Here is Why You Are You Stuck in Middle Management According to India's Top Executive Coach
Pushing Beyond the Obvious - Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed
Release Date: 01/15/2026
Here is Why You Are You Stuck in Middle Management According to India's Top Executive Coach
Pushing Beyond the Obvious - Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed
Premise In this podcast episode, we host India's biggest and best Executive Coach Shital Kakkar Mehra. She has trained more than 1000 CxO's and more than 40000 leaders about how to develop their executive presence. We talk about how the we lead and what is expected from us shifts as we continue to grow in our careers and what makes us successful early in our career is no longer enough when we become managers (managing people) and it changes again, when we start leading managers and agains shifts when we start leading functions and organisations. Apart from all the technical skills and the...
info_outline
The Hidden Leadership Skill: Leading for Evolution
Pushing Beyond the Obvious - Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed
Premise: Almost all leaders today lead in an environment that is ripe with disruptions and ever changing competitive landscape. The challenges of leading in this constantly evolving landscape are very different from that of leading in a stable environment where the current management practices are rooted in. So, if we have to succeed in this new world, we need to change the lens through which we view leadership and management practices. That begs the questions - where can we draw inspiration for the new way of leading. Thankfully, we don't need to look far. We can learn from . Leading an...
info_outline
The Bomber with No Guns: 3 Lessons in Strategy from a World War II Secret Weapon
Pushing Beyond the Obvious - Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed
In this episode, I want to share a brilliant story written by one of my favorite marketers, Dave Trott, titled "Strategy is Sacrifice". The story takes us back to World War II. At the time, standard military strategy assumed that for a bomber to survive, it needed more armor, more guns, and a larger crew. Planes like the British Lancaster and the American B-17 were massive, heavy, and slow because they were weighed down by defenses. But Geoffrey de Havilland had a different idea—a creative strategy. He asked a simple question: What if the enemy couldn't catch you?. Instead of adding more...
info_outline
The Most Important Question You Can Ask Your Team: "Are You Okay?"
Pushing Beyond the Obvious - Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed
Welcome back to another episode of Pushing Beyond the Obvious. I recently read a blog post from the MIT Sloan Management Review titled "Your people are not all right," which highlights the immense overwhelm and stress employees are currently facing. This inspired me to talk about a critical responsibility we have as leaders: having a clear understanding of what is happening in our team members' lives, not to spy on them, but to genuinely ensure their wellbeing. In this video, I break down the subtle but vital differences between an average leader, a good leader, and a leader worth following....
info_outline
How to Be Remarkable And stand out from the crowd
Pushing Beyond the Obvious - Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed
Standing out starts with choosing to see, think, and act differently from the default, and then designing your work, relationships, and systems around that choice. This means intentionally questioning “how things are done here” and repeatedly experimenting with better ways that reflect who you are and what you care about.youtube Why being different matters Most environments quietly push people to conform, to not make waves, and to follow existing templates for success. If you obey those pressures blindly, you become invisible, even when you are talented and hardworking.youtube ...
info_outline
Here is how to build an engaged team
Pushing Beyond the Obvious - Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed
Teams that are engaged perform better, collaborate more, and stay longer. I often talk about how employee engagement sits at the heart of every high-performing team. The real question is: how do leaders actually build it in day-to-day work? Hire for Attitude Before Skills Engagement starts much earlier than most people realise — right at the hiring stage. I believe that while skills can be developed over time, attitude is much harder to change. Hiring people who naturally align with the team’s values and energy creates a stronger foundation for engagement. At the same time, we need to...
info_outline
3 Ways to come up with Breakthrough Ideas
Pushing Beyond the Obvious - Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed
Premise: In today's fast-paced world, every organization and leader feels the relentless pressure to innovate. We're taught to hunt for that game-changing idea, that single "Eureka!" moment that will redefine our market. But waiting for a random stroke of genius is an ineffective and stressful strategy. The myth of the lone visionary struck by a sudden, brilliant insight is just that—a myth. True innovation isn't about luck; it's about process. Generating breakthrough ideas can be a systematic, repeatable activity. By moving beyond passive inspiration and adopting active methods, you...
