Business Physics For CEOs Who Want Less Stress

Leadership can look confident on the outside while quietly collapsing under pressure on the inside. We sit down with Rajesh Naji, a CEO mentor and “business physicist,” to get brutally practical about why high-performing founders start to flounder in stressful moments and what actually restores clear thinking. Rajesh uses a model that stuck with me: performance equals potential minus interference. When fear, doubt, anxiety, and sleepless nights pile up, the interference grows and the quality of decisions drops, even for the smartest leaders in the room.

From there, we go deeper into what Rajesh means by applying physics to business: the strength of the chain equals the strength of its weakest link. Instead of chasing every tactic, we talk bottlenecks, throughput, and why simplicity often beats complexity. Rajesh also shares the surprising metrics he uses when deciding whether he will work with a CEO, including family meals, time with parents, and showing up for your kids. It’s a leadership mindset that ties business performance to real life fulfillment.

We also explore resonance as a coaching principle, how listening and reflecting can unlock movement without “fixing” people, and how community and belonging shape culture across countries. Rajesh shares concrete assignments, including a powerful practice to rebuild faith during uncertainty and a simple business exercise that flips your focus from what you want to what your customers want, with a nod to Peter Drucker’s view of what business is for.

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Ambitious leaders know that real leadership goes far beyond titles—it’s about developing the clarity and mindset to guide others with confidence. In this podcast, you’ll explore what today’s leaders truly need, from navigating everyday problem solving to handling tough moments of workplace conflict with steadiness and respect. Episodes dive into setting healthy workplace boundaries, strengthening workplace collaboration, and building the emotional intelligence and emotional agility that make leadership sustainable. Whether you’re managing a growing team or refining your voice as a decision-maker, you’ll find insights that help you cultivate a resilient growth mindset and elevate your impact.

Transcript

Welcome And Big Questions

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to another episode of the Intentional Leaders Podcast with Cindy Wetland, where we explore ideas, stories, and insights to help you lead with purpose and intention. Now, do you want to know how leadership intersects with physics and velocity and your community and your relationship with your parents? You gotta tune into this episode. I am going to be interviewing Rajesh Naji, who is a CEO and founder of Business and a Business Physicist. He is a coach and mentor to people across the world based in India, and he has experiences that you will be fascinated by. His coaching really creates alignment between the inner and outer self. And he's going to share some of his insights about how he came to this philosophy and strategy in working with CEOs and leaders and the effect that it's had on the people that he has served, which has been thousands. Let's take a listen. Do you want to know how leadership intersects with physics, velocity, your relationship with your community and your parents? Well, boy, do I have a super cool guest for you today. I am going to be interviewing Rajesh Najiz, who is based in India. He is a CEO coach and business leader. He is a business physicist. And he's going to share with us his journey of how he learned what he learned about business and also human performance and share some insights about how to create alignment between your inner and outer game. I find him a fascinating human being as well as an amazing coach. He has worked with thousands of people over his years and his career, and he's going to share many of those insights with you today. Let's take a listen.

Inner Game Versus Outer Game

SPEAKER_01 2:22

All right. Welcome to the Intentional Leaders Podcast. Raj, I am so excited to have you on today. And you are in your primary location is in Dubai. And today you're in Mumbai. And so what time is it in your corner of the world?

SPEAKER_00 2:40

It's 8 35 in the evening.

SPEAKER_01 2:42

Oh, so all right, we got to get this thing going because you're probably like ready to wind down from your day. Um, but thank you for joining me, especially in the evening. I know with the time difference. Of course, I'm here in the States. Um, we're we're at uh a little bit of a time differential. So thank you for joining me this evening.

SPEAKER_00 3:00

Brilliant.

SPEAKER_01 3:02

Um, I was so excited to meet you initially and to hear about your business. You um you uh your title, official title is a CEO mentor, but you also call yourself a business physicist. And um I I was so intrigued by that description of you, and I just couldn't wait to meet you. And then meeting you was super fun. But I want to talk about your practice of how you work with leaders, but also some of the different elements that you bring to your business that I think are really unique and powerful. So the first one that jumped out to me is you talk a lot in your materials and even when we met about the inner game and the outer game of business. So, um, what are what does that mean to you? And what are some of the barriers that you think are occurring that keep leaders back from reaching their full potential? What does that mean to you?

