI.

I believe in this simple mantra:
“Develop talent your biggest asset in Business. Accelerate Talent readiness. Ensure future-ready success stories.”


Core Strengths:
- Blending cutting-edge technology with behavioral science
- Engineering high performance through gamification
- Crafting engaging learning experiences through storytelling
- Designing scalable organizational development interventions
- Facilitating sustainable behavior change

Professional Journey:
Diverse experience as:
- OD Practitioner & Change Catalyst
- Learning & Development Specialist
- HR Leader & Strategist
- Executive Coach & Facilitator
- Process Visualizer & Entrepreneur

Education & Certifications:
Proud alumnus of premier institutions:
- XLRI & TISS
- Organisation Development - XLRI, ISABS, CODE & TiSS 
- HR Systems - TuV Rheinland, Mercer Learning & Aon LC
- Human Process  - Relations Institute (TA), ChangeWorks (Appreciative Inquiry), AE Institute (RECBT)
- Experiential Learning - Sullivan Institute, LSP & Thomson Associates
- Coaching - ICF, Gallup, Hogan, Kornferry, NLI
- Story Telling (TM International, IIM-A, ZASW)  

Beyond Business:
Actively volunteered with non-profit organizations, believing in business as a force for good.

Let's Connect:
Whether you're:
- Leading a corporate transformation
- Scaling your business
- Driving organizational change
- Building high-performing teams

Jithesh Anand

Indra Nooyi ran a $64 billion company with 260,000 employees. While most CEOs wouldn't even know their team's birthdays, she wrote 400+ handwritten letters to her employees' parents every year. What happened next changed how the entire company operated.

During her visit to India after becoming the CEO of PepsiCo, she noticed, when her friends and relatives came to congratulate they went directly to her mother to praise her for raising a successful daughter.

That observation made her realize that behind every person on her team was a mother or father who had shaped that person long before PepsiCo ever could.

So she did something no Fortune 500 CEO had done before: she wrote letters to their parents.

No templates. No generic notes. 

Personal letters that highlighted their child's contribution, the impact they were making, and the qualities they admired. 

Parents framed those letters. Employees kept them for years.

The recognition their parents received from the CEO of a global company shifted their sense of belonging. 

It created loyalty that no bonus could buy and made them feel a part of something bigger. 

Why did this move by Indra Nooyi work so well? A few reasons:

1. People don't walk into offices alone. They carry their upbringing with them.

2. Teams forget policies, but they never forget the leader who made them feel valued beyond their role.

3. Small, intentional gestures build more trust than grand policies ever will.

A company can buy talent, but it can't buy loyalty. That comes from how leaders choose to show up when no one's watching. 

Indra didn't just lead PepsiCo. She honored the people who built it. And that's the difference between a team that works for you and a team that rises with you.

PS: What's one small gesture from a leader that changed how you showed up at work?

Leadership & Org Devpmt Specialist| Founder-myDayOne | Board Director / Advisor | Certified Executive & Team Coach (ICF/HOGAN/GALLUP/Harvard TDS/KornFerry/ISABS) | Experiential Facilitation (Lego/Thomson/Sullivan/IAF)

You'd think the CEO of CHANEL has better things to do than memorize names. Yet Leena Nair knows 20,000 employees by name & face. That one decision changes everything. 

Leena leads a company of 37,000 people across the globe. Most CEOs at that level rely on org charts and executive briefings. 

She chose a different approach and spent time learning the names, faces, and stories of nearly 20,000 employees. 

This isn't about being likable. It's about removing the barrier that usually exists between senior leadership and frontline talent.

In most organizations, people hesitate to speak up because they assume they're too small to be heard. 

When a leader remembers your name without prompting, that hesitation disappears.

👉 People start speaking up earlier. 
👉 They share concerns before they turn into crises. 
👉 They offer ideas even when unfinished because they trust they'll be taken seriously. 

