Sabena Suri commenced her career as a brand strategist with some of the World's leading advertising agencies. Now, that spectacular beginning might be sufficient for some but not for Sabena, who dropped the safety of being an employee to embark upon a journey on the rocky road of entrepreneurship at the tender age of just 24.
I often read articles and reports on the "demise of a particular technology", "the future of technology", and similar topics. Industry "experts" and "think tanks" love crystal–gazing, but they use complicated terminology to conceal it under the veil of science.
We live in a world where advertising is omnipresent. It has pervaded every corner of our lives and made it impossible stepping out of our houses without seeing billboards advertising phones, shoes, burgers or something else.
Last year I gave a seminar on “leadership presence” for the executive team of a high-tech company in Northern California. The next day, the president of the company telephoned: "I have an administrative assistant who is the brightest, most creative person I've worked with. The problem is, we are relocating and she can't move her family out of the Bay Area. I’d like to offer her a coaching session with you so that when she applies for a new job, she will come across just as terrific as she really is.”
According to studies, about 80 percent of people have an optimism bias in terms of themselves and those close to them. In simple terms, people tend to overestimate the probability of good things happening to them and underestimate the likelihood of bad things.
We are all guilty of convincing ourselves of our knowledge in all kinds of things, even when we really don’t have a clue. Whether we admit it or not, we all have a blind spot when it comes to ourselves.
Ask any of my management students, and they will tell you that I begin my Business Ethics lectures with Prof. Viru Sahastrabuddhe’s epic quote “This is not a philosophy class”.