Soft Skills & Emotional Intelligence

I Can Spot a Great Candidate in 30 Seconds - Without Looking at Their Resume. At Vicco Laboratories, the first few interview rounds are handled by our HR and leadership team. They assess skills, experience, performance history - all the standard checkboxes. But when someone reaches my room, I’m not evaluating capability. I’m evaluating character. Because skills can be trained. Character can’t. So in the final round, I deliberately observe three things before we even get into formal questions: 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐭 1: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐨𝐦 Before they enter, I always ask our receptionist to make them wait for a few minutes. Not to trouble them — but to observe: Do they greet her or ignore her? Do they show gratitude or entitlement? Do they smile or stay blank? Do they thank her when being called in? If someone is only respectful upwards, they’re not fit for leadership. 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐭 2: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 During the conversation, I pause intentionally. A great candidate: Doesn’t panic when things go quiet Holds eye contact without overcompensating Thinks before responding, instead of rushing to impress Silence is a pressure test.  Silence exposes a person’s comfort with themselves. And self-assured people make better decisions under pressure. 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐭 3: 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐀𝐬𝐤 “𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐜𝐨”, 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 “𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐈 𝐆𝐞𝐭?” I watch closely when compensation and responsibilities are discussed. If the questions are only about salary, perks and timings, they’re employees. If they ask about learning culture, values, decision-making structure…they are already thinking as an owner. I’ll always choose alignment over achievement. So if you’re ever preparing for your final round anywhere — don’t just prepare your resume. Prepare your presence. Because long after your words fade, your character stays in the room. Sanjeev Pendharkar  Just sharing what I’ve learnt #values #business #hiring #hr #decisionmaking #cv #leadership #skills

The silent productivity killer you've never heard of... Attention Residue (and 3 strategies to fight back): The concept of "attention residue" was first identified by University of Washington business professor Dr. Sophie Leroy in 2009. The idea is quite simple: There is a cognitive cost to shifting your attention from one task to another. When our attention is shifted, there is a "residue" that remains in the brain and impairs our cognitive performance on the new task. Put differently, you may think your attention has fully shifted to the next task, but your brain has a lag—it thinks otherwise! It's relatively easy to find examples of this effect in your own life: • You get on a call but are still thinking about the prior call. • An email pops up during meeting and derails your focus. • You check your phone during a lecture and can't refocus afterwards. There are two key points worth noting here: 1. The research indicates it doesn't seem to matter whether the task switch is "macro" (i.e. moving from one major task to the next) or "micro" (i.e. pausing one major task for a quick check on some minor task). 2. The challenge is even more pronounced in a remote/hybrid world, where we're free to roam the internet, have our chat apps open, and check our phones all while appearing to be focused in a Zoom meeting. With apologies to any self-proclaimed proficient multitaskers, the research is very clear: Every single time you call upon your brain to move away from one task and toward another, you are hurting its performance—your work quality and efficiency suffer. Author Cal Newport puts it well: "If, like most, you rarely go more than 10–15 minutes without a just check, you have effectively put yourself in a persistent state of self-imposed cognitive handicap." Here are three strategies to manage attention residue and fight back: 1. Focus Work Blocks: Block time on your calendar for sprints of focused energy. Set a timer for a 45-90 minute window, close everything except the task at hand, and focus on one thing. It works wonders. 2. Take a Breather: Whenever possible, create open windows of 5-15 minutes between higher value tasks. Schedule 25-minute calls. Block those windows on your calendar. During them, take a walk or close your eyes and breathe. 3. Batch Processing: You still have to reply to messages and emails. Pick a few windows during the day when you will deeply focus on the task of processing and replying to these. Your response quality will go up from this batching, and they won't bleed into the rest of your day. Attention residue is a silent killer of your work quality and efficiency. Understanding it—and taking the steps to fight back—will have an immediate positive impact on your work and life. If you enjoyed this or learned something, share it with others and follow me Sahil Bloom for more in future! The beautiful visualization is by Roberto Ferraro.