info_outline
The Confidence to be VISIBLE with Sheena Yap Chan
Pushing Beyond the Obvious - Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed
Introduction Confidence doesn’t always come naturally, especially when you grow up rarely seeing people like you represented in leadership, media, or success stories. In a world where visibility often determines opportunity, learning how to show up fully becomes essential. Sheena Yap Chan, a keynote speaker, leadership strategist, and author, shares powerful insights on confidence, identity, and visibility, particularly for Asian women navigating personal and professional spaces. Why Representation Matters More Than We Think? Growing up in Canada, Sheena often felt the absence of...
info_outline
Don’t Solve Problems. Develop Problem Solvers
Pushing Beyond the Obvious - Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed
Premise The real job of a leader is not decision-making. It is decision capability-building and this can be done by creating better leaders from those that they lead. Bad leaders manage how work is being done, good leaders manage whether the work is being done and great leaders create capacity so that the work gets done. This is possible only when we are able to find ways to train them, to coach them and to get them ready for their journey as a leader. This requires us to give them additional responsibilities and create opportunities to lead as part of the day-to-day work. We can prepare...
info_outline
What Quentin Tarantino Can Teach Leaders About their Jobs
Pushing Beyond the Obvious - Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed
In this short narration, talks about the role of a director and it is a classic definition of what we need to do as leaders to become a leader worth following. Very early in his career, he asked on what was the job of a director in the making of a movie and here is what he was told – “It is not your job to create your vision, it is your job to have a vision! And it is your job then to hire talented people who understand your vision. You articulate your vision to them. Then they take your vision and they create it. And with them creating it, you bring your inputs to...
info_outlinePremise
In this podcast episode, we host India's biggest and best Executive Coach Shital Kakkar Mehra. She has trained more than 1000 CxO's and more than 40000 leaders about how to develop their executive presence.
We talk about how the we lead and what is expected from us shifts as we continue to grow in our careers and what makes us successful early in our career is no longer enough when we become managers (managing people) and it changes again, when we start leading managers and agains shifts when we start leading functions and organisations.
Apart from all the technical skills and the ability to make decisions and lead their team, we all also need what is called "Executive Presence". Let's figure out what it is and how can one go about developing it within ourselves.
Lessons from the Conversation
1. The Invisible Ceiling
In the high-stakes world of executive leadership, the ascent to the top is frequently compared to climbing Mount Everest. Reaching the "Base Camp" of your career requires physical stamina, technical aptitude, and raw motivation.
However, as any seasoned strategist will tell you, the skills required to reach Base Camp are fundamentally insufficient for the final push to the Summit.
To reach the peak—the C-suite—leaders must pivot from reliance on technical expertise to the mastery of "Executive Presence." This is the intangible "X-Factor" that distinguishes a high-performing manager from a true leader.
Without it, even the most brilliant minds hit an invisible ceiling, possessing the data but lacking the gravitas to influence the board.
2. The "Hygiene Factor" Fallacy
At senior levels, technical brilliance and intellectual capability are no longer competitive advantages; they are "hygiene factors." Much like basic cleanliness in a hospital, these traits are expected baseline requirements. They provide the foundation, but "presence" provides the leverage.
To diagnose where a leader’s impact is stalling, we utilize the POISE formula. This framework treats leadership as an iceberg: while 90% of your value (technicality) lies beneath the surface, the 10% that is visible (physicality) is what dictates whether others are willing to dive deeper.
- P – Physical Presence: The visual semiotics of leadership. Packaging and body language serve as the primary point of visibility, signaling readiness and authority.
- O – Online Presence: Your digital equity. This encompasses how you project authority on screen, in digital communications, and across professional social networks.
- I – Influencer Skills: The bedrock of executive maturity. This involves the strategic ability to say "no," the discernment to listen, and the emotional intelligence to navigate complex stakeholder landscapes.
- S – Stage Presence: The "General’s Skill." Historically, battles were won not just by army size, but by a leader’s ability to communicate a vision that galvanized the ranks.
- E – Engagement Presence: Relationship capital. The intentional building of networks within and outside the organization to ensure visibility, which remains the primary driver of opportunity.
