The Warrior Poet

It is fashionable to celebrate the idea that leaders can be quiet, unassuming, and uninspiring. Sri has a different take. Connect with Sri on Instagram: @sri_the_warrior_poet   + @sri_actually notes Music video for "She Don't Use Jelly" by the Flaming Lips Jack Black sings "She Don't Use Jelly" (Youtube) The Dancing Wu Li Masters by Gary Zukav (a physics book) Steve J...

Management is usually obsessed with things it can measure -- and rightly so. But this can go too far. One example is focusing too much on hard skills like coding, data analysis, or design skills. While these are important, they are generally learnable. Often they are a commodity. And they are less important as one advances in her career.  More importantly, failure to deliver results usually has li...

Sri discusses an overlooked Godfather character and why companies get fat. Innovative companies get caught in a no man's land, i.e. halfway, between innovation and collection of innovation 'rents.' And agile process can give the impression that true innovation is happening even though startups operate very differently than what are considered successful companies. Sri adds his own e...

How a project-based focus can transform your work and life notes Related article from Sri: " When Will We Escape the Prison of Work " (Medium) 📌 Want to crush 2026? Book a free clarity call with Sri to get your priorities in order and start getting unstuck.  📩 Get free elite performance tools weekly through the Warrior Poet newsletter 👉 join ✅ _____ Follow Sri for elite leadership ti...

This is not a political podcast. Sri’s been “clean” from politics for years. But he takes a break to explain why he's not voting in the imminent election. Plus, curated covers of one of the best pop-rock songs of the 90s. EXPLICIT EPISODE: If you have kids in the car, we hope you’ll choose another. Connect with Sri on Instagram: @sri_the_warrior_poet   + @sri_actually   notes Academic paper:...

Sri discusses what to do with your life with Charlie Munger and Temple of the Dog. Connect with Sri on Instagram: @sri_the_warrior_poet   + @sri_actually notes The Psychology of Human Misjudgment, by Charlie Munger Ayo, the author: How to Decide What to Do With Your Life  Reagan - A Time For Choosing - YouTube “Hunger Strike” cover - Temple of the Dog performed by Steve Hall - YouTube Intro and/or...

Tired of running through brick walls? There may be a better way. Sri discusses when to exercise "tactical patience" and why WALL-E is terribly overrated. EXPLICIT EPISODE: If you have kids in the car, we hope you’ll choose another. Connect with Sri on Instagram: @sri_the_warrior_poet   + @sri_actually   notes Cover of the Wallflowers' "Sixth Avenue Heartache" is by von Bru...

How do you know when you should stop analyzing and start executing? This is a hard problem, perhaps a philosophical one. Sri takes a stab with help from Canada.  📌 Want to crush 2026? Book a free clarity call with Sri to get your priorities in order and start getting unstuck.  📩 Get free elite performance tools weekly through the Warrior Poet newsletter 👉 join ✅ _____ Follow Sri for elite lead...

When you're a midshipman at the Naval Academy, you often recalculate something called "the Happiness Factor" to encourage yourself (or torture said self, depending on the circumstances). The idea that one's happiness is a calculable quantity somehow distinct from the self is interesting on its own. Meanwhile, Sri discusses how happiness in the workplace might not be all it&apos...

Sri discusses the bestselling book The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan. Plus, what serving as an altar boy has to do with building assets.  📌 Want to crush 2026? Book a free clarity call with Sri to get your priorities in order and start getting unstuck.  📩 Get free elite performance tools weekly through the Warrior Poet newsletter 👉 join ✅ _____ Follow Sri for elite leadership tips: ...

Sri and The Gang from Always Sunny bring the ABCs of leadership back again from Motown to Philly. Keith Rabois is a highly successful startup leader, venture capitalist, and member of the Paypal mafia. Sri goes over some of Keith's leadership lessons and compares those from the military. Hat tip to Delian Asparouhov , who distilled his in-person lessons from Mr. Rabois into a helpful blog pos...

Is it possible to choose things you want to believe even if you currently think they're ludicrous? And then even come to actually believe them just by reciting what originally was nonsense? This is what Don Gately mulls over while in an AA session in David Foster Wallace's book Infinite Jest . While Gately happens to be a fictional character, the success of AA, religion, and military tra...

