Nir Eyal

Hey, I’m Nir.

I've devoted my career to studying the intersection of business, behavior, and the brain. 

I’m the bestselling author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products and Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life. 

My next book BEYOND BELIEF (coming March 2026; available for pre-order) explores the science behind how we form, hold, and change our beliefs.

For most of my career, I worked in the video gaming and advertising industries, where I saw firsthand how powerful psychology can be in shaping behavior. Sometimes for good, sometimes not. That tension is what drives my writing today.

Through my books, keynotes, newsletter, and consulting, I help:

-Companies build habit-forming products that improve lives
-Professionals and teams reclaim focus in an age of endless distraction
-Ambitious individuals understand the invisible forces shaping their thoughts, actions, and beliefs

I’ve taught behavioral design at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design. I’ve sold two technology companies since 2003. My writing has been featured in The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Time, and Psychology Today.

If you want to break through limits to achieve extraordinary results:

👉 Join 150K+ smart readers at NirAndFar.com

Author "Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life"

You sit down at your desk to work on an important project, but a notification on your phone interrupts your morning. Later, as you’re about to get back to work, a colleague taps you on the shoulder to chat. At home, screens get in the way of quality time with your family. Another day goes by, and once again, your most important personal and professional goals are put on hold.

What would be possible if you followed through on your best intentions? What could you accomplish if you could stay focused and overcome distractions? What if you had the power to become “indistractable?”

International bestselling author, former Stanford lecturer, and behavioral design expert, Nir Eyal, wrote Silicon Valley’s handbook for making technology habit-forming. Five years after publishing Hooked, Eyal reveals distraction’s Achilles’ heel in his groundbreaking new book.

In Indistractable, Eyal reveals the hidden psychology driving us to distraction. He describes why solving the problem is not as simple as swearing off our devices: Abstinence is impractical and often makes us want more.

Eyal lays bare the secret of finally doing what you say you will do with a four-step, research-backed model. Indistractable reveals the key to getting the best out of technology, without letting it get the best of us.

Inside, Eyal overturns conventional wisdom and reveals:

-Why distraction at work is a symptom of a dysfunctional company culture—and how to fix it
-What really drives human behavior and why “time management is pain management”
-Why your relationships (and your sex life) depend on you becoming indistractable
-How to raise indistractable children in an increasingly distracting world

Empowering and optimistic, Indistractable provides practical, novel techniques to control your time and attention—helping you live the life you really want.

Optimism isn't something you're born with. 
It's a trainable skill.
Here's how: 

The Best Possible Self exercise takes 10 minutes. 
It's been tested in dozens of studies. 
Swipe to learn how it works. 

Try it today. 
Set a timer. 
Write about your best possible future in three areas: personal, relational, professional.
Your future self will thank you. 
(And statistically, you'll have more time with that future self.)

📚 Source: https://lnkd.in/eaaXY5en

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My new book BEYOND BELIEF is available for pre-order 📚 | Former Stanford lecturer helping you make sense of the science | Bestselling author of Hooked & Indistractable (​>1M sold)

The best self exercise

1,200 times. That's how many times the average knowledge worker switches between tasks and apps each day. 

(According to Harvard Business Review)

And every single switch costs you.

UC Irvine research shows it takes 23 minutes to fully regain focus after an interruption. 

And that's not counting the actual time spent on the distraction. That's just your brain trying to remember where you left off.

Do the math: A few "quick" interruptions per hour, and suddenly you've lost half your day just trying to refocus.

We confuse motion with traction. Busyness with effectiveness. 

Opening tabs feels productive. Responding to urgent but not important emails feels productive. 

But, often, it’s just distraction in disguise.

In the age of information and AI, focus is the real competitive advantage. 

Not who knows the most. But who knows what to ignore.

The future belongs to those who can think clearly in a noisy, distracted world.

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📖 References: 

HBR study: https://lnkd.in/em7PRGMR 

UC Irvine study: https://lnkd.in/ea7cJ82w

Harsh truth: Your need for control is making you less effective. 
Here's what I mean: 

I used to obsess over things outside my control. 
Other people's reactions.
Unpredictable outcomes. 
Things that already happened.
It was exhausting.

Then I learned about LOCUS OF CONTROL - a concept from psychology that changed how I manage stress.

