The Chords of Life - Vineet Tandon

Vineet Tandon

Reflections on work, life, leadership and identity. Finding meaning in the moments that quietly shape who we become.

  1. 5 Jul

    400 Days at the Gym Taught Me Something I Wasn't Looking For

    Last year, in February, I walked into a gym after almost 20 years. Interestingly, I wasn’t alone. My son, Vedant, had his own reason to join. Like many youngsters, he wanted to look fitter, smarter, and more confident. My reason was much simpler. Years of sitting behind a desk had quietly added extra kilos, and I finally decided it was time to do something about them. I won’t pretend I walked in with complete confidence. In fact, I was nervous. Every few days, we hear stories about seemingly healthy people suffering heart attacks while exercising. Those stories were playing in the back of my mind. I wondered if I was starting too late. But fear is rarely a good reason to avoid change. So I hired a personal trainer, took a deep breath, and began. When I started, I believed my goal was straightforward: lose weight. But somewhere along the journey, I realized that the biggest transformation wasn’t happening in my body. It was happening in my mind. There were many mornings when I didn’t feel motivated. Many evenings when skipping the workout seemed like the easier option. Nothing dramatic happened on those days. I simply showed up. And over time, I discovered something that the gym teaches far better than any motivational quote ever can: Consistency is far more powerful than motivation. Motivation is emotional. It comes and goes. Discipline is quieter. It doesn’t ask how you feel. It simply asks whether you’ll keep the promise you made to yourself. After more than 400 days, the most valuable thing I have gained isn’t a few kilograms lost or a little more muscle. It’s the realization that meaningful change is rarely created by one extraordinary day. It is built through hundreds of ordinary days. The days when you don’t feel like it. The days when progress is invisible. The days when the only victory is that you showed up. The gym was never just about fitness. It became a daily reminder of how almost everything worthwhile in life works. Careers. Relationships. Learning. Health. Even happiness. Big results are simply the accumulation of small actions repeated long enough. Sometimes, success isn’t about doing something extraordinary. Sometimes, it’s just about getting up… and showing up

  2. 29/08/2020

    Learning to Dance In The Moment - In Conversation With Jaba Menon

    This week i have Jaba Menon, an Executive Coach sharing her perspective on our Podcast - The Chords of Life. Jaba has over three decades of experience and in her last assignment was working as Vice President, Marketing Communications at Centum Learning, a Bharti Group Company. A diligent practitioner of Nicheren Buddhism, Jaba consults global clients spread across 14 countries in her new avatar as an Executive Coach.  I was fortunate to have worked with her in early part of my career and I would not hesitate to admit that some of the marketing acumen i developed was under her able guidance.  Having spent her early childhood days in Ranchi, Jaba emerges as a strong independent woman for whom sense of purpose and work shapes her identity. Music has always been part of her life and whenever she finds herself, overhwhelmed, the song Que Sera Sera, What Will be Will Be offers hope and guidance. Having worked in Corporates for over three decades, Jaba realised that the support system for Senior Leadership is hardly adequate and this was her starting point of her journey into Executive Coaching.   Check out this interesting episode where Jaba shares her journey through the years and her commitment to reduce what she refers to as "Wastage of Human Potential". If you have questions or suggestions, please visit my website: www.vineettandon.com and write to me.  I personally answer all questions that listeners may have about the Podcast.

    Learning to Dance In The Moment - In Conversation With Jaba Menon
  3. 01/08/2020

    Lessons In Humility & Hope - In Conversation with Dr. Raj Dravid

    Dr. Raj Dravid has over 40 years of experience and has led leadership roles at IL&FS Skills and Centum Learning Africa. Dr. Raj personal career journey spread over four decades is testimony of the fact that success in career is very much a product of hard work and doesn’t happens overnight. Here are a few interesting takeaways from this Podcast – In Conversation with Dr. Raj Dravid: 1) There is no substitute for on-ground experience: If you think that you are from a premiere institution and you can start working on strategy and take high level decisions without working on the ground, you are destined to fail and learn the hard way. 2) Embrace Change: Covid19 has taught the world a few hard lessons and the best one to take forward is to embrace change. If we are not resilient and don’t embrace change, we are going to be left behind. Learn in his own words, how Pager Industry was introduced and wiped out in almost 14 months'. 3) Everyone needs a job & dignity of work: If skills that we provide people with are useful on the job or create employment, there are high possibilities that people will come for it, undertake training and will settle for jobs. The failure that we see today when people are let go with the onset of Covid-19 is because we never created that environment where workers were treated as kind of extended families. 4) Favorite Quote from The Podcast: Ask people one question, “what can you do to help others so that they can in turn help you”. 5) Love for Music: In the words of Dr Raj, “Music gives you oxygen and allows you to extend creative expression in life”.  He enjoys listening to Carnatic Music, Marathi Music, Chamber Music and enjoys Ragas and classical Hindustani as well. He has authored a book titled “Listening to Bismillah Khan” which is a standard textbook in multiple universities. If you have questions & suggestions about this Podcast, please visit: www.vineettandon.com and share your feedback.

    Lessons In Humility & Hope - In Conversation with Dr. Raj Dravid

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Reflections on work, life, leadership and identity. Finding meaning in the moments that quietly shape who we become.