SPEAKER_00 4:01

So, you know, years back, Tim Galoway did a lot of research in uh when he was coaching people to become tennis pros. Yeah. And he found that, you know, during uh test conditions, uh you know, people who were very, very good started to flounder. So when they were practicing, they would ace all the matches. But um in tournaments, they would sort of so he is trying to figure out what's going on. Turns out that it's you know it's the inner game that isn't supporting the outer game. And uh so he created an equation that performance is equal to potential minus interference. And then he's done a lot of work on that. So when I started uh working, you know, in um with business owners and CEOs, I started noticing the exact same phenomena.

SPEAKER_04 5:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:04

That these people are brilliant, you know, when you you meet them, you talk to them. But when it really comes down to business and during stressful moments, the quality of decisions start to flounder. And uh because of the quality of decisions going down, the results are not that great. So I started finding those you know equations and uh fear, doubt, anxiety, sleepless nights, stress, all of that, you know, is takes a huge toll on everyone.

SPEAKER_03 5:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:40

And all of that is the whole domain of the inner game. Okay. So what is it that people are doing over and over and over? Smart people, that's leading to all this overwhelm and stress. So that's the domain I started working on.

SPEAKER_01 6:00

Okay. And then you you know, from our discussion, you said you started to apply physics to business.

Why Physics Fits Business

SPEAKER_01 6:08

And I I thought, how intriguing is that? So, um, how did that come up, or how did that crop up in your practice and how you were seeing CEOs?

SPEAKER_00 6:18

So I have two MBAs. The first one is from India, one of the top six schools, and then the second one is from London Business School. That time it was the number one in the world. Howard was number three during that period.

SPEAKER_01 6:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:33

You know, they keep fluctuating, right?

SPEAKER_01 6:35

Yes, of course.

SPEAKER_00 6:36

And um, so I went through all of that and uh I was amongst the top in my class. But both times I came out and I felt, man, I really don't get it. And uh so I said, I must be dumb.

SPEAKER_01 6:51

I highly doubt that.

SPEAKER_00 6:54

And then I started figuring, you know, I mean, who are all these people, these brilliant professors who teach us this amazing things, what brilliant insights and stuff. Turns out that around 95% plus have never run a business.

SPEAKER_02 7:10

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:12

So so they are basically very sharp journalists, they write about business. Yeah, very, very astute philosophers and historians. These three subjects are not designed to make things work.

SPEAKER_02 7:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:29

So the the subject that's designed to make things work is basically physics.

SPEAKER_02 7:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:35

That's the only subject. So I started searching for you know masters of physics who have done some serious work in business. And over the years I found 14 such masters, and I got certified in all of their frameworks, and I spent 80,000 hours on my craft to really apply physics to business. And you know, it's like like anything when you when you go deep down, you really get this massive um you know lift in your spirits that you stumble on something brilliant and you're great, and you know, all that stuff. And then slowly, slowly you start learning how little you know. Yeah, and then it comes a time when you know that humility uh and physics, that when it combines, the results start to come.

SPEAKER_02 8:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:34

So that's basically what it is. And physics, as far as I'm concerned, is is a very simple philosophy, it's a one-line philosophy that the strength of the chain is equal to the strength of its weakest link.

SPEAKER_02 8:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:49

So all you need to do is find the weak link and strengthen it, and that's the only thing that is gonna govern throughput and output. You know, so if you focus on the wrong links, you'll get a fat chain, but your throughput and output is not gonna grow.

SPEAKER_04 9:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:05

That is physics. It's end of there's not much in physics in from a philosophical point of view. Either it works or it doesn't work.

SPEAKER_03 9:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:13

And if you can just find out what makes things work. You know, I mean, if you look at mechanics, so when I was a kid, I found uh I was fascinated that my mom had locked up one of those uh steel cupboards and it wouldn't open, and probably she lost the key, I don't remember. And there was this guy who came with his bag and of tools, and he opened his stuff out, and I was trying to figure out how's he gonna do it. Then he did this, he did that, he jiggled, he went on top of the cupboard, and then he did something and he opened it. And to me that was magic.

SPEAKER_03 9:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:50

And you know, it is and he did it so simply. Sure, sure. Obviously, obviously he knew what he was doing.

SPEAKER_03 9:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:57

And I love that simplicity, and I love that magic.

SPEAKER_01 10:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

That is physics.

SPEAKER_01 10:03

Yeah. Which is really amazing that at such an early age, something like that jumped out at you that it prompted you to find the magic in the simplicity, and then you know, years later, that it shaped your career and your education. Um, and even the fact that you like, okay, I got two MBAs, but something's missing. I mean, what an amazing, you must have an amazing growth mindset to think like, I gotta keep going, and then I'm gonna study like what is it, 18 people that really know deeply about physics, and I'm gonna learn from them. Um, your amount of wisdom in your brain is probably phenomenal at this point.