Here's the idea:

Your peace of mind doesn't come from controlling everything around you.
It comes from mastering what's 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 in your control:
• Your attention
• Your reactions
• Your effort
• Your beliefs

Research shows that people with an INTERNAL LOCUS OF CONTROL (those who focus on what they can influence) experience lower stress, higher resilience, and better performance.

Here's how to apply it:

Next time you feel overwhelmed, ask yourself:

"What's in my control right now?"

Then do ONE small thing:
• Close a distracting tab
• Take three deep breaths
• Write down your next step

You'll notice your nervous system calms down almost immediately.

P.S. I dive deeper into how shifting your locus of control unlocks agency and resilience in my new book Beyond Belief. If this resonates, you'll find the full framework there. 

To pre-order the book, visit https://lnkd.in/e98xbRmT

Favorite question lately:
What would feel like a “miracle” if I let myself notice it today?

Einstein once said there are two ways to live your life:
as though nothing is a miracle, or as though everything is.

What I love about this idea is how quietly it challenges the way we move through the world.
Most of us don’t lose our sense of wonder intentionally.
It just gets crowded out. By routine, stress, repetition, familiarity.

But the opposite is also possible.
You can look at the same day, the same task, the same moment, and choose to see it differently.
To remember that many of the things you take for granted today were once things you hoped you’d have.

The more you notice, the more there is to notice.
The more you appreciate, the more there is to appreciate.

So, my question for you today: 

What would feel like a miracle if you let yourself slow down long enough to notice?

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I love Emerson's story.  
At 30, he walked away from the life everyone expected of him and chose the one he actually wanted.

Most of us never have the courage to do that. 

In the early 1830s, Emerson was a young Unitarian minister in Boston.

It was a respected role, one his family had held for generations, and it offered him a clear, stable path for the future.

But privately, he was unravelling.

His wife had died after a long illness, and her loss forced him to confront a truth he had been avoiding: 

The rituals he was performing no longer matched what he believed. 

The ceremony of Communion, in particular, felt empty to him: an act people repeated without truly feeling connected to it.

That growing misalignment eventually pushed him to do something almost unthinkable for a man in his position: he resigned from the ministry, with no concrete plan for what came next.

After stepping away, he traveled to Europe.

He wandered. He read. He met thinkers like Coleridge, Wordsworth, and Carlyle.

And slowly, through that meandering path, he began forming the ideas that would define his life’s work: ideas about self-reliance, intuition, non-conformity, and the courage to trust your own mind.

None of that would have happened if he had stayed where he was “supposed” to stay.

To me, this is a story about those quiet moments when you realize the path you’re on no longer feels like the right one for you.

Most of us feel that moment at some point. But few of us act on it. Emerson did. And that’s how he became Emerson.

What part of your life no longer feels like yours to keep following?

--
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I have some exciting news: 
My new book BEYOND BELIEF is available for pre-order!

I've spent the past five years writing it, and honestly, it's the book that changed my life the most.

It started with a question I couldn't shake: 

How can two people have the same goal and yet get completely different results?

I kept thinking the answer was discipline. Or intelligence. Or even just dumb luck. 

But the more I dug into the research, the more everything pointed back to something invisible.

BELIEF…

And I don't mean the "manifest your dreams" kind of belief. Or the "just hustle harder" kind, either. I mean belief as an actual, practical tool. Something you can build, test, and update based on what actually works.

Through my research, I learned that belief have the power to change three things: 
→ What you see (attention)
→ What you feel (anticipation) 
→ What you do (agency) 

This means that if you change your beliefs, and you literally change what opportunities you see, how your body responds to stress, and whether you keep going or give up.

The science behind this is wild. 

I found stories of people who had surgery without anesthesia using only their minds. 

Entrepreneurs who built empires by training themselves to spot possibilities others walked right past. 

And research showing how the beliefs you hold about aging can predict how long you'll live better than your cholesterol levels.

I can't wait to share it with you.

You can pre-order the book here: https://lnkd.in/e98xbRmT

Beyond Belief Announcement Nov

Two people can look at the same moment and see completely different worlds.
Here's why: 

Well, quite simply because of what they BELIEVE. 

As this quote perfectly captures, our beliefs don’t just sit in the background. 
They filter everything.

When I’m convinced something won’t work:
Every challenge feels final.
Setback feels personal.
Every obstacle becomes a reason to quit. 

