Recently one of my clients was asking me if she should go for this study program that helps her prepare for future VC opportunities. Sharing my response here to her here ^

My 3 main principles that underpin my response are to:

1) Start with the longer-term view of where you want to go
2) Figure out what tends to distract you from getting there
3) Think about where is best to allocate your resources (time / energy / money)

You are technically the CEO of your own life and by an extension, your career.

Focusing on gaining clarity on these 3 pillars are what I personally think is most important to steer your career in the direction that is more aligned to where you want to take it :)

I realized pivots I have made since my first role were largely based on this principle - just that I articulated it as "How can I make my next role include more of my energizers and less of my drainers" but essentially the same thing.

Steps I followed in a nutshell:

1) Articulating what my energizers and drainers are

2) Which includes being very honest with myself on what I am just not as good at and don't have a natural affinity/ inclination in

3) Reducing the power of people's opinions on my choices because its my life not theirs (And I am the one that is feeling the actions of my choices every day)

So far this strategy has worked out well for me in terms of both performance and well-being! I didn't want my best outcome to be a state where I am successful externally on societal terms but deeply unhappy internally.

I strongly believe that when you enjoy what you do, you naturally perform better (and can work harder more effortlessly) and in time, money as a by-product will come 💪

"Speaking up in high-stakes situations can be tough.

Here are ready-to-use scripts to help you navigate workplace politics smoothly:

🔹 When someone takes credit for your work:
​ ❌ Don’t say: “That was my idea!”
​ ✅ Instead, try: “I’m so glad this idea is gaining traction! When I first developed it, I was excited about the potential impact. Let’s discuss how we can build on its further.”

🔹 When you need to push back on a bad decision:
​ ❌ Don’t say: “I don’t think this is the right approach.”
​ ✅ Instead, try: “I see the benefits of this approach. Have we also considered [alternative option] to minimize risks?”

🔹 When you’re excluded from an important conversation:
​ ❌ Don’t say: “Why wasn’t I invited to that meeting?”
​ ✅ Instead, try: “I noticed that [X topic] was discussed. Since I’ve been working on this, I’d love to contribute insights next time. Would it be helpful if I shared key updates now?”

There are some hard-earned lessons we wish we had learned earlier in our careers—here’s what we’d tell our younger selves:

1️⃣ Avoiding politics doesn’t mean you’re neutral—it just means you’re invisible. If you’re not advocating for yourself, someone else is shaping the narrative.

2️⃣ Office politics aren’t just about getting ahead—they’re about ensuring your contributions are valued. If you don’t engage strategically, you risk being sidelined.

3️⃣ Building connections is not “extra”—it’s a force multiplier. The biggest career shifts often come from relationships, not just skills."

- Uma and Jingjin from The Elevate Group

We live in a world obsessed with quick wins.

People then get upset/ frustrated/ discouraged that they don't see any wins and give up.

In my opinion, these are the 4 foundational levers that truly matter -

1️⃣ Consistency of working on yourself and your skillsets so your growth does not plateau or stagnate.

2️⃣ The courage to define and walk away from ‘good enough' so that you can eventually get to 'great'.

3️⃣ Cultivating relationships that are authentic and not transactional i.e actually caring about the people you work with instead of seeing them as a resource.

4⃣ Investing in strategic impact areas which can compound over time and pay back dividends in future e.g your personal brand.

The results will then culminate into something more enduring.

Happy Friday all! ✨

Context: She was a mum who was doing well in her career but took a 2y break to be more present when her kid was born. I didn't know everyone before me told her to settle and that my words gave her some hope.

Awwww so happy to receive this msg today!! 🥹

I don't believe that people should settle or tolerate just for the sake of it and I am glad to empower more people to believe that they are much more than their past programming ❤️‍🔥🙌

When you realize that interviewing does NOT have to feel so painful and draining.

It usually is if you let it mean something about you personally e.g when you attach the outcome to your self-worth.

But it is possible to feel calm and collected like my client here.

I am soooo proud of her because she used to be such an anxious wreck before just a couple of months back.

And the best part? You not only feel better, you actually perform much better in this optimal mind space 💯

Progress and wins after she worked on herself 🔥🙌🙆‍♀️

This article sums up perfectly what I shared with some of my clients recently -

Strategic hard work > Hard work

We must first be more strategic about i) what levers we want to put MORE effort in and ii) also what we should do LESS of.

This not only helps us to ensure our hard work goes a longer way - it also helps us to differentiate ourselves from others and leverages the key skill of DISCERNMENT which is required in more senior positions.

Do check out the article :)

https://thewokesalaryman.substack.com/p/worked-hard-so-what

Woo a great eg fr my client that retrenchment doesnt need to be more painful than we let it.

Esp if we don't let it mean anything about our self worth and we have clear plans on how to move forward even more powerfully.

Super proud of him 💪👏🔥

A lovely article by @thewokesalaryman as always!! 🙆‍♀

I see this a lot in my clients actually - them striving to not be like their bosses (or parents as well for that matter).

We can always break the cycle - it's a choice 💪

https://thewokesalaryman.substack.com/p/lessons-ex-bosses

Effective influencing does not simply come from delivering a great presentation. Your ability to influence is shaped by what you do long before stepping into any meeting room.

Specifically, this boils down to three key questions:

1) "How much credibility do I have? What is my reputation? Does my track record help with or detract from my actual spiel?"