SPEAKER_00 10:41

Well, I'll tell you, the the only wisdom that really counts is to stand in front of uh, you know, a client or prospect, uh founder and a CEO, look him in the eye and say, I really don't know.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

Yeah. That's an amazing thing, though, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 10:59

I'm not uh Yeah, absolutely. I'm not gonna bullshit you.

SPEAKER_01 11:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:03

How can I know? You spend a lifetime in your business.

SPEAKER_03 11:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:06

How can I know more than you?

SPEAKER_03 11:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:09

Well, and I'll tell you what I'm willing to do is I'm willing to play with you. And if you start playing, yeah, the results will start to come.

SPEAKER_03 11:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:17

But my metrics are different.

SPEAKER_02 11:19

Yeah.

Coaching Metrics That Include Family

SPEAKER_00 11:20

You know, oh, sorry, I'm interrupting you. No, no, no, no. So they get intrigued when I lay out my metrics. I say, look, I have certain conditions. If I'm going to work with you, I'm going to measure, you know, how many piano concerts and football games of your kids you attended, how many family meals you had, how many times have you spent, you know, how much time you spent with your parents. So if that is not there in your life, I'm the wrong guy.

SPEAKER_01 11:52

Yeah. Yeah. Well, we and that's what I found very intriguing by you. I mean, this this whole dimension of studying the science of physics to business and looking at that. But then the other side of you is very focused on um relationships and business and performance in people's lives outside of work. And I thought, okay, you're you're opening people up to a huge spot of vulnerability to say, I'm gonna and tell us how you do that. Because it sounds like you're go you're reaching out to their family and that kind of beyond the business piece to understand what's working with folks. Is that true? I get that right.

SPEAKER_00 12:38

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And and it really sort of is a school of hard knocks.

Completing Your Parents Relationship

SPEAKER_01 12:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:43

There was a time when my life uh was bankrupt in every area. So I got, you know, I lost my dad. My business was on, you know, on the verge of collapse. Uh I got divorced all in within six months.

SPEAKER_01 12:58

Yes, that's a lot.

SPEAKER_00 12:59

And I said, Look, I'm I'm common, except my dad passing, but everything else. So I started looking at uh, you know, what is it that you know I really need to focus on and how can I you know work and so on. And then um I locked myself in in my room for seven days and uh with two stacks of pads, one on the left, one on the right. And on the left was dad and the right was mom. And the question was, what did I learn from my dad? And what did I learn from my mom?

SPEAKER_04 13:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:33

And when I started, I was able to continuously write for two full days on what I learned from my dad.

SPEAKER_02 13:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:42

When I third day when I moved here to the right, and my mom, I found that uh there was nothing that came through the whole day. Just staring. So obviously there was a block.

SPEAKER_03 13:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:56

And long story short, fifth, sixth day, I discovered the one of the biggest things I learned from my mother was nurturing relationships. Oh that night I fell ill. And you know, I had a whole structural discharge, uh vomiting, and loose motions and all the rest of it, and fever.

SPEAKER_03 14:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:19

And um, you know, at the end of seven days, I came out very cleansed, very complete.

SPEAKER_02 14:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:25

And uh my life just took a turn, everything started to work from that moment onwards. My current wife walked into my life one month after that. Oh, and yeah, and uh so it's it's been amazing from that moment onwards. So a couple of months down the line, said, Hey, hang on, let me go back and see is there something that I can create a process out of this?

SPEAKER_03 14:49

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 14:49

So I created a process and I called it completing your relationship with your parents. And from then till now, I've taken 40,000 people through the process of completing the relationship with their parents.

SPEAKER_02 15:03

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 15:04

And when that happens, the inner game automatically gets reset. Yes, and they're they're no longer seeking approval, they're no longer bitter, and all the rest of it, right? Yeah, so there's a sense of completeness, there's a sense of wholeness.

SPEAKER_03 15:20

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 15:20

So, you know, I tell people up front, man, you know, when when you work with me, it's your inner game and the outer game, and I'm absolutely fearless. So I'm not your polite coach.

SPEAKER_01 15:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:34

If you want, if you want polite, don't come to me. I'm not rude. I'm not rude, but I like 007 license to kill.

SPEAKER_01 15:42

Right.