Hire people BETTER THAN YOU and DIFFERENT TO YOU… Then LEARN FROM THEM. 🙏🏾 Sounds straightforward, doesn't it? Yet, why do so many leaders still struggle to grasp it? It’s because there's often hidden complexity beneath the surface. For example: 👀 Insecurity: Some leaders want to maintain the perception of being the smartest or most capable in the room. Therefore, surrounding themselves with highly skilled individuals could make them feel inadequate or threatened. 🔐 Need for Control: Hiring “less competent” team members could ensure that the leader remains the central figure, exerting control over important matters. 😱 Fear of Challenge: A diverse team can bring different viewpoints that might challenge the leader's ideas and decisions. 🧘🏾♂️ Comfort Zone: Some leaders prefer familiarity and ease, preventing them from being pushed out of their boundaries. ❤️ Misguided Loyalty: Leaders might adopt favouritism and hire people based on personal relationships or loyalties. 🤔 Short-Term Thinking: Hiring less skilled individuals could be a short-sighted approach to save costs or meet immediate needs, ignoring the long-term benefits of a talented and diverse team. 🤷🏾♂️ Lack of Awareness: Some leaders might just not fully recognise the value of diversity or the importance of surrounding themselves with skilled individuals. Leaders like the above ☝🏽are missing out on: 🧠 Amplified Intelligence: “Fuse Minds" Surrounding yourself with smarter people boosts team intelligence. Just like a puzzle, different pieces fit together to create a whole that's stronger than its parts. 🚀 Fast-Track Growth: “Learn from Experts" Learning from the best accelerates personal growth. Imagine being on a rocket powered by knowledge and experience – you'll reach your goals faster. 🤔 Constant Innovation: “Open Doors" Humility opens doors to innovation. Acknowledging that you don't know everything encourages openness to fresh ideas and creative solutions. 🏋️♂️ Informed Choices: “Embrace Thought Variety" Embracing diversity of thought leads to well-rounded decisions. Different perspectives catch what others might miss, reducing blind spots. 🤝 Unified Power: “Flourish in Collaboration” Collaboration flourishes when skills vary. Strength lies in unity, and a mix of talents creates a powerhouse of cooperation. 🌱 Trust Building: “Strengthen Culture" Inclusive leadership fosters loyalty and trust. Encouraging growth shows you value your team members, creating a supportive environment. 🚀 Ensured Continuity: “Smooth Transition" Passing the baton ensures continuity. When your team can carry the torch, you're free to explore new horizons without being tied down. In short, the aim of any great leader is to make your daily responsibilities redundant. This is best achieved by hiring people better than you, and those that share a different perspective. Empower them, learn from them and the rest will take care of itself 🦋

Should you try Google’s famous “20% time” experiment to encourage innovation? We tried this at Duolingo years ago. It didn’t work. It wasn’t enough time for people to start meaningful projects, and very few people took advantage of it because the framework was pretty vague. I knew there had to be other ways to drive innovation at the company. So, here are 3 other initiatives we’ve tried, what we’ve learned from each, and what we're going to try next. 💡 Innovation Awards: Annual recognition for those who move the needle with boundary-pushing projects. The upside: These awards make our commitment to innovation clear, and offer a well-deserved incentive to those who have done remarkable work. The downside: It’s given to individuals, but we want to incentivize team work. What’s more, it’s not necessarily a framework for coming up with the next big thing. 💻 Hackathon: This is a good framework, and lots of companies do it. Everyone (not just engineers) can take two days to collaborate on and present anything that excites them, as long as it advances our mission or addresses a key business need. The upside: Some of our biggest features grew out of hackathon projects, from the Duolingo English Test (born at our first hackathon in 2013) to our avatar builder. The downside: Other than the time/resource constraint, projects rarely align with our current priorities. The ones that take off hit the elusive combo of right time + a problem that no other team could tackle. 💥 Special Projects: Knowing that ideal equation, we started a new program for fostering innovation, playfully dubbed DARPA (Duolingo Advanced Research Project Agency). The idea: anyone can pitch an idea at any time. If they get consensus on it and if it’s not in the purview of another team, a cross-functional group is formed to bring the project to fruition. The most creative work tends to happen when a problem is not in the clear purview of a particular team; this program creates a path for bringing these kinds of interdisciplinary ideas to life. Our Duo and Lily mascot suits (featured often on our social accounts) came from this, as did our Duo plushie and the merch store. (And if this photo doesn't show why we needed to innovate for new suits, I don't know what will!) The biggest challenge: figuring out how to transition ownership of a successful project after the strike team’s work is done. 👀 What’s next? We’re working on a program that proactively identifies big picture, unassigned problems that we haven’t figured out yet and then incentivizes people to create proposals for solving them. How that will work is still to be determined, but we know there is a lot of fertile ground for it to take root. How does your company create an environment of creativity that encourages true innovation? I'm interested to hear what's worked for you, so please feel free to share in the comments! #duolingo #innovation #hackathon #creativity #bigideas

