the SoS podcast

Here we are with our second SOS Shot. We received great response from the first one and so we thought of resurrecting some of oldest conversations and present a capsule version. Here is one with Dr. Shalini Lal who talks about how did she find her own calling, what decides if you would be successful at work and how can you assess an organization before joining a new one if it's worth it or not. Al...

Every individual has a journey of their own, unique in almost every aspect possible. But there is definitely a thing or two we can learn from greats or legends. This episode on Secrets of Storytellers is about one such person - Virat Kohli. He has not only been an inspiration to people associated with the game of cricket but his dedication, hard work, grit, and passion are so infectious and teach...

Here is a first of this kind, SOS Shots is an attempt to deliver the crux of the full conversation in under 10 minutes. No bullshit. This first is a short version of the last episode with Hasan Kubba, who talks about a very interesting concept 'Unfair Advantages' which defies the concepts of meritocracy and equal starting line. Everyone has one or rather many Unfair Advantages in life which makes...

Life isn’t fair, it’s a thought unsettling but true. On the 51st episode of Secrets of Storytellers, we challenge things like meritocracy with Hasan Kubba, a serial entrepreneur and a coach. We talk about how luck needs to be respected and how you can increase your chances of getting lucky. Hasan goes on to claim and make a strong case for the fact that we all have lots of unfair advantages in lif...

Bartending in India from the Lady Behind the Bar. Well bartending is a very very controversial statement in itself. Especially when you say that you want to be on the other side of the table and all the more when a woman decides that.  But it’s not the gender, and neither the profession but rather the passion in today’s day and age!  Today, in our 50th episode at SOS|Secrets of Storytell...

“Money is an echo of value” Bob Burg, in this podcast, shares how a shift in our focus from taking and collecting things for ourselves to creating more value for others can not just be more fulfilling and satisfying but extremely financially profitable and sustainable. Go-Giver, a WallStreet Journal and BusinessWeek Bestseller, is one of the most impactful reads that I have ever gone through and r...

"Intangibles drive the tangibles" "You can buy competence on the shelf, you can’t buy passion" "micro-manage excellence".... We have often heard of transformations in the private sector, but a transformation in the public sector and that too of a bank of the size of Bank of Baroda is simply unheard of. The reasons are simple, bureaucracy, government accountability, slow systems among other things...

We, as Indians, for so long have wanted to become a prosperous nation. We desire the stature we have wanted for 75 years now, but, have failed at it miserably. And a lot of it can be attributed to how the PSUs haven’t been able to come through, on achieving the intended economic growth. But then there is Maruti Suzuki, a perfect example of a PSU turned private firm which has shown tremendous resul...

We touch leadership and entrepreneurship with a very important link in this episode. We touch topics like 'FEAR' or differences between 'leading' and 'managing'. He also shares simple, rudimentary frameworks which could help you check, if the steps that you are taking are going in the right direction or not? There is much more to discussion ending with how his book 'Why Do Entrepreneurs Miss the B...

Ravana is one of the most well-known characters from Indian mythology, but also deeply hated. He is known for all the wrong things, especially the abduction of Sita. But, we easily forget the intelligence, his knowledge on almost every subject in the world, his leadership skills and what not. The episode, with Gaurav Kataria, a mythology enthusiast and the author of the book 'Ravana',  is foc...

Here's the episode with Wayne Brockbank, professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. He talks about HR at length and depth, and explains the role of the leadership in strengthening the HR. "HRs are in the people business but they take care of only half of it", he goes on to explain the other half. What is the HRs core business? Wayne shares Dave's famous quote, "if you put 5...

Sandeep Krishnan is the COO & Senior Partner, People Business and Visiting faculty at IIM A. We discuss about how we can Leverage a Consulting Mindset for Professional Success. Key takeaways from the discussion: - It is important to know how and when to switch between an individual contributor and a team player (06:41) - To be a good leader, apply the Pygmalion Effect (Sandeep explains it in t...