SPEAKER_00 15:44

And if you sign up, uh then you know, there's there's a lot of work ahead. So the people who, you know, it's obviously this is not meant for everybody, right? This is meant for people who are champions.

SPEAKER_03 15:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:56

And champions know when they find a coach who's uh on their side, yeah, uh, and at the same time it's not gonna back down, yeah. And it's gonna take them to places where they've never gone to.

SPEAKER_02 16:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:10

And that really has become my you know, my tribe.

SPEAKER_02 16:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:17

The people that come to me and they stay with me, and you know, my clients stayed 20 years.

SPEAKER_01 16:21

Yeah, oh, yeah, yeah. What a testament to your strategy, right? Your philosophy.

SPEAKER_00 16:29

We become friends, and I tell them, I go to them, hey, listen, I have this problem. Can you sit and talk to me? Yeah, I you know, I have nothing to prove. Yeah, I'm just there. Yeah, you know, and there's there's so much of so all of this is possible when people work on fulfillment in their relationships. Because without fulfillment, where are you gonna source your energy from to create results in the outer world? Yeah, so the outer game, you know, takes a toll on people. And if the inner game is not nurtured, if it's not sort of you're not whole, you're not complete, you're not joyous, you're not topped up in energy, there's no abundance in your space. Yeah, you know, you're you're you're that's why they say it's lonely at the top. It's not lonely at the top, you don't have a relationship, yeah. You don't have a relationship at work, you don't have a relationship at home.

SPEAKER_01 17:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:30

I I never feel lonely. Yeah, I never have.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

Oh my gosh. That's a that that's an amazing perspective. And when you think about the relationship with parents, I I find that fascinating. And um, as you shared, you know, your philosophy about getting at people's holistic view of who they are as a human being, not just a business person, not just an entrepreneur, not just a CEO, that you're you're looking and helping them explore their wholeness. I I think that is so compelling to me because there's so much um unresolved relationship issues that I think people can carry with them for decades and decades without realizing it, without a realizing the effect they're having on themselves and other people because that isn't reconciled or they aren't in harmony with that, or they aren't accepting of it. So that particular aspect of your work just I find endlessly fascinating because I think it's so profound. Right. But yeah, but people have to be vulnerable enough to say, yeah, I'm gonna the those 40,000 people, like I am gonna be vulnerable enough with you to go there with you.

SPEAKER_00 18:43

And you could well for me it's you know, it's now it's a stage where you know either you have it or you don't.

SPEAKER_03 18:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:50

If you don't have it, I can't work with you.

SPEAKER_01 18:52

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:53

You know, I'm I'm not soliciting.

SPEAKER_01 18:55

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:56

You know, if you I love that for you too.

SPEAKER_01 18:58

Right. That you're you're very you're very clear about how you want to do things, how you want to work with people to get to those barriers, and just setting clear boundaries right from the beginning, which I think is amazing.

Resonance Over Advice

SPEAKER_00 19:12

So I spent 35 years in music, yeah, in Indian classical music, and I had this uh amazing privilege to be with a guru. He's past now. And then I had several other gurus in different aspects of music, but a real guru is not somebody who does any form of marketing, he doesn't do selling, yeah. He he pushes you away. Yeah, and it's only if if you're really sort of you really want to master the art in that format, yeah, you'll keep at it and keep at it, and finally he may just take you in.

SPEAKER_03 19:54

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:55

You know, and with all the work that I've done, this is what I have to offer.

SPEAKER_03 20:00

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 20:01

And it's called Guru Kul. Guru Kul is the guru school. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03 20:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:07

It's the school of the guru.

SPEAKER_03 20:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:09

And the school of the guru versus everything else, the guru only works on your bottleneck.

SPEAKER_01 20:16

Yes. Oh, I love that.

SPEAKER_00 20:18

So when when I work on the bottleneck, they start seeing results.

SPEAKER_01 20:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:23

But you know, and I'll tell you, the the amazing people that I have managed to, you know, to attract and work with, yeah, they they love it. And there are times when uh I've seen so many people come and say, hey, listen, why are you soft on me?

SPEAKER_01 20:42

Oh. Oh, that's interesting.

SPEAKER_00 20:47

Yeah, it says every time, every time you hit me is when you know when I get all these paradigm shifts.

SPEAKER_01 20:53

Yeah. And do you think you're being soft on them, or is that their perception?

SPEAKER_00 20:59

No, it it see the point is I'm not being anything. I'm just being I'm just being spontaneous. I'm being uh in the moment. There's nothing. It's just reflecting. My my entire coaching process works on one single principle. It's called resonance.

