1. What could Pathak have done differently? The pleasant February morning had taken a perplexing turn for Anuj Pathak. He had reached the office after a jog at the beach as had become his habit in the last few months in Mumbai. He had barely settled at his desk to review his schedule when the Vice President, HR, Gopalkrishna Pillai, had called him to his office.

Pillai had begun with a general question about how Pathak was settling in. “Quite well!” Pathak replied. “I am very confident about showing solid results at the earliest.” But Pillai had looked concerned, and said, “I’m not so sure. What I’m sensing is that people are quite unhappy with your style. I’m not mentioning any names, but some people from your department have even put in requests for transfers to other departments. They say you are standoffish and extremely critical. I am afraid that the lack of rapport with people around you will impact your performance.”

Anuj was shocked. “I have a strong track record of performance.

And I’m here to succeed! Of course, I know how essential it is to take people along and keep morale high,” he said. “We know your track record and have big expectations from you, but you need to reflect on your style,” said Pillai.