But when I believe there’s a way forward: 
Problems look solvable.
Setbacks feel temporary.
The same situation opens in a completely different way. 

So... what are you choosing to believe and see today?

📚 If you’re curious about how beliefs shape what we notice, what we attempt, and who we become, my new book BEYOND BELIEF explores this in depth.

To pre-order, visit: https://lnkd.in/e98xbRmT

Most people don’t fail from lack of talent.
They fail because of limiting beliefs.

Beliefs feel like facts. 
But often they’re just lies your brain repeats to keep you “safe.”

The result:  
You play small. 
You procrastinate. 
Or you quit too soon.

And research backs this up:
→ When you believe you can’t, performance drops (the dark side of self-fulfilling prophecies).
→ People with strong 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘤𝘺 (belief in their own ability) persevere longer, bounce back faster, and choose challenge over comfort.
→ Even short self-affirmation practices can lower cortisol and improve outcomes under stress.

Here’s how to start rewiring limiting beliefs today 👇
 1️⃣ Spot the belief holding you back.
 2️⃣ Reframe it into a growth statement.
 3️⃣ Repeat until your brain treats it as default.

Every breakthrough starts with one belief challenged.

Swipe to learn about the 7 common limiting beliefs and what to replace them with. 

👉 Which of these limiting beliefs have you caught yourself saying?

📚If this resonated with you, check out my upcoming book BEYOND BELIEF which is now available for pre-order!

Visit: https://lnkd.in/e98xbRmT

7 common limiting beliefs

Procrastinating ≠ Laziness 
Most people delay important work for reasons they don't even realize. 

Most advice tells you to "just start" or "manage your time better."

But that misses what's actually happening in your brain. Years of procrastination research show that deeper psychological factors are lurking behind. 

Swipe to learn about the 3 hidden reasons high-performers procrastinate and hold themselves back. 

Which reason hit closest to home for you?

P.S. In my upcoming book Beyond Belief, I dedicate an entire section to reclaiming your agency and breaking free from the "someday" trap. 

If you're tired of waiting for the perfect moment, the book gives you the frameworks to take action. 

📚 To pre-order, visit https://lnkd.in/e98xbRmT

3 reasons why you procrastinate

The fear of boredom is costing you more than you think.
Here's why: 

We've trained ourselves to immediately reach for distraction the moment there's a gap in our day. 
Waiting in line? Phone. 
Commuting? Podcast. 
Eating alone? Scroll.

But here's what we forget: 
Your brain does its best work when you're not actively working.

When you're folding laundry, staring out a window, or standing in line at the grocery store. 
That's when your mind makes unexpected connections. 
When it solves the problem you've been stuck on all week. 
When the idea you've been chasing finally clicks.

So, try this: The next time you're tempted to fill a boring moment, resist. 
Sit with the discomfort. 
Let your mind do what it does naturally when given the space.

You might be surprised what shows up.

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Why you should practice being bored

"Someday" might be the most dangerous word in the English language.
Here's why: 

It sounds like hope. But it's actually avoidance.

Your brain loves "someday" because it gives you the psychological comfort of intending to do something without the discomfort of actually doing it.

You get to feel like a person who values growth (without risking failure).

Ask yourself: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺?

Not someday. Today.
Not the whole business plan. One conversation with a potential customer. 
Not the entire book. One paragraph. 
Not the perfect health routine. One pushup.

What's your "someday"?

P.S. In my upcoming book Beyond Belief, I dedicate an entire section to reclaiming your agency and breaking free from the "someday" trap. 

If you're tired of waiting for the perfect moment, the book gives you the frameworks to take action. 

To pre-order, visit https://lnkd.in/e98xbRmT

20 sentences to say when the voice in your head shouts, “I can’t.” 

Which sentence speaks to you most?

My upcoming book, Beyond Belief, is all about the science-backed way to break through limiting beliefs and achieve extraordinary results. 

To pre-order and unlock exclusive gifts, visit: https://lnkd.in/eQYUV9Bb

This idea changed my life: 
Cosmic Insignificance Therapy 
Here's the idea: 

Zoom out to see your life in cosmic perspective.

Realize that the universe doesn’t really care about you. 

And that might be the best news you’ve heard today.

Swipe to learn more!

