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Classics: 4 Ways to Shift Mindset to Better Excel at Work with V. Krishna Lakkineni, Mindset Monk: Show Notes & Transcript

Post | Jul 29, 2025

Welcome back to Strategic Counsel by ForthRight Business! Looking for Marketing Smarts? You’re in the right place. After almost 4 years of helping to make you savvier marketers, we decided to broaden this podcast to include more business-oriented topics that will make you savvier business leaders.

In this Classics episode, we’re talking how to shift mindset to better excel at work with V. Krishna Lakkineni. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and your other favorite podcast spots – follow and leave a 5-star review!

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Strategic Counsel: Classics: 4 Ways to Shift Mindset to Better Excel at Work with V. Krishna Lakkineni, Mindset Monk

So many workplace struggles can be alleviated by starting with mindset. What is your current set of beliefs and expectations? How is this impacting your ability to feel content and excel? Shift your mindset to better excel at work by believing it to see it, focusing on MY career, MY responsibility, realizing you can lead at any level, and managing your energy. We wanted you to learn from the Mindset Monk himself, so we welcomed on V. Krishna Lakkineni. He’s the CEO of ROI Media Works, an Investor, TEDx speaker, and Author of 3 Amazon Best Sellers. This episode covers everything from mindset to energy. Here’s a small sample of what you will hear in this episode:

  • How do you shift mindset to better excel at work?
  • What does “Believe it to see it” mean?
  • Why is your career your responsibility?
  • Can you lead at any level?
  • How do you manage your energy?

And as always, if you need help in building your Strategic Counsel, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at: ForthRight-People.com.

Check out the episode, show notes, and transcript below:

Show Notes

What is Strategic Counsel?

Welcome back to Strategic Counsel by ForthRight Business! Looking for Marketing Smarts? You’re in the right place. After almost 4 years of helping to make you savvier marketers, we decided to broaden this podcast to include more business-oriented topics that will make you savvier business leaders.

Thanks for listening Strategic Counsel. Get in touch here to become more strategic.

Transcript

Please note: this transcript is not 100% accurate.

00:01

Welcome to the Strategic Counsel by Forthright Business podcast.  If you’re looking for honest, direct and unconventional conversations on how to successfully lead  and operate in business,  you are in the right place.  In our discussions, we push on the status quo and traditional modes of thinking  to reveal a fresh perspective.  This unlocks opportunity for you, your team  and your business. Now let’s get to it.  Welcome to the Strategic Counsel podcast.

 

00:31

I’m Anne Candido. And I am April Martini.  And as we often do, we have another previously recorded classics episode to share with you today. And that is four ways to shift mindset to better excel at work with V. Krishna Lakkineni, CEO of ROI MediaWorks. In today’s environment, which is ever changing and full of challenges, one of the things we can control is our mindset. And by doing so, we have better mental.

 

01:00

clarity and the ability to focus overall on our work, which means we’re more successful and fulfilled in our careers in the long run. Listen to how to do just this either for the first time or as a refresh. And with that, let’s get to it. So where we always start in our coaching is with mindset. And this is your current set of beliefs and expectations that are guiding your behaviors and actions. And we want everybody to really think about how these are impacting their ability to feel fulfilled and excel.

 

01:30

Now when we coach them through this, we coach them, try to get them to see different lenses or filters or perspectives by which to see a situation in order to open up new possibilities or states of being. So just to kind of get them to kind of shift the way that they’re thinking about things. Now, we’ll be the first to say we aren’t therapists. That’s right. But we have been there and we are coaching a lot of people through this right now. So we thought it would be good to share a perspective here in the hopes that you may also find relief that this is also you.

 

01:58

Yes, and it can be really easy to go down a rabbit hole with any of those examples that Anne gave. And that’s why we’re passionate about stopping yourself in what we call the quote unquote swirl,  if you will. And that starts getting you into the mindset where you can be productive and then counteract any of that  negative self talk or the why nots, which we all have been there and we all tell ourselves. So there you go. Yeah. And today we have a very special guest to join us.

 

02:25

He talks a lot about this topic on his podcast, Live to Inspire by Mindset Monk and his book, The Golden Rules of Success, and that’s Krishna Lakanenny. Krishna, how are you doing? Would you like to introduce yourself? Hey Anne,  I just kind of blown away by what you guys do. you  know, even though you go through LinkedIn and whatnot, but hearing firsthand from you guys, what you do, it’s amazing. My name is Krishna Lakanenny.

 

02:51

mindset bank. Basically, I help  entrepreneurs to succeed  in their business and lives.  Usually, entrepreneurs going through their midlife crisis. Okay,  now what? Right. So  I help them to get back onto  the new reality, basically why they started their business and what they’re in it for. And bringing those reality usually helps them to rediscover some of the parts of them that they haven’t.

 

03:18

usually  it’s trauma-based  and  some of those  inner child loans.  And  I personally believe we all here experiencing life  and our careers being an entrepreneur or working for somebody else is just a part of our life.  But how do you complete that fulfilled life? So that’s what I teach to  everybody that comes across my life. I love it. This is going to be a fantastic discussion.