2) "How consistent have I been in my messaging? Am I selective and focused? Am I telling the same story over time?"

3) "Have I sought out the right champions? Do I have allies in the room? Have I consulted the right people beforehand?"

None of these things can be manufactured on the spot. They all take time and effort, way before any meeting is even on calendar.

And they always make a huge difference.

- Herng Lee

There is an enormous difference between working hard on something that is a grind and working hard on something that comes easily to you.

Exceptional results almost exclusively happen when you work hard on an area where you have some natural aptitude.

Play to your strengths.

- James Clear

If you're feeling stuck (even though you're smart, experienced, and performing well), there's a reason:

You're not stuck because you're underperforming.

You're stuck because your strategy no longer works at this level.

Most high performers eventually hit a wall where the old playbook stops working.

But instead of changing the strategy, they start refined thrashing:

Another certification

→ A department switch

→ Updating the résumé again

→ Taking everyone's advice

→ Hoping something finally clicks

Here's the hard truth:

If your strategy is dead, no amount of optimization will bring it back to life.

What got you here won't get you there.

Because the next level doesn't require more.

It requires different.

You need a better vehicle-one that aligns with:

🔥Where the market is going

🔥 What decision-makers actually reward

🔥 The kind of work that energizes you

Top performers don't just climb.

They fast-track the right outcome.

- Misha Rubin

Some reminders from The Woke Salaryman as the work week starts on how to be visible at work without being cringe!

Having worked at Google previously where visibility is so key to things such as performance evaluations and promotions, I saw how our culture of keeping our head down,woke doing the work and expecting people to notice it just does not cut it.

I think this topic is very much needed and glad they covered it :)

Key points from TWS here but check out their link below for the full version -

1️⃣ Focus on being competent first

2️⃣ Uplift others as a way to uplift yourself

3️⃣ Be mindful of context - not all situations are opportunities to be visible

https://thewokesalaryman.substack.com/p/visible-at-work

Another great post by The Woke Salaryman on identifying whether one is stuck in a dead end job!! 💪

This is my fave snaps of the article but do check out the full one :)

https://thewokesalaryman.substack.com/p/dead-end-job

The career strategy that has worked phenomally for me since I discovered it (maybe from Victor Cheng) is actually very simple conceptually.

It just needs to be executed consistently and diligently -

1) Knowing what I am really good at.

2) Knowing what I am weak at.

3) Designing my career such thay 1) is incredibly valued and 2) is not very relevant.

This also helps to maximize the effort to ROI ratio.

Hopefully its helpful for those who are in the midst of their career discovery 🙆‍♀💪

Most high achievers don’t lose their boundaries.

They give them away one "yes" at a time.

We say yes to be helpful. To be liked. To be seen as a team player.

But over time, our days become ruled by other people’s priorities — and our own performance suffers.

What separates executives from everyone else isn’t that they work more. It’s that they protect the space to work on the right things.

Boundaries are how they do it.

And the first step in setting boundaries isn’t saying no. It’s getting clear on what makes you effective in the first place.

💭Reflection - Take a minute to audit your approach:

✅ I know when I do my best work

✅ I’ve named 1–2 “non-negotiables”

✅ I’ve clearly communicated how I work best

✅ I hold the line, even when it’s uncomfortable

✅ I revisit and evolve my boundaries as I grow

Boundaries won’t hurt your career. They’ll help it grow.

They show that you know how to lead yourself and protect what makes you effective.

💭So here’s your challenge:

Pick one boundary to set this week.

Practice it. Communicate it. Hold it.

And see what happens when you stop letting your schedule run you and start leading your time like an executive.

- Maya Grossman

Sharing this helpful guide that I saw on LinkedIn!! :)

Prompts that you can use to practice interview questions, negotiations and more 💪

Also sharing some of my follow up thoughts given how prevalent AI use cases are in the interview process nowadays 💪

School is predictable; careers aren't.

In school, success means mastering defined tasks with clear guidelines assignments, exams, rubrics.

But the higher you go in your career, the less structure you'll find.

Your job stops being "Do X by Y deadline" and becomes "Figure out what actually matters, then do it."

This doesn't mean academic skills are useless. Being good at it's often the structured tasks helps early in your career foundation that gets you hired.

But as you advance, those skills aren't enough.

Nobody gives senior roles step-by-step instructions.

The higher up you go, the more your job is to decide which problems deserve solving at all.

To adapt, you have to:

1⃣ Shift from execution to judgment: Early careers reward doing what's assigned; senior careers reward figuring out what should even be assigned.

2⃣ Get comfortable making decisions with incomplete information: There's rarely a perfect rubric or right answer in senior roles.

3⃣ Build tolerance for ambiguity: If a project has clear instructions, someone junior can handle it. Senior roles deal with unclear instructions.

- Rohan Mahtani

Some reminders before the work week starts again tomorrow 💫

Everyone at the top has technical skill.

As we get promoted, our skill with people is what matters most.

At the top, leaders rarely fail because they can't do the work.

They fail because they are not able to adapt their behavior to fit the needs of their expanding role.

The higher you go, the smaller your mistakes need to be to cause big problems.

That's why great leaders never stop working on themselves.

As someone once said, 'What Got You Here Won't Get You There'.

-Marshall Goldsmith

When we climb higher, the winds become stronger.

It is not a problem of behaviour, but a reminder to strengthen our inner stability.

- Ramesh Kumar