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Cosmic insignificance therapy

If you're struggling to identify your strengths, here are 5 questions to fix that:

(1) What doesn't feel like work to you? (What feels effortless to you but difficult to others often reveals your deepest strengths.)

(2) What energizes you? Look at your calendar from the past 2 weeks. For each meeting, task, and project, did it energize you or drain you?

(3) What could you imagine working on for 5+ years, even without seeing much success? Where would you persist through setbacks?

(4) Ask 3 people: "When do I seem most energized and in my element? What do you see me doing when I'm at my best?"

(5)  What unusual combinations of skills do I have? (It's easier to become world-class at the intersection of 2-3 unusual skills than to become the best at any single skill.)

Answering these 5 questions is important because research on career planning reveals we're often blind to our own strengths. 

What we're good at feels easy and natural, while our weaknesses create headaches that demand attention. So negativity bias keeps us focused on where we fall short. 

We also compare ourselves incorrectly, measuring against experts with 10,000+ hours instead of comparing our rate of improvement to others with similar experience.

And we limit ourselves prematurely, ruling out entire paths based on current abilities rather than asking: "Which strengths are worth building?"

What are your answers to these 5 questions? 
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Strengths identification

Here's how it all happened:
(and how it's going)
Thanks for being here!

Hello! 

“I’m too old.” “I’m not creative.”
We all have beliefs like these. The top 1% just deal with them differently:

Some beliefs work FOR you (liberating beliefs): 
→ Adding motivation
→ Helping you spot opportunities
→ Building resilience when things get hard

Other beliefs make YOU work for THEM (limiting beliefs): 
→ Draining your energy, 
→ Creating Sunday night dread about Monday morning
→ Making you say "I can't" when you actually can

We all have limiting beliefs. 

But top performers know how to treat beliefs like tools they deliberate choose, not truths they’re stuck with. 

This means they’re able to transform limiting beliefs into liberating ones. 

And that process starts with asking a simple question which I came across when researching my new book Beyond Belief: 

"Is this belief serving me, or am I serving it?"

What belief are you serving that's no longer serving you?

If this resonated with you, check out my upcoming book Beyond Belief which is now available for pre-order! 

Visit: https://lnkd.in/e98xbRmT

One of the most damaging things: calling yourself "lazy"/“distracted"/unfocused”.

“Identity Behavior Theory” shows that our behaviors and outcomes are heavily influenced by the identities we adopt. 

Example: research published in top journals shows that people were significantly more likely to vote when asked, “Are you a voter?” rather than “Will you vote?”

A subtle shift from verb (VOTE) to noun (VOTER) changed real-world behavior.

This is why one of the most damaging things you can do is label yourself as “lazy,” “distracted,” or “unfocused.” 

Identity becomes destiny.

Choose labels that empower rather than limit you.

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My new book BEYOND BELIEF is available for pre-order! 
Here's why I wrote it ⬇️

I’m super excited for you all to read it! 

You can pre-order the book here: https://lnkd.in/e98xbRmT

Standardise and elevate people experience at GSK, globally. My team and I work at the intersection of People, Process, and Technology to improve how our employees perceive services from HR. This helps GSK  fulfill its purpose unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together.

GXO - Global Experience Owner | Human Resources 

DXC Technology

As global head of Operational Excellence at DXC Technology I lead a team that is committed to help DXC deliver on it's promises. 

My team helps improve and simplify DXC's delivery to client. We aim to prevent projects and engagements running into trouble and if they land there then we do what we can to recover. We also relentlessly apply Continual Improvement across the organization and establish compliance to all key quality, information security, and business continuity standards.

Director - Head of Operational Excellence 

As global head of quality at DXC, my team and I, strive to help DXC keep its quality commitments to customers. We do this with sustained focus on:

- Process, Tools, and Metrics
- Standards, Audits, and Certifications
- Business Continuity and related Compliance
- Process Improvement through Kaizen, Lean, Six Sigma, and Automation
- Performance reporting and workflow tools to simplify processes.

We are here to make an impact. 10x or more!

Director - Global Head of Quality and Continual Improvement

At DXC I lead the Delivery Excellence team to assure world-class delivery to clients, globally. 