Here's what Leena's approach teaches us: 

1. Recognition without conditions changes how people contribute.
2. When people don't have to earn attention, they focus on the work instead of proving their worth.
3. Culture isn't built in town halls. It's built in everyday moments when someone feels seen.
4. Leaders who know their people make better decisions because they're operating with context, not assumptions.

Leena doesn't collect names. She collects context about who people are, what they bring, and what drives them. 

The more leaders know their people, the fewer decisions they make in isolation.

PS: What's one small action a leader took that made you feel like you actually belonged?

Ford Motor Company was on the edge of bankruptcy. Yet in leadership meetings, no one admitted anything was wrong. Alan Mulally changed one rule, and it saved the company. 

When Mulally took over as CEO in 2006, Ford had just lost $12.7 billion.

Every Thursday, he held leadership reviews where executives labeled their status reports green, yellow, or red.

Week after week, everything came back "green." Which made no sense for a company losing billions.

Mulally realized the problem wasn't the business. It was the fear. 

Executives were so used to being punished for problems that they hid everything going wrong.

So he changed the rule: "Every leader must share one thing that isn't working."

At first, nobody moved. Then one executive finally showed a "red" slide. 

Mulally didn't attack him. He thanked him. People expected consequences. He gave appreciation.

That moment cracked open a culture that had been closed for years.

Here's what we can take away from this- 

1. People don't hide problems because they're incapable; they hide them because they're scared.

2. Accountability grows when fear reduces.

3. Leaders who reward honesty build teams that solve issues early.

By 2009, Ford returned to profitability. While GM and Chrysler declared bankruptcy, Ford posted a $2.7 billion net income. 

A team isn't transformed by brilliant strategy. It's transformed by the courage in its culture.

PS: Is hiding problems a leadership failure, or a culture failure?

By the time someone sits down for an exit interview, the real exit already happened. You just missed it.

People don't decide overnight. 

They go through a slow, quiet withdrawal. One disappointment, one ignored concern, one unfair workload, one broken promise at a time.

You can sense it if you pay attention:

→ Their voice becomes guarded
→ Their energy fades
→ Their curiosity dies long before the resignation letter

Here's what people say in exit interviews vs what they actually mean:

❌ "Maybe things will improve."
✅ I stopped believing things can improve here.

❌ "I want more growth."
✅ I've been doing bigger work than my title for years, and no one noticed.

❌ "The role didn't align with my goals."
✅ My job kept changing, but the expectations never did.

❌ "The culture wasn't the right fit."
✅ I was tired of navigating unspoken rules and office politics.

❌ "It's not about the money."
✅ It's about being paid fairly for what I was already doing.

Don't wait for the resignation to listen.

Check in before the cracks appear. Pay attention to silence, irritability, and loss of initiative.

People don't leave companies. They leave when they feel unheard, unprotected, or unseen.

PS: Have you ever left a job mentally before you actually resigned?

Exit interview 

You'd think more accountability and tighter deadlines would push teams to perform better. Instead, they do the opposite, and most leaders don't see it happening.

When leaders feel they're losing control, they tighten it. More deadlines. More reporting. More pressure. 

It sounds logical. 

But people don't rise under micromanagement. They shrink. 

When teams feel constantly measured, they optimize for survival, not excellence.

👉 They stop experimenting. 
👉 They stop asking for help. 
👉 And slowly, the team becomes compliant instead of capable.

Because high performance isn't built under pressure. It's built on readiness. 

The best teams have three things: 

1. Clarity on outcomes, not just tasks. 
2. Confidence to say "I don't know" without fear. 
3. Consistency in getting feedback before things fall apart.

If you want better performance, ask your team: 
⤷ What confuses them? 
⤷ What slows them down?
⤷ What they're scared to say?

You'll be surprised how many issues disappear when people can tell the truth without consequences.

PS: What's one thing a leader did that made you feel equipped instead of just accountable?

The best hire you made is already second-guessing their decision. And it has nothing to do with their role.