"Burning in" is a euphemism for what happens when your parachute doesn't open. In a shorter form than usual Sri muses on what carpe diem really means.  📌 Want to crush 2026? Book a free clarity call with Sri to get your priorities in order and start getting unstuck.  📩 Get free elite performance tools weekly through the Warrior Poet newsletter 👉 join ✅ _____ Follow Sri for elite...

Feeling stuck? You can use the tactics for responding to an ambush to propel you in a productive direction (any direction). Sri shows you how. Plus, the interesting group Massive Attack. And what hospital show has the best theme song. Connect with Sri on Instagram: @sri_the_warrior_poet   + @sri_actually notes   Cover of Massive Attack's song "Angel" is by Mikka Almeida et al via Yo...

Marty McFly in the Back to the Future movies is the perfect caricature of our own gut reactions to others in life and work. Marty's nemesis, Biff had a recurring line throughout the trilogy: "What's a matter, McFly -- are ya chicken?!" Many of us fall for this kind of challenge all too easily. And what's worse is that clever manipulators are *much* more subtle than Biff. S...

Why do we not listen to common sense? Do you ever "discover" lessons that Ben Franklin made catch-phrases of long ago or that your parents preached to you? Sri suggests ways to better internalize such principles. Connect with Sri on Instagram: @sri_the_warrior_poet   + @sri_actually notes The Underground Sounds Of America: Bars Of Gold — Kerrang! Highly recommend this TV series in which...

Sri does what few others will by taking a dispassionate look at team diversity.  Unsurprisingly, corporate leaders are more concerned with looking good — and good intentions — than truth or nuanced approaches. The “hotness” of the topic also means that usually no one in an organization is brave enough to have a reasoned discussion. Is it possible that this results in a de facto blind faith that di...

The mind is a software creation machine -- that consumes its own output. Sri throws his Amazon Echo against the wall and, in a somewhat more mature state of mind, explores what features of ourselves are features vs. bugs. And gets real about high-school hangups. EXPLICIT EPISODE: If you have kids in the car, we hope you’ll choose another. Connect with Sri on Instagram: @sri_the_warrior_poet   + @s...

To paraphrase Joe Biden: Trust is a big f-ing deal. Sri mulls over 'servant leadership' and explains why trust in an organization is a one-way street. 📌 Want to crush 2026? Book a free clarity call with Sri to get your priorities in order and start getting unstuck.  📩 Get free elite performance tools weekly through the Warrior Poet newsletter 👉 join ✅ _____ Follow Sri for elite leade...

Edward Norton returns to the program and helps Sri discuss his 'five illusions of leadership.' It is easy to feel like you're succeeding as a leader. We all lie to ourselves, and Sri suggests five key ways that authority figures convince themselves that they are actually leading. Sri relates stories from basic SEAL training (BUD/S), the private sector, and elementary school election...

Sri offers tips on training the mind's attention on what really matters with help from Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau. Mindfulness has been in the public consciousness for years, and Buddhism has been around for millenia. Sri argues that the way the mind is "wired to win" makes it even more important to train its focus. Connect with Sri on Instagram: @sri_the_warrior_poet   + @sri_act...

Doc Holliday helps Sri explore truth while under the influence. EXPLICIT EPISODE: If you have kids in the car, we hope you’ll choose another. Connect with Sri on Instagram: @sri_the_warrior_poet   + @sri_actually   notes ‘WTF is a cortado?’ — an article by yours truly about hiring mistakes The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson Mastery by Robert Greene Atomic Habits by blogger James Clear (start with...

You can drown without knowing it. It happens. Under the right (wrong) circumstances, a diver underwater can get less oxygen than they need and pass out -- without even feeling like they are out of breath. In the middle of the coronavirus pandemic tons of healthy adults have shown up in emergency rooms under their own power and in good spirits. When nurses check their vitals during triage they disc...

Sri explores paleo child-rearing and a$$h**$ in the workplace. notes The Art of War by Sun Tzu —> The Kindle version right now is only 49 cents :)  (The audiobook is a mere 66 cents, but I doubt it’s possible to get the value without slowly pondering each line — which is challenging with the audio format.)  The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk. Nothing describes ship life as accurately as this bests...

What if you applied the logic of the paleo diet to your career -- and life?! Connect with Sri on Instagram: @sri_the_warrior_poet   + @sri_actually notes The Alliance by Reif Hoffman, et al Article on “tours of duty” in Harvard Business Review by Reid Hoffman (founder of LinkedIn), et al The Startup of You by Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha  The “career capital book” I referred to: So Good They Can’...