DXC is the world's third largest IT Services Firm with over 100,000 employees and $20bn in annual revenues. More on DXC at https://www.dxc.technology/ 

I lead a global team to improve and simplify DXC's delivery to client. We aim to prevent projects and engagements running into trouble and if they land there then we do what we can to recover. We also relentlessly apply Continual Improvement across the organisation and establish compliance to all key quality, information security, and business continuity standards.

Global Head of Delivery Excellence

I lead a team of transformation specialists at the Global Delivery Services (GDS)  of EY. My team of 100+ is spread across locations in India, China, Philippines, Argentina, and Poland. We undertake high impact projects to significantly improve the capabilities of GDS to help EY create a better working world. 

We manage a multi level improvement projects architecture including Kaizen, Six Sigma, Lean, Automation, Robotics Process Automation (RPA) and Maturity Frameworks.

Transformation Director | Global Delivery Services | GCC Locations

HSBC

At HSBC I managed the offshore Process Re-engineering and Implementation team based in Hyderabad and Bangalore. Together we delivered large and high impact process improvement projects for the bank, globally. We delivered over $100 m in impact over 2016-17. 

As a program leader I also lead the Waste Elimination and Robotics (RPA) programs across HSBC global operations.

Head of Process Re-engineering and Implementation | GCC Locations 

Process Consulting is a part of the Global Change Delivery function at HSBC. Our team manages large high impact process improvement projects globally. I am currently leading transformation programs in Insurance and Retail Account Servicing.

Vice President - Process Consulting

ANZ Support Services

As Vice President - Business Excellence (Retail, Commercial, and Wealth), my role is to develop and deploy plans for achieving key operations excellence goals including productivity, utilization, turn-around time, accuracy, cost, and customer satisfaction. This includes programs to improve accuracy, reduce waste, cross-skill staff across teams, establish customer centricity, and improve productivity using a unique mix of Kaizen, Rapid Root Cause Analysis, Lean, and Six Sigma projects. As part of the leadership team I also lead change programs.

Achievements and Highlights 
•	Over 15 % improvement in productivity and  customer satisfaction 
•	Over 50% reduction in errors from priority teams 
•	Over 50% improvement in staff committing zero errors for a month 
•	Completed improvement projects leading to savings of over 50 staff 
•	Global trainer for ANZ's flagship operations excellence program with Cranfield University.

At ANZ I have realized my passion for leading teams to make a positive impact.

Vice President - Business Excellence | GCC Locations 

Infosys Technologies Ltd

As Principal - Quality Programs I head Infosys's Business Excellence program globally.  This includes driving beneficial change across business units and enabling functions, nurturing a global team of senior examiners, and leading over 25 assessments annually.  I also mentor select Lean Six Sigma projects.

Principal - Quality Programs

As Principal - Quality Programs and earlier Program Manager, my role was to lead a significant change program across the organization. This program, based on the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) of the USA, was designed to measure and improve management performance across Infosys. This included developing business excellence criteria, training and coaching examiners, conducting assessments, and presenting results to the board.

Achievements and Highlights 
•	All key units achieved a 600+ points goal during the three year program 
•	Conducted over 25 assessments annually and shared insights with senior leadership 
•	Developed a solution for to balance budget and benefits for a global marketing campaign 
•	Trainer for Six Sigma and Infosys Quality programs 
•	Managed Infosys' Customer Satisfaction Measurement and improvement program in 2007 
•	Won org-wide Excellence Award in 2007 and the best Quality program in 2008.

At Infosys I honed my passion for the Malcolm Baldrige framework for performance excellence.

Program Manager - Quality

Qimpro Consultants

As a COO, BestPrax and Business Leader, Qimpro Consultants, my role included consulting for key clients and managing the BestPrax Club.  Most client engagements were long term change (MBNQA/Deming) assignments linked to improvement in business metrics.  Others included training on quality and creativity tools. I also did business development, alliances, product development. 

Achievements and Highlights 
•	Trained over 1000 quality professionals across over 25 clients 
•	Clients included companies from the Aditya Birla, ICICI (Insurance), Reliance, and Tata groups  
•	Co-authored the International Quality Maturity Model for change management assignments 
•	Developed new businesses including Six Sigma, Best Practice insights, Courseware sales, etc.

I joined as a Consultant and rose to Principal Consultant.

Business Leader

MindaRika

Assisted in up gradation of ISO 9002 to ISO 9001.
Developed and conducted training modules on QS 9000.

