Shalini Gupta on striving for simplicity in conversations | BCP009

My guest is Shalini Gupta, a Canadian living and working in Chicago where I had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know her when I lived in Chicago. She’s been working in advertising, agency side, for the last 18 plus years and when we spoke, she was managing an agency doing the marketing for the US army.

She shares how one of her early bosses has influenced how she leads today, how she makes space for people to express their feelings, to speak simply and be present, and to focus on outcomes rather than ego or sounding smart.

Patience under pressure may be an aspect she’s working on — who isn’t — but in the meantime there are things like empathy, acknowledgement, and honesty that are very important to Shalini. Her focus is on making sure her people understand what’s being discussed and know what to do with that information.

She thinks before she speaks, so her words are intentional and succinct. You understand her very quickly. And there are at least a couple of wonderful tips to learn from Shalini’s approach to team meetings including how to align before the meetings and how you can know when everyone is ready to move forward.

To connect with Shalini Gupta, check her out on LinkedIn.

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