SPEAKER_03 21:20

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 21:21

So resonance as opposed to convincing, um, as opposed to teaching, advising, none of that stuff. It's just create the resonance, and that resonance does something to people that they start moving forward.

SPEAKER_01 21:39

Yeah, yeah. I and I believe in that. I went to a uh webinar, and this was a few months back, on resonance and on that whole concept. And I wasn't really familiar, and I was like, I don't really know if I get that, but I I I do because even that small piece of education, I started noticing things, and you notice your energy. You notice what you're putting out there. You're noticing more about the connections. And that's a beautiful thing, but you have to be mindful of it and pay attention to it and project that kind of energy out to even open yourself up to the possibility that there is resonance. Like what does that actually mean? So I think that's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00 22:20

I think the simplest way to access a resonance, and everybody can do that, is just listen and say back what you heard.

SPEAKER_01 22:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:29

End of story. Don't add anything to it.

SPEAKER_01 22:31

Yeah. You're paying attention to that piece. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:34

And saying it back exactly because people are smart.

SPEAKER_01 22:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:37

They don't they don't need any top-up advice from you. All they need to do is to hear themselves think.

SPEAKER_01 22:44

Yeah. Yeah. Which is amazing because we don't. We don't we're we're so I think intent on doing as to as opposed to observing our own thoughts and and what those mean and what they're based in. So I think that's that's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 22:59

And you once that resonance sets in, then everything starts to move.

SPEAKER_01 23:04

Yeah. Yeah.

Culture Community And Belonging

SPEAKER_01 23:06

So you've worked with founders and CEOs across four continents. And I think that's a really cool part of your business as well. So um when you think about cultural differences, um, what leadership challenges do you see again and again, despite the geographic or cultural differences that you've explored or observed?

SPEAKER_00 23:27

You know, I've uh long time back I got interested in training dogs. Oh. Yeah, and uh I had four different kinds of dogs. I had a Doberman, I had a German shepherd, I had uh a Beagle, and so on. So uh I went and got a bunch of books, and uh you know the first book hit me right here on my chin. Okay, it says that uh it said something like uh every dog below the skin is the same.

SPEAKER_03 24:03

Oh okay.

SPEAKER_00 24:06

They you know they so we we think it's a Doberman, we think it's all of that stuff, but some are more aggressive, some are not, that's about it.

SPEAKER_04 24:16

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 24:17

But you know, you if you can connect with with what's below the skin, you'll find that it's it's so much easier rather than look for what the differences are. Yeah, so that's pretty much been my approach, is to look at what's common in people, yeah. You know, and I've uh also had an opportunity to spend quite some time with a Maasai tribe, you know, in uh in Kenya.

SPEAKER_03 24:47

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 24:48

That's a very ancient uh tribe that lives in the uh, you know, in in the whole out back there in the forest area. Right? And um their culture is is amazing, it's different, and uh they're very civilized in their own way.

SPEAKER_02 25:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:08

And they have these uh rules in the community that have been there for thousands of years, and everybody follows that, and that's why they have so much of harmony and peace within each other.

SPEAKER_02 25:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:20

So what can we learn from there? Yeah, you know, so one of the problems with all of us is the differences are coming from moving away from what has been there for thousands of years. And what's been there for thousands of years is communities, yes, and families form communities, and the moment people have become nuclear and only solo by themselves, only one single human being, yeah, uh, then you're trying to fit. Yeah, and you see that you don't have a sense of belonging. Well, you violated the model.

SPEAKER_02 26:01

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:03

So how do you how do you get people back into community? And what is the community? How does it come into existence? And what are the what are the rules of engagement in the community?

SPEAKER_02 26:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:17

And that's basically where your muddles lives.

SPEAKER_02 26:20

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:22

So so that is where all the commonality comes from.

SPEAKER_01 26:30

Okay, that's pretty amazing. All right, so now the way you've described your life, Raj, we got we got, I'm a student, I'm a musician, I um I studied physics, and I um I studied dogs. You you've really, you are a student of life, of everything. I just I want I just want to trail you around. I just want to follow you, like see what I can, what else I can learn and what else you've done. But I think that's pretty cool when you think about the the connections of people rather than the disconnections, the differences in the culture. You think about the community, the abundance, the how are we existing individually within a context of a community and what does that look like? Um, I think that's a really neat way to study people and find their similarities.

SPEAKER_00 27:22

Yeah, I mean so ultimately you really got to get to what is the ultimate search of the soul.