Quality Assurance Engineer

Raymond Limited

Conducted several productivity improvement projects in manufacturing.
Conceived, designed, developed, and managed training for 3000 workmen in less than 100 days.
Managed stores and purchasing co-ordination including sanctioning indents.

Junior Officer

Global Head of Operational Excellence @ DXC Technology | Business Process Transformation and Mid-Career Coach ✅

With about 30 years in transformation, innovation, quality, and simplification (TIQS ✅), I work at the intersection of People, Process, and Technology to drive long term and beneficial change for large global organisations. 

I am currently the Global Experience Owner (GXO) for People Services at GSK. We aim to standardise and elevate the experience of our employees, globally. I am bringing better tools and methods including real uses of Artificial Intelligence to improve the day to day and longer term experience of our colleagues. 

Earlier as the Global Head of Operational Excellence at DXC Technology, I lead a global team to simplify and transform DXC's delivery to customers, deploying works class processes, ensuring compliance, continuity, and improvement.

I am also an ASQ Fellow since 2013, a LinkedIn Top Voice since Jan 2022, and a mid-career coach, who loves to share my knowledge and expertise with others. I have taught quality principles, methods, and tools to over 10,000 professionals, and helped my clients win several quality awards, including the Deming Prize. I have also led initiatives that generated over $250 million in benefits, focusing on composite outcomes around revenue, cost, customers, and employees. 

My mission is to make an impact and to lead people to deliver 10x results.

----
I have spoken at over 100 companies in 15+ countries, including Amdocs, ANZ Bank, Birla Group (25 Units), HDFC Bank, Hindalco, HSBC, Indian Navy, ISRO, Infosys, One.com, Reliance, Tata Management Training Centre, and more.

Also been a guest or keynote speaker at ISB, IIM Raipur, IIM Lucknow, Symbiosis, IIT Ropar, Somaiya, Christ College, GIBS, Alliance University, BITS Pilani, and many more.  I also run a LinkedIn Live show called ManageBetter, a YouTube channel, and a podcast series. The Live show is over 100 shows.

Anshuman Tiwari

You need to be in Delhi, Mumbai, or Bangalore if you want to make it big on LinkedIn. And you should be super fluent in English. SOBO style :)

Rubbish.

Shraddha Shrivastava proves this and many others wrong. 

She has built a strong following of over 100k and a business that just keeps growing. Shraddha helps clients create a presence on LinkedIn and then grow it. Most of this for B2B founders.

Shraddha has been building for 10 years. Quietly. 

Her company, Digital Height helps clients build a presence and use digital marketing to generate leads. 

We met on the LinkedIn India Creator Accelerator Program in 2022 and have stayed in touch since then. 

If you want to see a 'quiet' building, look no further. Coming from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh and with English not her first language, she has fought all odds and WON.

Much to learn from such friends.

🫡  

+++
And those who did not get what SOBO is, it is South Bombay. Now you get it? 😂

AI for Awesome Employee Experience | GXO - Global Experience Owner for HR @ GSK | Process and HR Transformation | GCC Leadership | 🧱 The Brick by Brick Guy 🧱

Excellence and Qimpro Foundation have been inseparable since the late 1980s. And last week was one more such celebration,

On 14 November, Qimpro celebrated distinguished professionals who have made Quality happen. 

35th year in a row.

Qimpro Gold Standard 2025

Business: Saugata Gupta, Managing Director & CEO, Marico Limited

Education: Mr Nilesh Nimkar, Founder Director (CEO), Quality Education Support Trust (QUEST)

Education: Rashmi Misra, Founder President, VIDYA Integrated Development for Youth and Adults

Startups: Dr. Vaibhav Tidke, CEO and Co-Founder, S4S Technologies

Healthcare: Dr Rachita Dhurat, Organising Chairperson, Trichology Update, Professor & Head Department of Dermatology, LTM Medical College & Hospital

Qimpro Platinum Standard 2025

Education: Dr Pramath Raj Sinha, Founder & Trustee, Ashoka University

Healthcare: Dr Dr. Shekhar Bhojraj, Founder, Past President and Chief Trustee, The Spine Foundation

This mission is a lifetime of effort of Suresh Lulla, founder of Qimpro. And it was inspiration from Dr J M Juran that led to these awards to celebrate individual excellence. 