They came in ready to contribute, full of intent. But soon, they're spending more energy trying to decode how things work than actually doing what they're good at. 

→ The unspoken rules 
→ The tone of meetings 
→ The inside references
→ The sense that everyone already knows how things move except them 

That's what drains them. And slowly, their excitement fades.

Here's how your onboarding decides if someone joins the company, or actually joins the culture:

❌Joining the company- Receives laptop and ID card 
✅ Joining the culture- Receives context & unspoken norms

❌ Joining the company- Learns job description 
✅ Joining the culture- Learns how things actually get done 

❌ Joining the company- Attends orientation 
✅ Joining the culture- Gets mentors & peers to ask questions safely 

❌ Joining the company - Completes training modules 
✅ Joining the culture- Gets feedback before doubt creeps in 

A company gives you a role. Culture tells you whether you're actually allowed to show up in it.

Belonging doesn't happen through welcome emails. It happens when people can contribute early without having to guess their way through. 

SPARCLE by myDayOne helps make that integration visible, so onboarding doesn't end after week one.

PS: How long did it take before you felt like you actually belonged at your company, not just worked there?

Joining the company vs joining the culture 

You can promote someone with potential and watch them struggle. Or you can promote someone with readiness and watch them grow. 

I've seen people get promoted because they're smart, ambitious, and "capable of more." 

And they are capable, but capability alone doesn't help in leading a team when things start to fall apart.

When you promote someone who isn't ready, they don't just struggle; they suffer silently: 

→ They overthink every decision
→ They work late because they're scared to look slow
→ They micromanage because they don't trust their judgment yet

Here's what differentiates high-readiness leaders with high potential: 

❌ High-potential leaders say, "I'll figure it out."
✅ Ready leaders say, "Let's figure it out together."

❌ High-potential leaders avoid mistakes. 
✅ Ready leaders learn openly from mistakes. 

❌ High-potential leaders take on more work.
✅ Ready leaders build people who can take on more work.

❌ High-potential leaders manage tasks well. 
✅ Ready leaders manage the emotional temperature of the team. 

❌ High-potential leaders do well when there's no pressure. 
✅ Ready leaders hold the fort when things go wrong.

Promotions don't test how smart you are. They test how steady you can stay when everything around you is shaking. 

PS: If you had to promote someone tomorrow, would you pick potential or readiness?

Potential vs readiness

“I’ll just wait and see what others think first.”
If you’ve ever said this in a meeting, you already know the hesitation I’m talking about, and it has nothing to do with your skills. 

People don't always hold back because they are unprepared. They hold back because they’re unsure if their voice carries weight in the room

👉 Maybe an idea was dismissed once. 
👉 Maybe they were corrected in front of others.
👉 Maybe they learned that speaking up brings more scrutiny than support.

Over time, this hesitation becomes a pattern. 

You think, then rethink, and by the time you're ready to speak, the moment has already passed. 

Teams lose valuable input not because people lack competence, but because they’re second-guessing themselves.

What helps is clarity. 

When someone knows what they do well, where they need help, and how they're progressing, they participate with more ease. 

SPARCLE by myDayOne supports this by making growth visible and predictable. 

When people can see themselves improving even slightly, they start feeling confident in themselves. 

PS: What’s the one thing a leader can do to make people speak up more freely?

If I had to choose between compliance and curiosity, I'd pick curiosity every time. Here's why- 

I've seen it happen too many times. A process gets outdated. Customer behavior changes. The market moves. 

And teams keep executing the same way because no one stopped to ask if it still makes sense.

The person who simply asks, "Why are we doing it this way?" prevents the team from drifting into autopilot. They catch problems early. The notice pattern leadership misses.

People who follow every order create convenience. People who question create progress. And I've seen teams with average skill but high curiosity outperform highly skilled teams stuck in fixed thinking. 

So, how do you build that curiosity in teams?