Avoiding tough talks is a direct path to losing team trust. Here's how top leaders handle conflict: 1/ The Real Problem → Leaders stall, hoping conflict resolves itself → Feedback gets softened until it’s meaningless → The issue festers, and performance suffers 2/ Why It Matters → Projects halt because no one says what needs to be said → The wrong people stay in the room, the right ones leave → Culture declines and misalignment becomes the norm 3/ The CLEAR Framework → Cut the Fluff: Skip the warm-up and get to the point → Label the Behavior: Focus on actions, not identity → Explain the Impact: Make it real, why does it matter? → Ask for Alignment: Invite a response, not a lecture → Recommit or Redirect: Don’t end vague, end with clarity 4/ What Happens Next → Tension goes down, not up → People feel respected, not ambushed → Projects move forward, with trust, not silence 5/ Why You Need This → Leading isn’t about avoiding discomfort → It’s about creating clarity when others won’t → This framework gives you the words to do it right What's your biggest takeaway?

One lesson that has served me well over the years: Don’t carry bad blood. In any long career you will be misunderstood. You’ll disagree. You’ll feel wronged. Sometimes even betrayed. Decisions won’t go your way. People will make calls you don’t agree with. The temptation is to keep score. But resentment is expensive. It clouds judgment. It narrows perspective. It limits future opportunity and is neither rational nor helpful. I’ve learned that making things right is both good relational practice and good business practice. Industries are small. Reputations compound. People you disagree with today may become partners tomorrow. And often, when you sit down and have the hard conversation, you discover the situation was more complex than you initially believed. There is real freedom in choosing not to carry offense. In picking up the phone and saying, “Let’s reset.” Over time, it builds a network of people who know you value relationships. Early in my career I valued results over relationships. Now, I know relationships trump results. Relationships are far more enduring and valuable than the near term results I used to favor. That’s good for business. More importantly, it’s good for the soul.

❌ I am not a Girlboss, a She-EO, or Bossbabe ❌ I am a founder that has a first-class degree, is building a successful startup, has raised millions in funding, regularly speaks at conferences and events, and has worked hard to build my reputation as a future of work thought leader Yes, my gender counted against me for some of these things, but prefacing my achievements with my gender subtly undermines them And even worse, it encourages the thinking that some of these things only happened because I am a woman "Girlification" is damaging to professional women 💥 Women with feminised job titles aren't taken as seriously 💥 The feminising of job titles makes the defaults male 💥 Most women hate these titles and feel infantilised by them Women deserve the same titles as their male counterparts, and the same level of respect that comes with these titles Or we can start referring to men as Boybosses, He-EOs, or Bropreneurs? Your choice ✌️ Honestly, all of these titles give me the ick 🤮 Flexa #GenderEquality #DiversityEquityInclusion #Startups