SPEAKER_03 27:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:32

And the ultimate search for the soul is bliss.

SPEAKER_03 27:36

Hmm. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:37

And how far away are you from bliss and what's coming in the way?

SPEAKER_01 27:42

Yeah. Well, and how when you think about the coaching that you do and the work that you do, how because you know, the these concepts can feel elusive, you know, abundance and bliss and community. For some people, I imagine they don't know what that feels like. They don't know what abundance feels like because they've they're in a scarcity mindset. They don't know what community feels like because maybe they grew up more isolated or they feel more isolated and they don't know what bliss. I talk a lot about joy, and sometimes I ask people what makes you feel joy, and they're like, I don't know. I don't I don't even know if I felt it, but which always makes me very sad. So, how do you help people even identify those concepts that are profound and meaningful to you because you understand the purpose of them with people that don't even get it? Because they've never had it in a way.

Experiential Coaching Through Assignments

SPEAKER_00 28:35

I don't talk about any of this stuff. Okay. Because it's it's it's always experiential, it's not conceptual. Okay. We work with the experience in the room or with a person, and as you sort of flow from there, I'll give you an example. So, you know, this unfortunate uh war situation that's going on in the Middle East. Yes, yeah, and uh so I had this uh one of my clients, he is very, very stressed because you know, all his deals that uh were likely to close have now all got delayed, and he's in a severe cash crunch. Yes, and uh you know he's kind of lost.

SPEAKER_03 29:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:20

So I said, okay, this is brilliant. Um I think you lost faith in yourself, you lost faith in your business and all the rest of it, and we're gonna work on faith. Yeah, are you good with that? Because unless your faith is restored, you don't have energy.

SPEAKER_02 29:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:39

So I said, Yeah. I said, Look, I'm gonna give you an assignment, and the moment I give you that assignment, I'm not gonna take it off the table. And it's a tough assignment. Are you willing to do it? And that guy says, Yeah. Now he has a three-year-old son, and I said, The assignment is you gotta spend half an hour with your son in the morning and half an hour with your son in the evening, and just soak in the faith that he has in you. Oh, and let him lead, and do not manipulate him. So I made all the rules of engagement very clear for him, yeah, and he started doing that, and his energy started to return.

SPEAKER_01 30:27

That's a beautiful, that's a beautiful assignment in so many ways and on so many levels.

SPEAKER_00 30:35

Yeah, so I don't want to teach him bliss, I don't want to teach him harmony, I don't want to talk about all that stuff. I said, go do it. Yeah, just cycle, get onto it, yeah, and cycle and see what happens.

SPEAKER_01 30:47

Yeah. So you're giving it, you're giving people assignments, you're giving them discipline around it, you're giving them where ways to focus their energy to learn the lesson through the city.

SPEAKER_00 31:00

You know, just think of it, you know, he and his son, three-year-old son.

SPEAKER_01 31:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:05

I mean, what's what's the worst that can happen?

SPEAKER_02 31:08

Right.

SPEAKER_00 31:09

Well, what is the worst?

SPEAKER_01 31:12

I don't I can't even think of anything bad that would happen if you spend an hour with your son.

SPEAKER_00 31:17

Yeah, the worst that can happen is that your emails got delayed by an hour.

SPEAKER_01 31:21

Right. Like, whoa.

SPEAKER_04 31:25

So what?

SPEAKER_00 31:26

Yeah, exactly. So what? And and you know, in a in a time when nothing is moving, you yourself are telling me nothing is moving, so hell with your emails.

SPEAKER_01 31:35

Right, right. Puts things in perspective too. Well, when you reframe the focus and and as you said, create the energy from that. You know, what's the movement that comes from?

SPEAKER_00 31:46

A week down, a week down, he uh reported in a weekly conversation that his wife noticed a big shift in him.

SPEAKER_01 31:54

Oh okay.

SPEAKER_00 31:57

Because you know, earlier you'd you'd be so preoccupied, yeah, you won't even notice notice the kids. He has a daughter and a son, and now he's so attentive and just little things. Yeah, he's not doing something amazing, right? He's just spending time with them and sitting and you know, playing, and they said, Okay, now you you know you become my horse, and the kid goes gets on top, and yeah. I'm just just the usual thing, the wholesome you know, bonding.

SPEAKER_01 32:26

Yeah, of course.

SPEAKER_00 32:27

He's building memories.

