759: The Way to Build Collective Power, with Ruchika T. Malhotra

Ruchika T. Malhotra: Uncompete

Ruchika T. Malhotra is the founder of Candour, a global inclusion strategy firm that has worked with some of the world’s biggest organizations. She’s been recognized multiple times by Thinkers50 and co-wrote one of Harvard Business Review’s top 100 most-read articles in history: Stop Telling Women They Have Imposter Syndrome. She is the author of Inclusion on Purpose, MIT Press’s top-selling book of 2022 and now her newest book, Uncompete: Rejecting Competition to Unlock Success (Amazon, Bookshop)*.

A lot of people think about work as a competition for resources. But what if, by inviting others to the table, you created more for everyone? In this conversation, Ruchika and I explore the opportunity for all of us to uncompete.

Key Points

• Many of us are so socialized to compete that we don’t realize the benefits of collective collaboration.
• Reach out to someone who inspires you. Praising someone for something awesome about them, without an accompanying ask, is so rare.
• Display genuine curiosity. Don’t confuse “nice” small talk for depth. Ask bigger questions that get to the heart of who people are.
• As you build trust, talk numbers. In the professional context, real relationships of trust demand this kind of transparency.
• Take regular stock of relationships. Take people at their word and also watch how their actions line up – or don’t.
• Invite others to the table. The bigger your circle, the more you create for everybody.

Resources Mentioned

• Uncompete: Rejecting Competition to Unlock Success by Ruchika T. Malhotra (Amazon, Bookshop)*

Interview Notes

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Related Episodes

• End Imposter Syndrome in Your Organization, with Jodi-Ann Burey (episode 556)
• How to Create Inclusive Hiring Practices, with Ruchika Tulshyan (episode 589)
• Doing Better Than Zero-Sum Thinking, with Renée Mauborgne (episode 641)

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