3. The 33% Impact Tax: Why Your "Camera Off" Policy is Killing Your Career
In the post-pandemic landscape, leadership impact is governed by the Triple V Formula:
- Visual: How you look and the environment you project.
- Verbal: The specific vocabulary and syntax you employ.
- Vocal: The modulation and delivery of your voice.
If you choose to keep your camera off during virtual engagements, you are effectively paying a 33% tax on your potential impact. In a remote environment, your face is your most mobile and expressive tool for building trust. Showing up "camera ready" is a signal of professional respect and interpersonal equity.
"I’m not Fox Studios. I’m not calling you to launch your Hollywood career… just switch on the camera so that we can build a good working relationship... when you look like you’re ready for business, it says, 'Of course, I respect you and I’m serious about my work.'"
- Shital Kakkar Mehra
4. The 30-Second Rule: Why Preparation Trumps "Winging It"
There is a persistent myth in corporate circles that executive presence is impromptu and that either you have it or you dont.
In reality, the most seamless presence is the result of rigorous preparation - Pre-meeting Research.
A leader’s success in a high-stakes meeting is determined in the first 30 seconds. If you establish context and confidence immediately, the remaining 29 minutes and 30 seconds flow with ease.
To achieve this, adopt the "Newspaper Headline" approach: speak in punchy, high-impact bullet points first, then deep-dive into the details only when you have secured the audience's interest.
True "impromptu" excellence is a performance. Much like professional comedy, which relies on hours of perfecting timing and scripts, executive presence is the result of anticipating tangents and preparing intelligent questions before the first word is spoken.
5. Death by PPT vs. The Performance of Leadership
Traditional "Death by PPT" is a symptom of a leader who has failed to transition from a Subject Matter Expert to a Performer.
Slides should be reserved for visual evidence—graphs, photos, or videos—never as a teleprompter. Once you take the stage, you are a performer charged with managing the energy of the room.
The most critical, yet often neglected, tool in this performance is voice modulation:
- Volume: Use loudness for emphasis, but remember that a whisper can often draw an audience in more effectively.
- Pitch: Varying your high and low notes prevents the "monotone fatigue" that causes audiences to disengage.
- Tone: In both professional and personal spheres, tone is the primary driver of conflict. Just as a large percentage of marital disputes are caused by how something was said rather than what was said, a leader's tone can either build a bridge or incite a defensive response.
6. The Evolution of the Alpha: From Autocrat to Cultural Steward
The "Alpha" leader of the early 2000s—the autocratic command-and-control figure—is obsolete. Modern leadership requires a significant mindset shift, particularly for leaders in their 40s and 50s who were trained in a different era.
Today’s workplace often spans five distinct generations, each with varying expectations regarding mental health, empathy, and mutual respect.
The role of the leader has evolved from being the primary source of value to being the "Guard" or Cultural Steward or a Facilitator for the flow of information and decision making.
Your job is to ensure the team is cared for and the environment is psychologically safe so that they can deliver the value. Empathy is no longer a "soft skill"; it is a core requirement for retention and performance in a multi-generational landscape.
7. The "Silent" Skill: Mastering the Power of the Pause
The ultimate hallmark of executive maturity is the ability to stop talking. It is a profound linguistic coincidence that the words "Listen" and "Silent" are composed of the exact same letters.
The "Power of the Pause" allows for perspective. It gives your audience time to process your "newspaper headlines" and gives you the space to buy time and breathe.
This intentionality is what transforms a person into a brand. Every leader must recognize that they are the CEO of their own personal brand, and every brand requires strategic investment, promotion, and consistent visibility to remain relevant.
Reflection and the pause lead to intentionality. Are you currently content remaining at the Base Camp, or are you ready to begin the specialized training required for the Summit?
In Conclusion
In conclusion, I would say that every stage of the leadership ladder (individual contributor, managing people, managing managers, managing functions and managing organisations) each require new skills to be learnt, in addition to what we have already mastered at the existing level.
One that that becomes even more critical is our ability to show up and be seen, heard and trusted by the teams that we lead. Building a strong executive presence goes a long way in achieving this.
You can watch the entire conversation on YouTube here.