Rashmi Kulkarni

As the calendar turns to 2026, many founders and second-generation leaders I speak with sound calmer than they did a year ago. They’ve cut back. Fewer initiatives. Fewer meetings. Fewer “urgent” priorities. On the surface, it looks like maturity. And yet, a strange discomfort remains. Teams seem slower, not sharper. Decisions feel hesitant, not thoughtful. People are doing less but not with confidence. This is the hidden tension many Indian SMEs are carrying into the new year: We reduced...

Teams don’t follow the org chart. They follow influence. It began, as distortions often do, with something small.   A client asked for a minor tweak.   Priya created a plan, aligned the team, and got ready to ship.   Twelve minutes later, the direction changed completely.   Not because the client updated the brief.   Not because Rohit, the founder, intervened. It changed because someone Rohit trusted… a former colleague, not part of the company … dropped a casual suggestion on WhatsApp: “Try...

When a founder’s speed becomes the team’s anxiety Some workdays don’t derail because of workload. They derail because of pace. At The Workshop … the same growing design firm readers will remember from earlier chapters … the day didn’t start with tasks or priorities. It started with Rohit’s walk. By 9:10 a.m., the team already knew what kind of day it would be. Not from the sprint board. Not from Slack. Just from the way Rohit entered the room with fast steps, tight voice, eyes already three...