 

03:47

It’s fantastic to have you on. And so let’s jump into the four ways to shift mindset to better excel at work. So the first one is to believe it, to see it. Now when the world starts feeling like it’s against you, can be really hard to see your way through it.  This brings on lots of feelings like discouragement, disappointment, fear, all these creep in and you kind of tend to have like a really bleak outlook on life. And this always brings out more of the

 

04:17

pessimistic side of everyone, even for eternal optimists, which I happen to be an eternal optimist.  It is very true.  But even  when I’m starting to feel like I’m in that place, I even start feeling very pessimistic. So what happens is this always has us hunkering down when you start preparing for the worst. And when people try to give us that little  vote or that little boost of optimism saying, oh, look at the better, we always say, I’ll believe it when I see it. Right?

 

04:47

So the mindset shift here is all about perception. When we say,  I’ll believe it when I see it, what we’re really counting on,  we’re accounting on reality  changing or shifting in some way that allows us to believe something different. Like the world is constant disappointment when we’re in that place where we feel like  just everything’s against us. I’m like, what’s the likelihood that we’re all of sudden gonna feel better  about something that’s happening in the world around us? It just doesn’t happen that much because we’re already in that attitude.

 

05:17

Instead what we want people to do and what we coach people to do is try to flip that narrative a little bit and say well if you can just get into the context or the mindset of I believe it so then for I can see it then seems something new starts to emerge for people there starts to feel like maybe some glimmers of hope or starts to feel like a glimmer of mission or something very action-oriented but most of all they feel like they can kind of control their reality a little bit more it starts to put it back into their center of control

 

05:47

And this is something just so immensely powerful by a belief  and ability of belief to open up things that maybe we haven’t seen before or things that have been blocking us. And that’s what leads us to really starting to feel this opportunity emerge. And I can  share a personal example. I’ll share actually two. One’s me and April’s personal story when we started 4th Right People during COVID. mean, initially we got some clients and it started off really well because  when COVID was happening, everybody

 

06:17

since they couldn’t do their rethinking. Yes. But then when they started seeing the world around them and they started getting this very pessimistic view of everything that was going on, they started hunkering down and they stopped spending. And so as me and April were sitting there going, well, how are we going to  be in this space? You we could wait to believe it when we see it  because when the world shifts or when the world turns back around,

 

06:42

But instead we’re like, you know, we’re going to believe it so that we can see it. And so we just say, what can we do? What can we do to offer value at this moment in time when everybody else is kind of in this space? And that’s actually what led to the podcast because the podcast gave us the opportunity to build credibility, gave us the opportunity to build reputation, but continue to add value and  being a place of service when people were just in a very different place. So that.

 

07:09

That now has led to an opportunity to continue to meet new people, to be able to build this community, as well as it becomes the basis for how we actually now RFP work. So  it’s now taken on a different mindset, but it started in that believing it to see it. Also, this also happens when we’re coaching a lot of people when they’re feeling hesitant to go after a position they want. They’re like, we’re waiting. They’re like, well, I just don’t feel like I’m qualified. I’m waiting for somebody to tell me I’m qualified. I’m waiting for something. You’ll be able to check all the boxes so I can feel confident.

 

07:39

in order to go and take this role. But when you’re sitting there and you’re waiting for people to tell you you are qualified and you don’t believe it yourself, it’s just hard for it to ever happen because people are gonna sense that about you. And if you’re not believing it in order to see it, people are not gonna believe it in you as well. right. So that’s kind of been our experience with this one. But VK, I’d love to understand a little bit more about what you have seen, especially in all the coaching and all the training that you have done.

 

08:09

People always fall for that trap. you know, I really want to see it, right? Like I want to see the science, so I will take action. But, you know, you just got to stop believing it, you know? And I think the worse the situation, the worse the pain is, the desire becomes more and more. So I want to get myself out of this. And personally for myself, I grew up in India. And when I was 15, I had that exact

 

08:37

dilemma, like, you know, is my entire life is going to be like this.  And even though, yes, it’s like, you know, lower middle class family, I didn’t like that aspect of life.  there was a pain and I was trying to find ways to come out of that.  I don’t know the how or when or what I should be doing, but just focused on one thing. You know, I need to acquire the knowledge that’s needed to make that decision. So I’m not even thinking about

 

09:06

the outcome or goals. I just need to acquire knowledge so that I stop believing  so that I can take actions to see that materializing.  I can say it easily now, but being a 15 year old those days, you have no clue. And this is where the mentors come in place and  the hand holding.  And as long as you’re following somebody’s blueprint that’s already successful, made things,  made a life for themselves.

 

09:36

It becomes easier. And let’s not forget that  the pain is different for everybody.  When we  say, you you must believe it, the beliefs has to stem from the inner core and mostly out of love. Like, why am I doing this?  And  it has to be out of love.  It never is. I want to make more money. I want to be successful.

 

10:06

I want to make a huge difference.  You’re doing it out of necessity for yourself. That’s where it starts. And then the sales level evolves. And once you’re at that level, then you feel the confidence to believe the things that are happening. Okay, I feel good about myself. I wish I can help more people in a similar way.  And  that’s the fundamentals of everything. And that can be applied in a workplace, that can be applied for an entrepreneur.