👉 Respond to questions with interest, not irritation.
👉 Explain the "why," not just the instructions. Context makes people sharper.
👉 Encourage people to challenge processes, not people.
👉 Reward thoughtful experiments, even when they don't work.

My advice- Hire the person who thinks, not just the person who obeys. 

PS: If you had to pick one, would you rather manage someone who obeys or someone who questions intelligently?

When Apple crossed Microsoft's market value in 2010, Steve Jobs sent an internal email telling his team NOT to celebrate. That single choice shaped what eventually became a $2 trillion company.

In May 2010, while Apple hit $222B in market value, its long-standing competitor was at $219B. 

For most companies, that would’ve meant a press release and cameras in the office.

Steve did the opposite. He reminded his team to stay focused and think about what needed to come next. 

That one message helped Apple avoid something many teams fall into: the comfort that follows success.

Instead of easing up, they kept building.

👉 That same year, Apple launched the iPad. 
👉 R&D spending jumped from $1.4B to $2.4B in two years. 
👉 Teams started early research that led to the Apple Watch.

Rather than defending their position, they challenged their own product. 

Here’s what leaders can take from that moment:

→ When things go well, pause, but don’t get stuck there.
→ Ask your team what needs to be strengthened before the next move.
→ Celebrate progress, but give more space to reflection and preparation.

That’s the rhythm SPARCLE by myDayOne helps teams build, by mapping strengths, readiness gaps, and real context needs, so that readiness becomes a continuous journey. 

Wins are worth acknowledging, as long as they don’t become a reason to slow down.

PS: Have you ever seen success change the way people behave at work?

Steve jobs leadership

You spent months wanting this promotion. Then you get it, and suddenly, you're not sure if you're the right person for it.

I've seen this happen so many times. 

Someone gets promoted, and instead of feeling ready, they feel exposed. Like everyone's about to realize they don't actually know what they're doing. 

The title changed overnight. But they didn't. They're still the same person, just with different expectations now. 

And that gap between who they were yesterday and who they are supposed to be today? That's where all the pressure lives. 

But here's the thing, 

Being ready isn't about having all the answers. It's about being steady enough that your team can lean on you, even when you're still figuring things out. 

The best leaders I've worked with weren't perfect, but:

👉 They asked for help early. 
👉 They stopped trying to do everything themselves. 
👉 They focused on enabling their people instead of proving they belonged.

That shift takes time, honest conversations, and systems that actually help you grow into the role. 

That's why we SPARCLE, to make growth visible and supported, not assumed. 

Because the real challenge isn't handling more work. It's becoming someone you haven't been yet. And that doesn't happen alone.

PS:  What's one thing you wish someone had told you before your first leadership role?

You've seen your blind spots in the 360 report. You know what needs to change. So why hasn't anything shifted?

Most organizations often assume that if someone "knows" their blind spots, they'll fix them. 

But behavior doesn't shift because we know something. It shifts when we work with it repeatedly, inside real situations, with guidance and structure.

Without that, leaders read the report, appreciate the insights, and walk back into the same routines, same pressures, same expectations. 

The system doesn't adjust for their development, so they don't either. Here's what helps in bringing change- 

1. Turn feedback into specific behavioral goals, not vague intentions like "be a better listener."

2. Practice in real situations, not just in workshops. 

3. Build consistent habits with small, daily shifts—behavior changes through repetition, not revelation.

4. Track visible progress so confidence grows with experience, not just hope.

Feedback doesn't make people better. Follow-through does. 

That's where sparcle by myDayOne helps by turning insights into daily practices. 

Because leaders aren't built through feedback. They're built through follow-through. 

PS: Have you ever received feedback that made complete sense but still couldn't change the behavior?

You accepted the role based on a job description. Then you showed up and realized that's not the actual job. 

Every role comes with an official document from HR: responsibilities, KRAs, and reporting structure. Clean and clear.

But within weeks, you discover there's another layer entirely. 

👉 How decisions really get made.
👉 Whose input actually moves things forward. 
👉 What "urgent" means in this culture versus what it meant at your last company.

