Vinita Bansal

Work is filled with difficult moments—a mean coworker, a boss who ignores your ideas, unrealistic demands from stakeholders, and a problem that turns out harder than expected. Such moments often arouse strong feelings of anger, hurt, frustration, desperation, self-doubt, low self-worth, and inadequacy. Instead of tackling the situation with a clear head, we let our emotions determine how we think and how we act. We either: Ignore the problem for too long, which messes with

Aggressive managers aren’t easy. Working with them may leave you feeling overwhelmed, fill you with self-doubt and lower your self-worth. It is like running on a treadmill that just never stops. Bigger, better goals. More responsibilities. Higher expectations. Just when you’re about to heave a sigh of relief, a new challenge is thrown your way. You dread coming to the office with the worry of what awaits you and how you’re barely going to make

We make hundreds of decisions throughout the day, most being automatic without much effort on our part. Information overload, cognitive biases, time constraints, and social and emotional influences can lead to quick and sometimes irrational conclusions. Our beliefs and worldviews act as filters that affect which information we pay attention to and how we interpret it. A lack of awareness can further make it challenging to recognize and control these automatic judgments. Critical thinking is

Apologizing at work is necessary in certain situations. But what if, instead of saying sorry when it’s needed, you say it way too often? I’m sorry to disturb you… I’m sorry to ask you again, but… I’m sorry for not responding sooner… Saying sorry may seem polite, but apologizing even when it’s not required can hurt your image and credibility—you may come across as defensive, submissive, or someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing. Saying

When trying to be direct do you often come across as too strong? Are you being called pushy, rude, insensitive or assigned other such labels? You may like to say things as they are because beating around the bush is not your style. But an honest and direct communication that lacks compassion can leave others feeling hurt, angry and annoyed. When others perceive disrespect in a conversation, they either shut down or turn defensive. When

To do well in your career, some skills matter more than others. They put you in front of others, connect you to them, build trust, and enhance your credibility. But building these skills is hard—unlike tasks that are assigned to you in which you’re expected to excel, no one gives the opportunities to practice these skills explicitly. The burden to learn and master them is on you. Practicing these skills requires initiative. You can’t go

To achieve our goals, we need to communicate well with others. But, instead of engaging in healthy dialogue right when it matters the most, we’re often at our worst behavior. We play silly and costly games — argue, attack, manipulate, or act in other self-defeating ways. Difficult conversations by nature are tricky. They are touchy topics that no one likes to talk about. They involve addressing differences of opinion, emotional issues, sensitive subjects, or other

Navigating complex problems, generating insights, and finding solutions that others didn’t know existed is the most admired skill at work. Yet, very few people are able to do it well—the ability to think critically is a rare skill. Most people lack thinking muscles because they treat it as a born gift instead of an acquired trait. Not sufficiently exercising their mind by thinking through tough problems keeps them falling for cognitive shortcuts, quick solutions, and

Ego is our biggest enemy. It not only makes us blind to our flaws and imperfections, it magnifies our desire to be right and prove others wrong. Unlike threats in our environment that we can instantly feel and pay attention to, ego is hidden deep within our subconscious. When we react to other people, we often don’t realize that it’s our ego that has hijacked our minds and is making us act in self-destructive ways.

When our team appreciates our work or applauds us for a job well done, we feel proud, joyful, and inspired. Having a team that celebrates our wins and keeps us motivated to do even better is key to happiness and long-lasting work satisfaction. However, to grow in our career, cheer and admiration are not enough. We also need people who can point out our faults, highlight our flaws, and help us see our imperfections. Our