 

10:33

but it all begins with that self-healing and the self-belief about, yes, I can do more. And then these are the pain points that I identified and this is how I’m acquiring knowledge to shift that focus to where I want to go. Yeah, I think that that’s so right on. I mean, one of the  things that came to mind as you were talking and as Anne, as you were talking about our coaching clients, especially,  a lot of times what we try to say to change the narrative is why not you?

 

11:02

And so when we’re helping people to get over that sense of inadequacy or the belief that they can’t do it or the you know a lot of times when I’ll say something like well Why can’t you be the next CEO? It’s like deer in headlights, right? It’s like Me  well, why not you? Why would you say that it can’t be you right and then that starts that conversation and I think what you said Krishna is so  Spot-on around you have to have the belief within yourself before you can ever go and help

 

11:31

anybody else. We talk a lot about the reference of the air mask on the airplane, right? They say put yours on first before  you help somebody else with theirs and I think it is so true.  It’s  really hard if you can’t get over that inner dialogue or that doubt or that disbelief  and really embrace what it is you believe you are meant to go and do to actually have anything manifest itself for you  because you’re too stuck in that.

 

11:59

to actually take action, let alone succeed in whatever that is. Yeah, it’s the fear, right? Like, I’m so afraid and what if, right? And I use this in my coaching. Rather than saying, what if something goes wrong, something bad happens, or what if I’m not successful, use that in a reverse way. What if I’m tremendously successful? What if I’m super wealthy?

 

12:24

already found driving a Tesla and living in a mansion, right? So the brain start thinking in a different way because you’re already trying to manifest that. And with those, I use those vision boards basically. You had to visualize it to see yourself and feel it. So you’re changing your vibration in a way that you’re already there.  And once that happens, everything just start changing subconsciously and it really helps people to  move forward.

 

12:54

And it’s an important question. Why not you?  Right? Like I think we all should ask why not  you and what I should be doing. And I love what you said too about sometimes you don’t even know what it is yet. You just start working towards something. So you’re building the skills, you’re building the aptitude, or you’re kind of flowing with the energy or the opportunity or what’s being put in front of you until it does emerge. And I think that’s where a lot of people get stuck too is like,

 

13:23

I don’t know what it is, so therefore I’m not going to risk whatever it is, what I have now or the complacency of what I have now. it’s the fear that you mentioned, Krishna, which is  I feel good where I’m at. So therefore,  why put that at risk? rock the boat? Yeah. And so I think there is a lot to overcome there, but the belief that I can have something different or I can be somebody different or I can…

 

13:52

achieve whatever these goals are, starts putting in place something that’s more oriented towards action in the brain and just gets the brain motivated to follow suit with whatever that vision looks like, which I mean, we love vision boarding too because it does help to get some clarity around the manifestation that you’re trying to achieve. So I love that. All right, so a second way to shift mindset to better excel at work is my career, my responsibility. Okay.

 

14:21

The big one. So why don’t we talk about a time? Because one of the biggest sources of suffering is to feel like things are out of our control. Now, we’re told to acknowledge that when things are truly out of our control, that we just need to accept them. Those are things like the weather or pending recession, which we can’t do a lot about, or AI’s quest to take over the world. So these are the things that people are really, really concerned about. And that’s fine to be concerned about them, but there’s not really a lot we can do about them in the moment.

 

14:49

So what I’m talking about here is I’m talking about the self-inflicted suffering that comes from deflecting responsibility and blaming others for our position in life.  Now that’s a very hefty statement, especially amidst a podcast called Marketing Smarts,  but it does have a role to play in the way that we take on our careers. So when we accept responsibility for our own careers, the big thing that happens, and I mentioned this before, is we take back control.

 

15:16

Now that doesn’t necessarily mean you can dictate every rule and every promotion, but you can put yourself in a better position to direct your future versus waiting for someone to decide it for you. So what we start to get stuck in, and this happened at P &G all the time, is that there is a quote unquote career path, right? Especially for marketers. I’m just going to pick on marketers for a second.

 

15:40

You come in, you’re in ABM, you’re ABM for two years, you do two different roles.  One’s a junior, one is a senior in two different categories. Then you get promoted brand manager. And you’re a brand manager, you need to get global responsibilities and you do some sort of sales exposure. So it’s all kind of planned out for you. And so what people start doing is they start to defer to that path, that is their quote unquote career path.

 

16:04

But then when something starts going awry or something comes up and says, oh, I kind of want to try this,  or I want to focus more on my personal life, or I want to have kids,  or  something came down and now my whole path has been exploded because somebody who has been directing me in my path is no longer there. All these things happen and then it just kind of sets us off our course because then we’re like, now what am I supposed to go do? So.

 

16:28

Here’s a couple of tips for how to get better perspective on your career so you can take some of that control back. First is to set a vision for your career. This is not about setting a vision for your job and getting stuck in your job. This is about setting a vision for what you want to achieve, the why not you kind of thinking, right? Next is reflect on your personal brand and what behaviors and actions are needed in order to build your reputation towards that vision. A lot of times we get stuck in the process.