That's where most new hires struggle. They spend all their energy decoding expectations instead of doing the work. 

Self-doubt creeps in. They start wondering if everyone else just gets it or if they're all pretending too. 

The solution?

1. If you're leading a team, onboard people into reality, not just process. Tell them how things actually work here. Who to reach out to when stuck.

2. If you're new to a role, don't try to decode it alone. Ask questions. Watch for patterns. Find your footing without losing your voice in the process.

The gap between what's written and what's real doesn't close on its own. 

It closes when leaders stop assuming people will figure it out and when new hires stop suffering in silence, waiting for clarity that never comes. 

What's one unwritten rule you wish someone had told you on Day 1?

Your last training session? It cost thousands, felt productive, and changed nothing.

That pattern is more common than most leaders admit.

I’ve seen people walk out of workshops feeling clearer, only to face the same pace, the same routines, the same pressure.

And when nothing around them changes, the learning eventually fades out of habit. 

When learning stays an event instead of becoming part of the workflow, it shows up in everyday work like this:

❌ “We’ll try this once things settle.”
✔ “Let’s apply this inside what we’re already handling.”

❌ Notes saved somewhere.
✔ Progress reviewed regularly.

❌ Concepts that sound right.
✔ Guidance on what to do when the stakes get high.

❌ Employees feel pressure to remember.
✔ Employees build confidence through practice.

❌ Learning fades after a few days.
✔ Learning deepens over weeks and sprints.

That’s where SPARCLE by myDayOne makes the difference.

Through structured IDPs, it builds a rhythm where learning doesn’t stay limited to the session, and it gets implemented in daily work.

Because readiness isn’t a moment. It’s the part of work that keeps you moving forward when things change.

PS: Do you think organizations should focus on one-time learning or building continuous readiness?

One time training vs continous readiness

We’re taught to work hard, stay humble, and wait for the right moment.

But what if those beliefs aren’t guiding us forward, but are the ones keeping us small?

I’ve seen people work late, deliver well, and still feel like they’re moving on a path that doesn’t fully belong to them. 

Not because they’re lost, but because they’ve never paused to ask who set the rules they’re following.

Here are 7 beliefs society sold you that are keeping you stuck- 

1. Work hard, and good things will happen.
Reality: Hard work without direction only makes you tired. Working with strategy protects your energy. 

2. Stay humble; your work will speak for you.
Reality: Work rarely speaks for itself. If you don't learn to advocate for yourself, someone less capable will take your place. 

3. Success means rising by yourself.
Reality: Nobody rises alone. The higher you climb, the more your circle determines your future.

4. Stability means choosing a safe job.
Reality: Safe jobs often become silent prisons. Stability comes from staying relevant, not staying still. 

5. Good things come to those who wait.
Reality: Good things come to those who signal they’re ready.

Remember, you don't outgrow your potential. You outgrow the beliefs that once shaped it.

PS: Which of these have you seen hold people back the most?

The employee managing perception instead of doing work isn't being manipulative. They're protecting themselves because they don't feel equipped. 

When someone isn't clear about what's expected, how success is measured, or whether they're doing "enough," they start filling the gap differently.

Instead of focusing on the work, they focus on how it looks. Who saw it? Who knows they're busy? Who might defend them if things go wrong?

What we call "politics" is often just someone trying not to fall through the cracks of an unclear system.

Readiness changes this. When people know 

⤷ What aligns with their role? 
⤷ Where they're strong?
⤷ Where they're developing?
⤷ And what support exists?

They stop performing confidence and start building it. They speak more honestly. They focus on outcomes instead of impressions.

If you are leading- 
👉 Ask what uncertainty might be driving the behavior before labeling it.
👉 Check if they actually know what's expected, not just what the job description says.
👉 Give feedback that helps them grow, not just comply.

PS: Do you think most political behaviour is intentional or just fear showing up differently?

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