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Full-Stack Leadershipcast

Full-Stack Leadershipcast

By: Dr. Krishna Prasad from PM Power Consulting
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Candid conversations with some of the outstanding business Leaders from different functions and industry domains, business school professors and Leadership coaches to glean insights on Full-Stack Leadership competencies of Creating Impact on Business, Leading & Influencing Others and Leading Self. You will get to listen to their Experience nuggets, practical advice, things to explore and connect the dots to get a novel pattern, all to help Up your Leadership Game.

Copyright 2025 Dr. Krishna Prasad from PM Power Consulting Economics Management Management & Leadership Personal Development Personal Success
Episodes
  • S1- E7: Leadership is Embracing Optionality & Flexibility

    S1- E7: Leadership is Embracing Optionality & Flexibility
    Oct 8 2025
    Episode SummaryIn this engaging episode, leadership coach Dr. Krishna Prasad hosts Prasanna Rajan, a seasoned leader with a career spanning automotive engineering, global consulting, and new-age digital businesses. From his early engineering days at Mercedes-Benz and General Motors, through his transformation with an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management and a Strategy consultant role in Bain & Company, to his leadership roles at Myntra and Flipkart, Prasanna shares an authentic account of constant reinvention.The conversation highlights career pivots, strategic thinking, and the mindset required to lead in rapidly evolving industries. Prasanna offers a grounded view on navigating risk, staying flexible, and the importance of curiosity and optionality. His reflections span the evolution from hands-on engineering to strategic consulting and finally to leading digital-first organizations — revealing what it takes to thrive as a modern leader. Key Leadership InsightsEmbrace Optionality and Flexibility — Every career phase should open new doors. The best gift a leader can give themselves is the freedom to pivot.Don’t Let Experience Become a Constraint — Energy and curiosity often trump experience in fast-changing industries.Earn the Right to Be at the Table — Go above and beyond your role. Think like an owner and act as an energy-giver.Comfort with Grey Is a Leadership Superpower — Mature leadership means operating with ambiguity and avoiding binary thinking.The True Value of Education — Deep learning and reflection foster strategic thinking and self-awareness.Speed over Perfection in New-Age Companies — Agility and responsiveness are the new leadership differentiators.Leadership in the AI Era — Stay curious, not fearful. AI is a catalyst for rethinking workflows and roles.Energy Givers vs. Energy Vampires — Be a source of enthusiasm, optimism, and possibility. Quotable Knowledge Nuggets“You must create optionality — every bold move opens doors you didn’t even know existed.”“Never make career decisions by looking backward. Sunk costs can blind you to future possibilities.”“Energy almost always trumps experience.”“Flexibility is the new superpower — the best gift you can give yourself is the ability to pivot.”“Don’t wait for permission to add value. Every unstructured workplace is an opportunity waiting to be fixed.”“Just because you’ve been longer in a domain doesn’t mean you know it deeper.”“In young companies, speed of decision-making matters more than perfection of decision-making.”“Be massively energy-giving — people want to work with those who light up the room.”“AI is not a threat to leaders who are curious. It’s an invitation to rethink everything.”“Careers aren’t ladders anymore — they’re S-curves. Every pivot gives you a fresh slope to climb.”Resources & Connect:Connect with Prasanna Rajan on LinkedInVisit us at: https://www.pm-powerconsulting.com/full-stack-leadershipcast/Follow Full Stack Leadership Podcast on Spotify /Amazon music / LinkedIn / YouTube for more such leadership journeysConnect with the host on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/dr-krishna-prasadPrasanna Rajan, Former SVP – Myntra | Former Consultant Bain ConsultingPrasanna is an experienced strategy and business transformation professional, with more than 20 years of experience across Ecommerce, Consumer Tech, Retail, consulting, Real Estate and Auto. Most recently, Prasanna was Senior Vice President and part of the senior leadership team at Myntra (Flipkart group) leading strategy, business analytics and technical programs, delivering market leading growth, profitability achievement and large-scale growth programs. Prior to Flipkart group, Prasanna headed Customer Strategy and Operations for Emaar group, focused on improving customer centricity for Emaar group companies in UAE, Egypt and India. Prior to Emaar, he was an Associate Partner at Bain & Company, where he successfully partnered with C-level executives and private equity investors on strategy development, customer & marketing programs, operational excellence, business model redefinition, and commercial due diligence.Prasanna has also worked in the auto industry (General Motors and Mercedes) on accident-prevention and autonomous driving technologies. He is an avid auto enthusiast and follows all latest technology developments in autonomous driving and EV closely.Prasanna holds an M.B.A. from MIT Sloan School of Management, Master’s in Electrical Engineering from University of Ulm. Germany and an undergraduate degree from BITS Pilani.
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    49 mins
  • S1-E6: Lead from Inside Out from the Book "Search Inside Yourself"

    S1-E6: Lead from Inside Out from the Book "Search Inside Yourself"
    Sep 24 2025

    Book Featured: Search Inside Yourself by Chade-Meng Tan

    Theme: Emotional Intelligence, Mindfulness, Leadership

    Episode Summary

    In this reflective solo episode, I delve into Search Inside Yourself—a widely respected book that brings emotional intelligence and mindfulness into leadership practice. Originally designed within Google, the book offers practical and science-backed techniques to lead with more awareness, clarity, and compassion.

    I share personal “Aha!” moments from the book and how these insights have helped leaders lead under pressure.