Jigisha Lulla, CEO of Qimpro Foundation manages the rigorous selection process and the event each year.

I had the honour of serving on the panel this year as a Trustee of the Foundation.

The event this year was attended by distinguished guests and past winners. Some prominent names include 

Dr Dr. Vidya Yeravdekar, Pro Chancellor, Symbiosis International University, 
I V Subramaniam, Managing Director, CEO & CIO, Quantum Advisors Pvt. Ltd., Burjis Godrej, Executive Director & COO and Head - Business Development, Godrej Agrovet Ltd, Dr Dr. Narayan Hariharan Ph.D, Faculty Mentor & Visiting Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Amrita Sadarangani, Senior Director & Head, Ashoka Global Research Alliances

Other trustees at the event included Surendra Baliga and Nita Luthria Row

A celebration of excellence.

Who would you want to see on the awards list next year? 

🏆

I started as average in almost everything. 

Education. Confidence. Conversations. Speaking. Relationships. Work. 

And more. But I am getting better. 

Thanks to a reading habit, pushing myself into conversations, and knowing that there is a lot to improve. 

And of these three, reading is the easiest. Start there. 

Reading helps you..

1. Build a world view beyond what you know

2. Helps you think, speak, and write better 

3. Often changes something inside you. Forever.

So do yourself a favour. Build a reading habit.

If you find it tough, start with 1 page a day. And build from there.

What am I reading these days? 

Ghaban by Munshi Premchand.

A forever classic. At par with the works of Dickens and Austen. 

What are you reading this week? 

brick by brick 🧱

The attendance and participation certificate your kids are getting in school today, are setting them up for failure at work later.

Yes. Read that again.

Attendance and Participation in events is part of a child's job. Why give out a certificate. When these children grow up they expect a reward for just showing up or doing what is expected. 

And this has messed up the workplace big time.

We can't change how schools operate but can surely teach our children and temper their expectations.

Be that parent. 

And this holds true at work later. 

Be that manager. 

🧱

Visible leadership is not about grand speeches. It is about small, daily actions your team actually sees.

You don’t earn respect by hiding behind dashboards and email threads. You earn it when your presence makes work easier for others.

You don’t need another leadership model if you

1. show up when the team is under pressure
2. take five minutes daily to check in, not check up
3. recognise good work without waiting for a formal review
4. roll up your sleeves during crunch time
5. respond even when you don’t have all the answers
6. explain the “why,” not just the “what”
7. give credit publicly and feedback privately
8. step in to remove obstacles, not create new ones
9. stay accessible, not aloof
10. keep your promises, especially the small ones.

Respect is not demanded. It is observed. Every single day.

Bonus 11th point - If you can't be with your team in their hour of grief, stay away in their joy and victory also. 

I call all of this Visible Leadership. 

What is the ONE visible leadership act that makes you follow your leader?

🧱

Life happens. And then we win. 

Be that person. 

🧱

10 Management & Leadership I recommend a lot...

Most Mondays, I share a book post.  Today, I am sharing my Top 10 recommendations for management and leadership books. 

How did I get to the list?

Mostly, top-of-the-mind recall. The first list had over 25 books.

The shortlisting was based on impact, popularity, and longevity. Some fell off the list because they focused on a single topic, such as Marketing or Quality. 

Here is the list, then. No jargon. No motivational fluff. Just practical ideas we can use from Monday morning.

1. Execution – Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan
Still the most practical book on how leaders get things done.

2. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team – Patrick Lencioni
If you manage teams, this book will save you years of trial and error.

3. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen Covey
Old, yes. But the principles remain bulletproof.

4. The One Thing – Gary Keller & Jay Papasan
A simple reminder: focus is a superpower.

5. The 80/20 Principle – Richard Koch
Why a few actions create most results. A must-read for mid-career professionals.

6. Managerial Breakthrough – J. M. Juran
A masterclass in problem-solving, change, and driving real performance improvement.

7. Multipliers – Liz Wiseman
Leaders who expand people vs leaders who drain them. We’ve all seen both.

8. Radical Candor – Kim Scott
Clear, caring feedback. Hard to practice, but changes teams.

9. The Practice of Management – Peter Drucker
The original management handbook. Drucker saw the workplace decades before the rest of us.