 

16:55

And we don’t know why the process isn’t fulfilling what we want it to be, but we don’t stop to think about how we are being or acting in that process in order to try to manifest what we want. Next, if you need to build your network of advisors and supporters, and you mentioned this too, Krishna, is that  it’s about the mentorship. It’s about having these people around you who are gonna guide you through your blind spots. And they’re also, by the way, as we always say, you can’t achieve your goals and dreams on your own, right? You need other people.

 

17:22

You also need to make a known what roles and positions you want and ask those who make those decisions or will be key influencers in the decision what it takes to get there. Know what the game is, know how to play the game. Need to set milestones to gauge progress. That doesn’t mean that you’re gonna hit every milestone, but it allows you to kind of see where you are on your path. And then you also need to focus on yourself. And this was the biggest thing for me because when we start getting into this competitive nature in our careers, even as an entrepreneur in our corporate world, in agency world, doesn’t matter where you are,

 

17:52

When we start feeling like people are getting what we deserve, we start judging those people based on what we are missing out on, right? So this was a big thing for me. It’s like, I do a better job than that person. I’ve better contributions.  I’ve done this and I’ve done that and that person hasn’t done anything. And so what that ends up doing is it starts to undermine one, their success, but start making you look bad  in the process and starts putting that narrative out there.

 

18:18

So all of this is really meant to help you define your action plan. It’s that, again, that believe it to see it mindset shift that allows you to start putting things into action. And it helps you also have a guideline or a filter by which to make choices as things come up in your career. So Krishna, what is your perspective here? You know, I totally agree. There are so many great points there. And I think it all comes down to the vision and then having the growth mindset overall.

 

18:48

Right. Yep. You know, you’re working at one job or other job. You always move between the jobs. But  why you doing this?  And  most of us, it’s the financial stability and security for ourselves and for our families.  know, like, you know,  the taxes we still had to pay, we still had to pay the bills. So you had to acquire income.  But if I take a step back and ask our audience, say,  why am I in this role?

 

19:17

What is that something I love about this, right?  And it can be many things, know,  the job  allows me to explore my creative side  or allows me to challenge myself to excel better  or I’m working with a better team. I feel more safe at work than home because I’m by myself.  So there can be a lot of variables there, but I think once they’re clear about  their growth mindset and where their vision is,

 

19:47

You set goals and you create a timeline. So you’re kind of focusing on where you’re going,  but also don’t forget to enjoy the journey. know, it’s never is. Yeah, I’ll have a cocktail end of the tunnel. Never is like that.  Take breaks and how that work life balance, but be resilient. And this is where you want to be aware of.

 

20:08

You know, it’s not like you go to work like 10, 14 hours a day.  I have done that myself, but I learned it differently and changed some of these work habits.  So  not forgetting what you want and staying clear of everything and stay focused and keep going. And  one important thing a lot of people forget is they get comfortable. Yeah, I’m here as the vice president for 10 years. Yeah, I’m making 200K a year. Really, you know, that’s all I want.

 

20:37

but that’s okay for some people, but is that really what you want?  Is there something that you have to explore?  And I think as humans, we all want to excel. And like you were explaining, like I did everything and I’m better than somebody else. The competitiveness always comes in. So  don’t  subdue that and say, like, I’m okay, but just try to put it out. But at the same time, try to find the mentors that can really help you with that vision.

 

21:06

Maybe you have that,  maybe you don’t have that, but talking to a mentor really clears that path for you.  You know, you’ve used the word blueprint  and, you know, take the next thing.  what I, my words, paraphrasing is don’t let yourself stagnate. Right. And I think  all of those are really good points. mean,  one of the things we talk about a lot is I think people put a ton of pressure on themselves because it is.

 

21:35

their career, is their responsibility.  But when we start trying to go to this huge place of like, I want to get there, that’s where I think some of the overwhelm can set in. And so I like what you said about  kind of do the next thing, take the next step, but also remember where you are in the moment and find presence and joy within those moments as well to celebrate your success.  Because I think if you’re stepping through it and it’s

 

22:02

pragmatic but you’re also aware and present in what you’re doing,  then all of a sudden you show up and you’re there, right? It’s not this whole like paralysis of, okay, it’s my career, it’s my responsibility, what do I go and do? I wanna be that, but how do I get from here to there? And so I think some of the ways you said about who’s been there before you and who can you kind of use as a guidepost or Anne, you mentioned like  within the career parameters. I mean, those career parameters are set up with

 

22:30

positive intent, they can be restrictive, of course, but you have to use the tools that are at your disposal and that’s both the job you’re in, the people you’re around, and then what you ultimately think you’re trying to achieve. And then I think also on the more, you know, we hate the word balance because we feel like you never truly get to balance and I won’t get on my soapbox about that whole thing. Not equally, but… but I think your point there about

 

22:59

Don’t forget about life in total.  I Anne and I were just having a conversation with some people earlier today about,  you you put your head down,  you work 60, 70, 80 hours a week, you wake up five years later and you’re like, shoot, what the heck am I doing here? Right? And so, yeah.  Yeah.  So just making sure that you’re  being choiceful and pragmatic and present, but then on the other side of that, taking some time to enjoy your success and enjoy life and…

 

23:27

explore things that you want to do just because you want to go and do that. And I think all of that is part of this point around your career, your responsibility. It’s about being realistic too with yourself about what you want out of the job and what you want out of life. Yeah, totally. Yeah, I think a really good story on that one, and this actually just happened last week, was my daughter, Corinne, she’s 15. She runs track and field. And over the winter, they won the

 

23:56

4×2  indoor state championship for division two, division three. So state champs, right? She said last week, she goes, well, you know, I got on the podium and it was really awesome to get on the podium and be first place and have your name, you know, recognized and stuff. And she goes, but then it was just over.

