
Why your name is the professional real estate you didn’t know you were losing There’s a quiet but consequential mistake that even the most ambitious professionals make. It isn’t about strategy or skill or networking. It’s about … [Continue reading]
By Manu Sharma

Why your name is the professional real estate you didn’t know you were losing There’s a quiet but consequential mistake that even the most ambitious professionals make. It isn’t about strategy or skill or networking. It’s about … [Continue reading]
By Manu Sharma

There’s something oddly profound about a colleague thanking you for letting them take a day off to go to a vineyard - or to a vanity appointment. Not because the request is groundbreaking, but because the honesty behind it is. No cover-up, no … [Continue reading]
By Manu Sharma

Most days don’t fall apart because we don’t work hard. They fall apart because we don’t work right. We pour energy into things that are loud but meaningless, urgent but inconsequential. And somewhere in the middle of meetings and messages and … [Continue reading]
By Manu Sharma

A recent CBC article caught my eye. It referenced a study by researchers at the University of Michigan and the University of Southern California that tried to pin down the modern definition of "cool." According to their findings, the traits that … [Continue reading]
By Manu Sharma

In a recent reflection, I wrote about how our ambition seems to have quietly shifted from chasing the impossible to chasing attention. How so many today are “building with their backs to the future, shaping their efforts for today’s applause … [Continue reading]
By Manu Sharma

We often think of leadership as grand gestures or confident speeches. But some of the most powerful leadership moments happen in quieter spaces - in a conversation with someone who’s struggling, in the pause between stories, in the subtle … [Continue reading]
By Manu Sharma

We all live in bubbles. Not the fragile kind that float in the air and burst with a touch, but the invisible kind - durable, deeply embedded, and often unexamined. They are formed by what we inherit and what we endure. Our bubbles are filled with … [Continue reading]
By Manu Sharma

We spend a large part of our professional lives in meetings. Some are energizing, many are draining, and far too many are just ... confusing. In my current role at the Ottawa Community Foundation and through my years in executive leadership, … [Continue reading]
By Manu Sharma

There’s a moment, often unnoticed, when a piece of work travels from a team member’s hands to their leader’s desk. It could be a memo, a slide deck, a contract, or a campaign draft. That moment may appear routine. But in truth, it is a quiet test … [Continue reading]
Currently with the Ottawa Community Foundation.
Over 25 years of experience in engineering, entrepreneurship, and economic development.
Work focuses on transforming strategies, enhancing bottom lines, fostering innovation, amplifying social impact, and introducing new products and services.
Founder of OAK Computing, Mindtrust, AirLoop, Innovation By Design, Global Study, True Innovators & TalentBridge.
Passionate advocate for driving positive change through human-centered design.
Eternal optimist, perpetual learner, serial entrepreneur & community activist.
I have sometimes wondered whether my attention to detail is a strength, a burden, or simply a habit I never learned to turn … [Read More...]
One difficult hour should not have the power to ruin an entire day. Yet somehow, we give it that power all the … [Read More...]
There is something curious about discovering a language you have known all your life. I have spoken Punjabi for as long as … [Read More...]
There is a quiet way leaders lose influence that rarely shows up in performance reviews, strategy sessions, or leadership … [Read More...]
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