10. Winning – Jack Welch
A brutally practical playbook on leadership, performance, and building strong teams.

You will notice a lot of popular leadership books are not on the list. Mostly because I focused on Business Leadership and not Individual Leadership. The only exception I made was for 7 Habits. Why? Because it is exceptional and timeless.

I kept my favourites - Grit and Mindset also out as they are more personal/individual leadership. 

These 10 books won’t magically make us “great leaders”. 

But they will give us better judgment, better habits, and better decisions. And that is what leadership really is.

Which one would you take off the list and replace with...?

+++
As I worked on the list, I was very aware of my limited qualification to judge these classics. Who am I to have this opinion?

But I love books and lists. So it was not tough as well. :)

Leadership is a gift. From your team. 

And you have to earn it daily. 

Be that manager. 

🧱

Indra Nooyi + “Thank You” letters = Visible Leadership

During her time as CEO of PepsiCo, Indra Nooyi began a simple practice that became famous.

Every time she travelled to a country or reviewed a business unit, she wrote personal letters to the parents of her leadership team members, thanking them for raising exceptional professionals.

It took her time and effort. It was not part of any KPI.

But it was visible to the entire organisation.

People saw a leader who valued people, honoured families, and recognised contributions beyond the workplace.

That small, visible act created deep loyalty and transformed how people saw leadership at the top.

That's visible leadership for me.

++++
Photo - Me with one of the quietest and visible leaders I have seen - Chris Drumgoole of DXC. I interviewed him during last year's World Quality Month celebrations.

Why do people use a much younger photo as their display picture on LinkedIn? 

Why? 

🧱

Very proud of my friend and colleague Sumit Harwani. Such a powerhouse of HR knowledge and insights.

He was recently a panellist at the BW Businessworld HR Conclave and later spoke with Savi Khanna in a quick 2 min chat. 

This is one of those conversations where the summary is longer than the conversation. Here are some key points Sumit made.

1. Personalization and Learning Fatigue: 

The discussion highlighted how personalization is going to disrupt the ways of learning in future. A key focus within this shift is ensuring that learning becomes personalized while simultaneously avoiding the creation of learning fatigue for employees.

2. Shift to Skill-Based Taxonomy: 

A major HR trend anticipated for 2026 is the "workforce of the future". This trend involves organizations moving towards a skill-based taxonomy instead of the original role-based taxonomy.

3. Embedding AI in Skills: 

Organizations are heavily embedding a lot of AI in the mix of skills. It was noted that skills combined with AI and talent intelligence are expected to drive the future of the workforce.

4. Crucial Skill Requirements: 

To effectively balance global scalability with local talent, several skills are deemed necessary. Leadership skills are identified as being at the front and center of this mix. Additionally, change management has emerged as one of the most important drivers for the organisation, while technical skills remain essential for driving core delivery.

5. GCC Transformation Philosophy: 

Global Capability Centers (GCCs) are transforming from initial support organizations or cost centers into innovation hubs. This transformation is supported by an enterprise, people, and ecosystem pillar-led philosophy, which requires the right leadership strategy, strong technical leadership, and the correct ecosystem of HR and talent processes.

Some deep insights.

I will share a link to the video in the comments. 

Where do you stand on this topic? How will AI disrupt Learning and Development?

Tag Sumit in your comments and he will share his views.

Communication is not what launches. It is what lands.

At work, we don’t get points for how much we say. We get judged by how much is understood.

You don’t need another communication workshop if you...

1. speak to impress, not to clarify
2. send long emails no one reads
3. don't check if your message landed
4. assume silence means agreement
5. communicate only when things go wrong
6. talk in jargon your team can’t decode
7. think speed matters more than clarity
8. never tailor your message to your audience
9. believe listening is optional
10. confuse broadcasting with communicating

Good communication is not about delivery. It’s about impact.

I started off as someone who did not listen well. Wanted to make my point quickly. It took some self-awareness and lot of reading and observation to figure out that my approach was not working. 

Now, I try.

I try to write crisper. Listen better. And talk in shorter sentences.

What’s one communication mistake you’ve seen the most at work?

🧱

Confidence is 90% of the game. 
Rest 10% is humility 😁
Play well. 
🧱

100 consecutive days of mini Sudoku. Getting better .

It takes time. 

🧱 by brick 🧱

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