 

24:15

I thought it was gonna last longer. And she goes, I thought that like the feeling and all that, know, all of that was just gonna last longer, but it didn’t. And I thought that was like a really true testament to the point that you made, Krisha, which is like, it’s about the journey. Like if you can’t enjoy the journey, then you’re gonna really struggle because those quote unquote milestones of achievement are very fleeting. And they’re very few and far between, especially if you have that continued growth mindset, as you mentioned, if you’re a continued grower, learner,

 

24:43

I mean, we’re never going to retire. So it’s not like we’re working to retire or some sort of glamorous point in time where you can sit around and do nothing. It does spark a need for something else to keep you lit up. And that is, think, what you mentioned, the journey. So I thought that story was a good one. That was like, wow, that’s a really insightful moment for a 15-year-old.

 

25:07

You know,  we’re living in a world where everything is glorified. You had to be number one. You had to be comparative. And I think we need to start appreciating the journey. OK, it’s never is about whether you’re in the top 10 or anything like that. As long as you put your efforts and you tried your best, given your abilities, we should appreciate and celebrate those people as well. And I think the more and more we do that,

 

25:35

they will build their confidence and they will start seeing  themselves differently. And, you know, it’s just not the sports. Like no matter where you go, it’s all glorified. mean, I’m talking about my personal experience growing up in India. You had to be in the 99th percentile to get into engineering college because, you know, small population, whatnot. So it was just kind of avoiding some of those things and  even  looking at ourselves and say,  this is my goal.

 

26:04

compared to yesterday. Like, let’s say I want to run 100 meters in like five minutes or whatever that time, but you did it in four today. So that’s an improvement. That’s a progress. And it’s kind of building that self-confidence and believing ourselves and whatever the world thinks, it doesn’t matter at that point. Yeah, I think that’s a really good point, especially about goal setting and just about being a little bit better today than I was yesterday. I think there’s a lot to

 

26:33

to be said for that and the achievement associated with that. So that leads us nicely into our next point on four ways to shift mindset to better excel at work. And that’s, can lead at any level.  And I think this is kind of really  going to what you were just saying, Krishna,  in that it’s not about necessarily the destination, it’s about what you’re doing on the journey. And we could have said,

 

26:58

does very differently in that, you you don’t need to be in a leadership position in order to be a leader. So that could have been the title of this section too, which I think goes exactly to the point we were just discussing. So much of our careers we spend waiting for that time when we get to quote unquote, be the leader or sit in the C-suite or be part of the executive team or be whatever we’ve like set in our minds that we want to achieve. And all these aspirations are

 

27:25

phenomenal to have, they’re great to have. And what we started with that, believe it to see a piece, if you want to be a CEO, you go for it. I mean, we’re 100 % there to support you.  But when we ask coaching clients  why this is such a big deal to them, we get a very similar answer. We might say it a little bit differently, but really what it comes down to is power and money,  right? Those are the basic commodities of leadership and being able to  aspire to these positions. Now,

 

27:54

As I mentioned, the money thing could be pretty real. you go up the ladder, you make more money. It’s usually the way that that progresses. But the power thing is really an illusion. And this is, think, really important for people to get. And I think this creates a huge mindset shift. Because the reality is, the only people in control or who have the quote power are the people who are generating revenue for your business. And this is your clients, your customers, and your consumers. Those are the people that have the power.

 

28:23

And that’s why at P &G, we’re always famous for saying is that the consumer is boss. That’s what we always fundamentally kept in our vision because that was who was paying our paycheck. They didn’t buy our product, we did not make money, we did not get paid. Now, the close second to this is I want to make the decisions or I wanna have a bigger, more influential voice in the decision making. But here’s what most people miss in this is that having the decision making influence or being able to make it the decision comes from

 

28:52

reputation and credibility. That’s where the power resides. And if you don’t believe me, the next time you’re in a meeting, just watch the meeting dynamics. Now, there’s usually a quote unquote leader of the meeting, but really that’s just a facilitator of the meeting. If you really look at how the meetings are structured,  what that facilitator is looking for is the most credible, reputable person in the room who’s gonna help them make the decision that has the least amount of risk and the most amount of impact.  That’s really what all meetings are about. So if you look at who’s actually being listened to,

 

29:22

It’s not necessary the person with the highest ranking level. It’s not necessary the person who’s been there the longest. It’s not like all those like general things that we get in our head about why we want to have more years, why we want to go up the carpet ladder. It’s the people who have the most credibility for the conversation that is happening. And that’s the people that have the influence in those conversations. And that’s what helps direct the decision-making. So  if you can embrace that.

