HOW does Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi PERFORM in an INTERVIEW?

Leaving aside what you think Uber, below is my analysis of the the company’s Dara Khoshrowshahi’s presentation of himself and messages, in a 2019 interview with luminary, uber (excuse the pun) interviewer David Rubenstein.

Overall, Khosrowshahi uses an Open, Middle, Close speaking delivery. He is articulate in conveying his thoughts. Like many top-level CEO communicators he is ‘light’ about himself (note the self-deprecating humour near the start) while taking his role seriously.

Rubenstein’s default style could be described as ‘playful’ – with the ability to shift to a more serious style as needed.

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HOW a DOCTOR’S, exam prep TIPS can HELP you

Imagine you’re a trainee doctor, about to get grilled in an oral examination, or as it is called in the medical field, a viva.

Below are tips given to trainee doctors on how to prepare for their vivas, that you can adapt. My comments on the respective tips are in brackets. The tips are from a stellar article, Twelve tips for performing well in vivas, by Rob Selzer, Steven Ellen, Laila Rotstein and Robert Roseby.

#1 Behave professionally. The posture when seated should be erect and comfortable. Slouching, leaning back, leaning across the table, do not reflect professionalism in our view.

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Are YOU a LEADER or a BUREAUCRAT?

Please read this vignette by Gary Hamel, American management expert, as quoted in the book, ‘The Captain’s Myth’ by Richard Gillis.

First, assume you have no positional authority. No job title. And second, assume you have no sanctions,’ says Hamel. ‘If someone doesn’t agree there’s nothing you can do. Then ask yourself what could you get done with those two assumptions. If you can do something amazing, you are a leader.

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The DANGER of PREconceived NOTIONS

‘In looking back on an unpleasant or disagreeable experience, the thought inevitably occurs to us: if only we had said or done x instead of y, if only we could do it over.

Many a general has lost his head in the heat of battle and then, looking back, has thought of the one tactic, the one maneuver, that would have changed it all.’

This quotation is from p 21 of the landmark book, The 33 Strategies of War, by Robert Greene.

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