SPEAKER_01 32:28

Yes, for sure. Well, you and you're also well, by changing his focus, it is uh getting him back to his heart of what is important in his life, right? Like it's reframing that this is the thing we're living for. We're yeah, the business deals are important because it keeps your family secure and all all the good things and your business successful, but really at the end of the day, it's the family connection that's meaningful.

SPEAKER_00 32:54

And so here the here the context was that look, you're not doing well in business, you don't have faith in yourself, you believe you're a failure. Now go spend time with your son and check whether he believes the same thing about you.

SPEAKER_03 33:09

Ooh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:11

Does he have faith in you? Does he believe in you?

SPEAKER_03 33:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:14

And you're not, you know, you're you're not earning the amount of money you want to earn. I know the the time is where it is. What's happening to his faith?

SPEAKER_02 33:21

Right. Right.

SPEAKER_00 33:23

You're still a successful dad.

SPEAKER_02 33:25

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:27

So enjoy that. And and don't don't. I mean, that's more important than the money.

SPEAKER_01 33:33

What do you want to be known for?

unknown 33:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:36

He was a good businessman, but he sucked as a dad.

SPEAKER_04 33:40

There you go.

SPEAKER_01 33:42

Oh man, I love that. So um one of your messages when you think about business is, you know, and you've talked about it today, and you told me about this earlier, that you you want that's

Simple Business Exercise And Customer Focus

SPEAKER_01 33:54

you want people to experience the simplicity of it. You want it to be more enjoyable. So if you think about my audience listening right now and all the things that you've learned, what is something or what are a couple things that people can do practically to shift that mindset? What are just a couple pieces of advice you'd have or perspective you'd share with people?

SPEAKER_00 34:19

You know, there's an exercise I give uh to founders when I start working with them. I tell them just write down everything that you want from your business.

SPEAKER_03 34:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 34:31

Make as big a laundry list as you like. And then they come back and yeah, I I want money, I want uh stability, I want wealth, I want, I want, I want. And uh they come up with typically 20-30 things, right? By the time I say, okay, now this is this is it. So I say, okay, now write this very, very neatly and stick it in your toilet. And look at it.

SPEAKER_01 34:56

In your toilet?

SPEAKER_00 34:57

In your toilet, stick it in your toilet where you can see it every day.

SPEAKER_01 35:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 35:01

Because there's not a single soul in the world who's committed to provide what you want. Not even not even your mom. Yeah, those 20 things, forget it. Maybe two, three yes.

SPEAKER_03 35:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:15

Dennis, you can now start figuring what is it that your customers want. And make that list as powerful as you can and go talk to people.

SPEAKER_03 35:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:29

And once you are very clear on what they want, you know, and you can sort of prioritize it and you start actually delivering on it. You'll be amazed how simple it is. Business is not complicated. It gets complicated when you get caught up in the web of what you want. Who cares what you want?

SPEAKER_03 35:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:51

You know, if if if if you are my service provider or a product provider, I really don't care what you want or what your values are.

SPEAKER_04 35:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:00

What I care about is do you care about what I want?

SPEAKER_04 36:03

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 36:04

You care about my values.

SPEAKER_01 36:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:06

So if you flip that's that perspective, everything starts becoming very easy. Yeah. It's just a question of making things simple. Sure. And this is just one exercise which can really, you know, I'm sure five percent of the people listening to your podcast will venture and do this.

SPEAKER_03 36:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:32

And all of those five percent will get amazing results.

SPEAKER_03 36:36

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:37

95% will say, come on, it can't be that simple.

SPEAKER_01 36:41

Right. I don't have time for that either, Raj. Yeah. I'm really busy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:47

Yeah. Who's this guy that who's this guy Cindy got from uh from India? Uh, you know, what does he know about real life and real business? Well, I tell you from 30 years, 30 years I can tell you, yeah, the simpler it is, the more potent and powerful it is.

SPEAKER_03 37:06

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:09

So Peter Drucker said that the, you know, so if you look at uh Michael Porter and Pete Peter Drucker, Michael Porter said that uh, you know, it's all about competitive advantage. It's all about uh, you know, figuring out your uh strategy to win in the marketplace, find competition and see how you can defeat them and move forward. Um Peter Drucker, 20 years a senior, said that the only job of a business is to find and serve a customer.

SPEAKER_03 37:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:45

Now you gotta figure out where does money in your business come from? Does it come from your competition or from your customers?

SPEAKER_02 37:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:53

If money comes from your customers, you know, I would recommend listen to Peter Drucker.