 

29:49

you will then see yourself and your opportunity to be a credible influencer, not just a quote unquote leader of a position in the organization. So this means that you need to be skilled at what you do. That’s very, very obvious, but it also means about instilling a sense of understanding that you get it. You get something about the business that helps you to actually see it in a different way. So this means becoming a student of the business, understanding the way the business works, how does the business make money, what keeps…

 

30:17

people up at night that are sitting there having to answer for the business, right? It’s also about networking to understand everyone’s function, their goals, and how they get rewarded. This is what I did when I was in PR. So PR, very small slice of marketing and branding, right? And sometimes  not as seen as we would like it to be, but the opportunity was  for me to go and understand how I could help and be of value to everybody else in the organization, because if I can be of value, I all of a sudden become valuable.

 

30:45

Next is providing perspective and solutions that benefit the team as a whole, not just you. This is about seeing the bigger objective, the bigger goal that the business is trying to achieve, not just what you personally are trying to achieve for your own personal gain or benefit. And then also being thoughtful in your engagement by providing appropriate context and rationale to drive understanding, or in other words, being a teacher.

 

31:06

So a lot of times we’ll sit there and we’ll say based on my own personal expertise and you should just acknowledge my personal expertise and I shouldn’t have to explain  why I think this or where I want to go this certain way or why this is going to totally be a whole huge  disaster, right? But if you can actually explain the context of where you’re coming from, explain what the point of view is based out of,  all of that starts to build credibility because people start seeing you think about it in a different way. Krishna, what do you think about this?

 

31:35

I have seen many examples of it and I think it’s being strategic to produce the best possible outcomes for everybody. At the end of the day for companies it’s generating more revenues.  But we see that all the time, right? Like in the sports, like a quarterback or a goalie, they have their rules defined based on their skill set.  But in corporate, we usually see there is one person that’s really good at running meetings or really good at organizing  projects.

 

32:04

somebody,  they’re really good at like agile type of work. They can adopt to changes really quickly.  And I think as  a CEO,  you should be able to identify these people and skill sets and put them in those spots.  You it’s not like, you you can’t make a fish climb a tree, right? So  recognizing those traits and position them accordingly.

 

32:30

And at the same time, understanding their basic needs as well because they’re underlying motives for all of them, right? Like, okay, you know, I’m a student manager and I want to be, you know, the branch manager. So that’s the motive. So if you want to get to that place, these are the things you have to prove yourself. And I think this is where the corporate playbook comes in place, like, you know, where everybody’s positioned as leaders. And I always compare this to a chess board.

 

33:00

Right, okay, there’s a king,  but king can go only one step anywhere. But the most important piece is the queen. So  why is it that way is one question, but also what can you learn from it? Because, you know, even  the least important on the board, I mean, every piece is important on its own, but even the rook or even the horse, like even

 

33:24

the sergeant, like they all have different roles to find and as long as they’re excelling their leaders in their positions  as a team, we move forward.  And, you know, on top of that as humans, we have the diversity and inclusion and then how do you practice that in workplaces while monitoring some of those, you know, EQ and their emotional intelligence aspect of it and position them accordingly.

 

33:48

You know, let’s say BP just blow up a gas pipeline somewhere and then it’s just all kind of spreading like wildfire.  It’s not the CEO who is coming and talking, it’s usually the PR person, not even the CMO, because they have a person predefined to address those issues and they’re skilled at that level.  So it’s about knowing and identifying leaders within the organization and position them according to  their skill set.  And we all

 

34:18

have those emotions attached to at the end of the day. And this is where there’s conflict resolution, what not, who should be doing it or I’m better than, better than him or her. But it just always comes down to  popularity sometimes, you can be an eloquent presenter, but if you don’t have the charisma to, you know, face a press conference, you can’t do that job. So  again, it’s just kind of a preset reality we all live in.

 

34:47

in a corporate world. Yeah, I mean, I think you both spoke to, well, different angles of this point about leading at any level. It is so interesting because when we put ourselves in the mindset of who we ultimately want to be and we look at that CEO, for example, like you just said, and we’re like, well, that’s what I want to be. So I’m going to wait to do it until I get there. Then we’re not building the necessary skills and experience in order to ever be able to do that job.

 

35:17

And then I think on the other side of that, it’s, you know, recognizing within the organization, what role each person plays and when they lead and when maybe they don’t, right? So we’re always big fans of talking about  thinking about, you know, goals and projects and processes where every single person has to participate to the top of their ability in order to achieve whatever that is. It’s not about just

 

35:43

me out for me, it’s all of us together moving the organization forward.  And so as I was listening to both of you talk, I was just thinking about how leadership can be such a loaded word, right? Because it does immediately signify power and level and  who has the most  seniority or who makes the most money or whatever. But really we have to define it within ourselves and through the lens of the role we play in the organization.