Hacking? The term sounds so much like ‘cheat’, right?  So why is our guest for today, Apurva Chamaria, SVP and Chief of Staff to CEO & MD at Tech Mahindra, propagating ‘Growth Hacking’? Growth Hacking is definitely the way to exponentially grow your business and customer base multiple folds within no time. Companies like Shopclues, Zomato, Urbanclap, UpGrad, among others have all cracked...

The fight between the new and old  is actually not new at all. But no amount of any rule can bend the lines for a good product. Here we have Rajesh Srivastava with us today who recently authored the book, ‘The New Rules of Business’.  We sat down with him to have a heart to heart conversation about all things business and trying to understand the ‘new’ behind it!

When people you know, walk in the room. You can almost every time, define a person as an adjective. ‘Punctual’, ‘overconfident’, ‘helpful’, and the list goes on. Don’t you think this adjective is your ‘Brand’! Today, we have Mainak Dhar, who tells us how no one but You, define your brand!

From almost shutting shop to becoming one of the most iconic Indian brands, Royal Enfield is a cult with a very cool follower-ship. But how it went from 0 to what it is today and how it came around as the ultimate champion that it is, is definitely an interesting journey. Let's hear it from Amrit Raj, who has been following the brand since long and has authored the book titled Indian Icon: a cult...

We have had prior episodes on Millennials. But this one is a bit different. It talks about the emotional side of the millennials.  Dr. Mona Shah a renowned academician is here to talk all about them, for them. The discussion spans across books, use of social media, relationships and new terms like, The Perfect Problem, that is precisely coined by her in the context of millennials.  This...

What made the tatas they are today? They stand tall to be a great inspiration for many. Let's look into the basics of what made Tata the mighty company. Who better to explain the roots than the man who worked with the Tatas for 25 years and has served as a part of the Planning Commission of India. Arun Maira is here to explain that there is nothing in life you can compare yourself with but it fall...

Yes, it is that time of the year! Where you believe in Santa, Plum Cakes, Carols & everything good. Well, we have someone very good too.  Today’s episode features Puneet Kulraj, director at the Vector Consulting Group - Asia's largest TOC Consulting firm (Theory of Constraints). TOC is a philosophy to identify the most limiting factor, i.e. a constraint, which is the real reason for limit...

With growing competition everywhere, Millennials are always under the scanners to make a difference and an identity. No one is better than to meet the person who can guide and pave the path with the real hacks of life and career. To make it easy, we have Sandeep Das enlightening us on the essential tricks to step up the ladder of success.

Nirav Modi is one of the smartest criminal minds that turned the tables upside and down with his witty tactics. But how did he manage to do everything without any chaos and hinderance? Did he have unseen forces that helped him pave his path to his goal? To help us understand the shocking crime, we have the man who penned an entire book on the mastermind game of fraud by Nirav Modi. Pavan Lall's "F...

Since the olden days, Storytelling has always been the medium to make an impact on the importance of stories and their morals. And today, "Business Storytelling" has become a trend in the corporate world and to describe the need of a business storytelling, we have a veteran who can weave impactful stories to the top management of any organization. Indranil Chakraborty says that it is with skill th...

What does it take to become a Brand Custodian at the Tatas and who is better to answer this than the Brand Custodian himself? Harish Bhat is here with us to explain his 31 years journey with Tatas and what it takes to be a marketer or rather anyone to grow in life and succeed. He also shares his love about his fiction novel about the love of coffee and the impact the beverage has on him. This epis...

Most of us have hard time planning our personal finances even though we know how important and essential it is in life. We are so lost because we have no idea where to start it and how to start it. And the internet has so much to offer that we often get back to where we started. To help us learn the best way to make our money twofold, we have Suresh Sadagopan in this episode. He is a SEBI certifie...

We often grapple with the question "Is my hard-work paying off?" on an almost continuous basis. No doubt about the fact that everyone tries to do their best and hence put in the required hard work to get the desired results. But where do we go wrong? What diverges us? How do we course correct these actions and how do we deal with it? The episode contains answers to all of these and much more in th...