SPEAKER_03 38:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:01

Because Michael Porter is talking about competition and competitive forces and all of that of nations. He's not he's not created all of that work for small businesses.

SPEAKER_02 38:14

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:16

You know, it's he's he's made elephant milk for elephants. And if small business owners start drinking that elephant milk, they're gonna get indigestion.

SPEAKER_03 38:28

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:31

So so the question really here is you know, how do you get aligned to serving customers?

SPEAKER_03 38:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:40

And all the bottlenecks are there.

SPEAKER_01 38:44

Yes, I love that. Well, and I think it's really, you know, again, you've you've studied the gurus. You've obviously absorbed a lot of but what I and what I also love about your um studying of the gurus and of the masters, and if people are putting themselves out there as experts, is you're always thinking about is that is that gonna get people to where they need to go? Is that gonna create that inner outer you know, connection? Is that gonna get them to uh take away the interference or the noise in their life or their disconnects? And um, and you're really what I love about what you're saying is you are able to get through the noise of what other people are saying as well to help people find their own solutions in a simple way, which is very complex based on all that you've learned and done.

SPEAKER_00 39:39

So well, you know, it's it's simple. You just listen and say things back to people. And I tell you, I I have realized one thing with uh with founders is that they have a sense of humor.

SPEAKER_03 39:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:51

And you know, and I and I really uh I live the purpose of my life, which is to make friends, have fun, be playful, and make memories.

SPEAKER_02 40:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:05

So, you know, I'm I'm uh I'm very uh spontaneous.

SPEAKER_02 40:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:14

And I don't think. I just share what's there and and I and I've learned that people hold hold everything in their space. They're very generous. People are generous, yeah. As long as they know that where you're coming from is is to really serve them.

SPEAKER_03 40:30

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 40:31

And then you have freedom. And they ask me a question, and I'm supposed to know the answer. I say, hey, listen, I really don't know.

SPEAKER_01 40:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:40

Let's figure it out.

SPEAKER_01 40:41

Let's find it together.

SPEAKER_00 40:42

Let's figure it out. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:45

Which is a wonderful thing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:47

Yeah, zero pretense.

SPEAKER_01 40:49

Yeah, I love that.

SPEAKER_00 40:50

There's and it works very well with my wife as well.

SPEAKER_01 40:53

Oh, did it? Well, she came into your life at a good time, and as obviously, and you you mentioned earlier that she's in charge. It was it five critical care hospitals? Is that correct?

SPEAKER_00 41:08

No, this is her. No, she basically uh played table tennis for India for 17 years. Oh, and she she has five companies that she runs in landscaping and interiors and all that stuff. And the critical care hospital is the one that I built and ran for 10 years.

SPEAKER_01 41:27

Okay, okay. I was like, I had that in my notes, and I was like, she's so she's running five business, does table tennis. You're a musician, and you study dogs, and you're a coach, and you're traveling around the world um being a coach and mentor to others.

SPEAKER_00 41:41

That's half the story.

SPEAKER_01 41:44

The other half, I hope, is that you have some time with your family and building your own sense of community and resting.

SPEAKER_04 41:52

No.

SPEAKER_01 41:52

Oh,

Closing Thoughts And Share Request

SPEAKER_01 41:53

well, Raj, thank you. Thank you so much for your time.

SPEAKER_04 41:56

Welcome.

SPEAKER_01 41:56

Um, I really have enjoyed getting to know you. I've um obviously I I would love to just follow you around endlessly and learn from you. Um because I think your approach is is so unique in the universe. I love that about you. I love have loved learning about your coaching philosophy, but really where you started and and how you've gradually built a very successful, compelling business. So thank you for sharing that. Thank you for sharing with my audience, and um, I hope we can stay connected.

SPEAKER_00 42:27

Thank you, Sindy. It's been such a pleasure speaking with you and you know getting into a very chilled down, relaxed zone.

SPEAKER_01 42:36

Yes. I appreciate that too. Thank you for going there with me. Okay. Were you kind of fascinated by Raj? I I am. I met him twice and I wanted to keep talking to him, but it's late in India, so I had to let him go. But I hope you enjoyed this episode and I hope you took some things away from you. He mentioned an activity that you could do about what you need in your business or your leadership and also what other people need from you. I hope you take a moment to do that activity. It is a really interesting peek into the alignment of what you want, but also the needs of others that you serve. And I think it's a really great practical activity. If you enjoyed this episode, please like and share. That will give our platform more movement uh to reach more people with purpose and intention. And what a great way to spread leadership around the globe.