 

36:10

in order to succeed and then bringing forth some of the other things we’ve talked about in the episode, that’s what allows us to take the next step and then the next step and then the next step with intention.  And then we can quote unquote achieve that leadership position eventually, whatever it is for us.  But it’s about building the skills and the credibility and the  just exposure along the way in order to be a leader in whatever capacity it makes sense for each of us today. Yeah.

 

36:39

Totally. I have seen a lot of leaders,  uh, leading with pure ego and, know,  know, letting that go and it  never should be like egocentric. And I think,  um, that leaves the doors open. I should be the one doing this versus. Yeah. Like, you know, it’s better than me. I get that. And this is all I have. That’s the other person has, I let them lead, right? Like opening the doors for other people.

 

37:08

And I think that really builds that team spirit and  makes things happen. Yeah, I think that’s a very  well said and  well needed to be said point about ego  because that’s a lot of what we’re feeding in some of these scenarios as well.  And if we actually just step back and  looked at it from the perspective of what we really want, what really makes us feel fulfilled and the fact that  a lot of those things are obtainable now.

 

37:36

not just something that we have to wait  for a certain position or the anointing in order to have, we can actually have and create more impact in the places that we are.  And I like what you had to say, Tia, because sometimes leadership is a practice. It’s a constant evolution  of understanding and learning and experience and  testing and learning, all those different things in order to be able to  create the dynamic that’s needed in order to move

 

38:05

people forward in order to move organizations forward. And that starts at a basic, very fundamental level of just being able to do something really, really well.  if you get into your mind that leadership is a practice, it starts to become something that is always there. It’s always something that is always at top of mind, is always a way of being versus something that you achieve at end of the day. So I love everything that you guys had to say about that.

 

38:32

All right, our final way to shift mindset, to better excel at work, or least the final way for this episode,  is to manage your energy. Now, there have been so many hacks, tips, you name it on how to manage and save and create time. We hear these all the time. But the path to true high-level performance is really about managing your energy because it doesn’t really matter what time it is or how much time we have. You’re gonna wake up at four o’clock in the morning in order to get all this stuff done and have…

 

38:59

three days instead of one day. mean, we’ve heard them all. If your energy level isn’t in tune with the effort that you need in order to exert or accomplish a planned task at that moment, it’s just not going to work for you. so, VK, I’d love if you could talk a little bit about energy and energy flow and how do you really harness this in order to reach your fullest, like highest potential? That’s, you know, energy is a big word and I often use like energy, time and money.

 

39:28

At the same level,  one thing, whether. We have proved it scientifically or not, there is a universal flow for everything which we are part of and the universal flow happens irrespective of what we do, whether we exist in this place or not. So,  you know, the reverse flowing to the oceans, the seeds turn into trees. In the same way, in a similar fashion.

 

39:54

As humans, we have a responsibility to experience life here  and  the career or the job that we’re in is  part of the journey. So when you took that piece of like the workplace,  you want to know what your priorities are and what is really affecting your energy and taking your time away from the things that you want to fulfill in this lifetime.  the simple way to put it is everybody that comes across in our lives

 

40:25

They’re us something. They’re healing a part of ourselves that we haven’t explored or touched. So  as we are experiencing life, how do we know where we need to invest our energy, but also set boundaries in place? Let’s say,  you  your desk is  piling up with different types of files, but how do you prioritize? And also how do you tell people, you know, that’s not my responsibility, but you should be the one addressing this?

 

40:54

Right? Like we often see like the senior managers passing onto juniors like,  take care of this. Right?  So  how do you set boundaries in a healthy way? And I often say like, know, quarantine them and,  you want to define a circle of influence in terms of your circle, you know, the close friends, apprentices, and then workplace colleagues, and then  what kind of leverage and trust you’re building with these people.

 

41:22

So yeah, the senior manager is my best friend. So he has something else to do. I’ll take care of it, right? It happens naturally, but it all comes down to the personal level and how do I manage or expense my time and energy. And even though we all want to work 24 seven to hustle because we are entrepreneur, we want to prove everything.

 

41:45

But we don’t want to burn the candles on both sides  and at the expense of losing our family time, our friends time and get sick because it causes stress and stress is the root cause of every  healthy shit out there.  So  it’s important to be aware of and set boundaries and manage your energy efficiently.  Just be smart about it. know, and I often use

 

42:12

Stephen Covey’s like seven habits,  you one of those four quadrants, like where you put the tasks so that you know what you’re addressing. So, you you always want to be in the quadrant too, not in the fire right now, versus, you know, it can be done. So do it when it needs to be and don’t leave it until the last minute. It’s interesting how that can be applied in many scenarios  and also  use your energy in a similar way.

 

42:39

putting most of the energy that needs to be done in the next day or two days, right? So it’s not important yet, it’s not fire yet, but you’re just expensing most of your energy there. But when it comes to the fires, like do you use your energy or do you use an expert so that it can be put up really quick? So it’s all about the awareness and experience comes in place to help. And I think  there’s abundance of energy as a whole, whether it’s money, time,

 

43:07

it all comes down to who do we want to spend that time with. It’s funny, you know, we’ve talked about entrepreneurship. So that angle is stuck in my head. But Anne and I have been asked many times,  you know, how do you turn it off when it’s your business, when it’s solely your responsibility? How do you find ways to do that? Because if it were me, I feel like I would  go crazy thinking about it, you know, every which way  all day long.