    Key Takeaways

    1. Emotional Intelligence is a Trainable Skill
    • EI isn't an inborn trait — it can be cultivated through practice.
    • Awareness begins with small steps: one breath, one pause, one moment of curiosity.
    • Neuroscience supports that consistent mindful practices build emotional regulation.
    1. Mindfulness = Clarity, Not Just Calm
    • Defined as moment-to-moment, non-judgmental awareness.
    • Helps leaders notice triggers before reacting, leading to better responses.
    • A simple habit: Label emotions in real-time to create space between stimulus and response.
    1. Compassion is a Competitive Advantage
    • Compassionate leadership improves team resilience, loyalty, and innovation.
    • It’s not about being soft — it's about honesty with care and respect.
    • Blending directness with empathy shifts how feedback lands and is received.

    Reflection Questions for Leaders

    • What would shift in your leadership if you took a few mindful breaths before a high-stakes conversation?
    • How aware are you of your emotional state during key interactions?
    • What changes when you lead with compassion — especially under pressure?
    • How might your team experience you differently if you practiced intentional pauses?

    Resources & Connect

    • Search Inside Yourself by Chade-Meng Tan
    • Stephen Covey’s concept: “The space between stimulus and response.”
    • Visit us at: https://www.pm-powerconsulting.com/full-stack-leadershipcast/
    • Follow Full Stack Leadership Podcast on Spotify /Amazon music / LinkedIn / YouTube for more such leadership journeys
    • Connect with the host on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/dr-krishna-prasad


    Final Thoughts

    Leadership is an inside-out journey. If you've read the book or have your own insights about mindfulness and emotional intelligence in leadership, I’d love to hear from you. Share your thoughts with our community.

    Until next time — lead from the inside out.

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    10 mins
  • S1 - E5: Decision Making Under Uncertainty

    S1 - E5: Decision Making Under Uncertainty
    Sep 9 2025
    Guest: Dr. Seshu Bhagavathula, Co-Founder CityQ & Former CTO -Ashok Leyland Episode Summary:In this episode of the Full Stack Leadership Podcast, host Krishna Prasad sits down with Dr. Seshu Bhagavathula, a seasoned technology and business leader with decades of experience in the automotive and mobility industries. From his early days at Daimler Benz Aerospace to leading innovation at Mercedes-Benz, Chrysler, and beyond, he brings immense global experience in leadership having led departments and functions in EU, North America, India and China. Dr. Seshu shares invaluable leadership lessons on adaptability, vision, and the power of continuous learning. He delves deep into ‘Leading Self’ and how that can bring out the Leader in one-self. Key Leadership Insights: Self-Awareness and Self-Inquiry: Dr. Seshu’s shyness and lack of self-confidence in childhood impacted his management approach until he addressed these through self-reflection. The importance of understanding one's own feelings, reactions, and behaviors, often rooted in early experiences, to improve self-management and leadership effectiveness. Discipline, Focus, and Energy Management: Developing discipline through focus and attention, managing energy to handle multiple tasks, and the role of physical activities like running in enhancing mental and physical stamina. Overcoming Procrastination: How one can develop a Marathon Mindset and Long-term planning, but pay attention to incremental progress (like marathon training) apply to leadership and business goals. Procrastination stems from discomfort with tasks. Writing down the discomfort and addressing it head-on helps overcome delays.Authentic Leadership & Vulnerability: Authentic leaders admit failures and challenges, which builds trust. Leadership titles are functional, but leaders must remain approachable and be humanLeading Global Teams Effectively: Building trust, fostering diverse perspectives, and aligning teams towards a common vision. He stresses the importance of creating Psychological Safety for people to express diverse views. Remove emotions from feedback and directives to ensure clarity across diverse teams.Business Impact & Continuous Learning: He speaks a lot on the Importance of Understanding Company Goals and connecting individual roles and tasks to the larger company objectives, and the importance of continuous learning to stay relevant and contribute to the company's success. Leaders must understand interfaces beyond their assumed expertise (e.g., finance, sales) to drive company-wide success. At the same time how one needs to develop Industry awareness to stay relevant. Quotable Knowledge Nuggets:"The moment I described the discomfort in language, I recognized it’s nothing... Once I crossed this bridge, I became a free man.""An authentic leader is vulnerable naturally... They loved it when I said, ‘We haven’t got it right.’""My title gives me responsibilities, but I as a person am different.""Procrastination kills companies. People delay because something feels uncomfortable—describe it, and the discomfort vanishes.""If you don’t learn, you become expendable. Companies are impersonal; they replace what doesn’t fit."Resources & Connect:Connect with Dr. Seshu Bhagavathula on LinkedInFollow Full Stack Leadership Podcast on Spotify / Apple / LinkedIn / YouTubeEnjoyed this episode? Please share your favourite quote and tag us! Let’s keep growing together.#Full-StackLeadershipcast #Full-StackLeadership #PM-PowerConsulting About our Guest: Dr. Seshu Bhagavathula is currently the Chairman of the Board, CityQ | former CTO – Ashok Leyland | former CTO – Apollo Tyres | former Director – Mercedes-BenzDr. Seshu carries with him, a profound experience in diverse set of Technologies in Aerospace and Automotive domain and has held CXO positions in large Automotive companies across the globe. He grauate out of IIT-Bombay and was one of the very early Doctorate candidates in University of Stuttgart, Germany. His career has spanned more than 4 decades and is still going strong. His strength has always been in leading very diverse technology and business teams in a truly global environment. He personifies a perfect blend of deep technical expertise and a very keen understanding of the Business.Dr. Seshu is an Angel Investor and has a portfolio of companies predominantly in the Green Energy space. He is passionate about Marathon Running and Carnatic Classical Music.
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    53 mins
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