Someone sent an email early this week: “Being around new people makes me quite uncomfortable. Until now, my job was fully remote, which suited me well. We’ve recently shifted to a hybrid model, and I’ve realized that I become overly conscious. My seniors have also started treating me like a pushover by assigning unnecessary deadlines and putting me under pressure, even when there’s no urgency. How can I stand up for myself without damaging my work relationships?” She further explained: - I believe I am an introverted person and have always been that way. - I often view myself as inferior to others in social or official gatherings. - The way some seniors speak to me, often with a very authoritative tone, makes me feel disheartened. - I think a part of me holds back out of respect. I replied: You’re not broken. But you are stuck in a story that no longer serves you. You call yourself an introvert. But introversion isn’t the issue here. Avoidance is. You're avoiding them because you're afraid of not measuring up. That’s self-doubt disguised as personality. You feel inferior in social settings because others have seen more, done more. Sure. But here’s the truth: Nobody ever learned how to swim by standing on the shore and watching others talk about the ocean. You’ll learn by showing up as you are, not by waiting till you become "enough." Now to the workplace. You say you don’t push back because you don’t want to be disrespectful or argumentative.  Being assertive is not being disrespectful. And being silent is not being respectful. It’s being invisible. You are not helping your future self by avoiding temporary discomfort today. Here’s what I would do: - Pick one moment this week to say something you normally wouldn’t. Start small. But start. - Script your pushback: “I understand the urgency, but I’ll need until X to do this well.” Firm. Respectful. Clear. - Stop apologizing for not knowing enough. Nobody knows everything. You’re allowed to ask. You’re allowed to not have been everywhere. You’re allowed to learn in real time. This version of you - the quiet one, the one who makes herself smaller - is a story that needs to stop. Time to write a better one. Image via Colby Kultgen and Ben Meer 

AI handled 75% of customer chats at Klarna… and they still brought humans back. Why? Because speed isn’t the same as quality! Because customers noticed the difference. And it wasn’t good. Speed? Great. Empathy? Missing. Trust? Slipping. After a year of leaning heavily on AI, they’re rehiring human support agents. Real people. Not because AI failed—but because it wasn’t enough. AI can answer your question. But only a human can make you feel heard. Klarna is now hiring in rural areas and among student communities—betting on empathy, not just efficiency. This should be a wake-up call. You can automate tasks. But relationships? They still need people! This is why the future isn’t human vs AI. It’s human with AI. And the companies who get that balance right? They’ll win customer loyalty, and talent, faster than any chatbot ever could.

This quote got me thinking. Early in my career, I struggled with how people showed up. I was often called too intense, I was often perceived as overwhelming, but the truth of it is I SHOWED UP! I was engaged, I was committed, and I wanted to make an impact. Not knowing why there was such a difference between how I showed up and others, I learned … that ONLY 31% of employees are enthusiastic and energized by their work? Imagine that almost 70% of the people in your team are there because they just have to 🫣 I honestly can't imagine that, which is why I implemented some solutions in my teams, most of it worked, some of it I’m still testing & trying … Here are some things I did: 👉 Trust & Empower: I involve my team in decision-making processes and push decisions to them when possible. This fosters a sense of ownership and responsibility. 👉 Celebrate Feedback: I create an environment where feedback is frequent and constructive. It encourages continuous learning and growth. 👉 Connect 'Why' to Vision: I share a compelling vision to motivate team members and clearly explain why their contributions matter. 👉 Offer Development: I signal my commitment to personal growth with training and development opportunities. It sparks motivation and increases loyalty. 👉 Recognize & Praise: I acknowledge achievements and make saying ‘thank you’ my default. A little recognition goes a long way to boost morale and motivation. 👉 Promote Diversity: I embrace diverse perspectives and backgrounds to enrich the work environment, prompt healthy debate, and drive innovation. 👉 Encourage Collaboration: I encourage teamwork on projects. This builds a sense of community and belonging while also accelerating learning 👉 Challenge Comfort Zones: I push and encourage team members to expand their skills and what they think is possible. It promotes growth and enthusiasm. 👉 Cultivate Inclusivity: I ensure all voices are heard. For example, I make sure extroverts don't steal the show and create the space needed for quieter team members to speak. Be the leader that serves, empowers and inspires. And all will go just fine 🙌 #EmployeeEngagement #TeamMotivation #WorkCulture