 

43:34

A lot of what we talk about and some of the points you made is around making sure that you’re doing the things that quote unquote fill your cup in addition to expending the energy where it’s needed. And sometimes it’s finding someone else to do things like you said,  know, paying someone to do things to take them off your plate. Sometimes it’s finding  ways.

 

43:59

and things that occupy your mind and your attention so that you’re not constantly toiling away and burning the candle at both ends and  and then also surrounding yourself by people and experiences that help keep your energy  up  and you know, we all have those people that it’s like when I go and spend time with whoever that is, it’s like  I come away happy and energized and excited for what’s next. We also know the people on the other side of that, right? And so

 

44:27

I think this is another place where you have to be really actively  engaged all the time and  I’m sure that sounds exhausting as I say that,  but it’s with the idea that you’re present in what you’re doing. So you’re identifying places where your energy is sucked. You’re identifying places where your energy is up.  And then you’re looking for active ways to make sure that each day  you’re finding that quote unquote balance that we talked about, which is never balanced before.

 

44:55

but so that you can continue to do all the things you need to do, but without it being so taxing that you feel like you’re zapped at the end of each day. Yeah, I think what you guys said is really powerful. the one point I was going to make in addition to what you guys said was that we have to have self-discipline when it comes to this as well, because what we see a lot of people doing is

 

45:24

they like the connotation of always being busy. If for some reason  they wear it as a badge of honor, it makes them feel important, it makes them feel valuable, it makes them feel like  they’re in it,  and people need them and all those sorts of things. But when you really look at what they’re doing, a lot of time is spent expending energy on things that they shouldn’t be doing,  or  they are feeling self-satisfied in the fact that they’re

 

45:50

getting something done, but it’s not really what something that is fording their career, fording their growth. It’s something that allows them to check a box off a  post note. And know, me and April are big checker offers. so  it’s just a matter of like what you put on those things. So the biggest transition that we see from an energy depletion standpoint is when people come go from doers to managers. Yes. Right. And so that becomes a really hard time for a lot of folks in managing their energy because they’re spending a lot of energy trying to do both.

 

46:19

but not quite sure about how to shift into that energy space of being a manager versus a doer. And really it comes down to strategy versus the tactics. And so they become a person of both and then they don’t get to do the strategy part because they’re so busy doing the doing, but that gives them the most satisfaction because that’s what they’re good at.  So  I give all those examples just to say, sometimes if you’re feeling yourself like quote unquote being busy,

 

46:48

or you’re feeling like you don’t have the energy at the end of the day, or you don’t have this time to invest in other things, think about what you’re really doing and take a look at your calendar, your schedule, and see how much time you’re spending doing things that maybe you shouldn’t be doing. Yeah, you don’t have to do it all.  That’s my quote for anybody, and just being aware of it.  And I think with the evolution, we  came from all the

 

47:15

industrial evolution where we needed work hard, work hard, right?  And then moved into technology evolution where we are still working hard and stuff utilizing the tools that’s already there. know, decide and delegate more. And then we’re  going into the AI  evolution now and where we will have all the time that we want.

 

47:44

Because I’m one of those people, like, I just like to get the task done and I need my plate full all the time. Like, you know, spinning multiple wheels, even though it’s delegated. Okay. What’s going on there? Right. I mean, even after all these years, but that just fills my cup. Like, okay, that’s done. Like, I just happy the team dealt with it. So  like, how do you bring yourself back and say, calm down, Krishna, right?

 

48:10

That would be our other episode on Vigilant Leadership.  Awesome. right. Well, our next segment is we usually want to talk about a brand that’s either following their marketing smarts or not. But obviously when we have a guest, we know that they are. wouldn’t have them on here. So,  Krishna, this is where we’d like to just give you a moment to  kind of bring this all home. Is there anything that we missed that you would like to  expand upon or any additional points you want to make? And obviously let everybody know where they can find you.

 

48:40

You know, this is very good conversation and I think we can just talk for hours and we can still keep going.  The important thing I think we all need to  start treating people as people,  irrespective of  what the position is, power, wealth is. And then that brings up best in all of us. And  I talk about all these mindset tips on my Instagram, we can like in any  or through my course mindsetmonk.ca.

 

49:09

people can check it out and even reach out if they have any questions. Awesome. All right. So just to recap four ways to shift mindset to better excel at work. Believe it to see it. There is something immensely powerful about beliefs, ability to open up opportunity and help us to see what was initially blocking us. Second is my career, my responsibility. When we accept responsibility for our own careers, we take back control. That doesn’t necessarily mean you can dictate every role promotion.

 

49:38

but you can put yourself in a better position to direct your future versus waiting for someone to decide it for you. Third is you can lead at any level. Having decision-making influence or power comes from reputation and credibility. Focus on getting that. And finally, manage your energy. The path to true high-level performance is really about managing your energy. Did we spark something with this episode that you want to talk about further? Reach out to us through our website, forthright-people.com. We can help you customize what you have heard to move your business.

 

50:06

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