S K Ladha

Summary

I mentor and coach middle-aged men and women (mostly around 40-60 years but not necessarily just these ages) facing questions, choices or situations, mostly at work or business but also, often, in many aspects of life. I work with them mostly formally and on a long-term basis. I am working, since 2008, with an industrial designer who is dyslexic and has several of the talents that a dyslexic person may often have. Others whom I have mentored are in digital marketing and software development, manufacturing and retailing, strategy, and a woman entrepreneur who is in publishing and events. I have, over the last decade and more, read very widely about neurodiversity, learning disability, dyslexia, NVLD (non-verbal learning disability), Mentor (an old man from the Greek epic Odyssey of Homer), Athena (goddess of wisdom in Greek mythology), the Socratic method, archetypes and how they matter, Greek myth of Pandora and her box, Japanese concept of Ikigai, philosophy of stoicism, concepts of serendipity and scaffolding, Erik Erikson's framework of psychosocial development (in particular covering adulthood and old age), epigenetics, midlife crisis, happiness curve, concept of Flow (developed by Hungarian-American psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi) and Vedanta. These readings have informed my work and form largely the basis of my thoughts. There are innumerable other influences, including learnings from more than thirty years of work and travel, too but it is not possible to recount and include them here. But I am always very willing to bring up a story, either lived myself or read, from my past if it helps the conversation I may be having. Yes, I do think storytelling is an important and interesting skill and should be learnt. Now, if you want to connect with me, tell me what our common interests may be. If you want me to consider a mentoring relationship with you, tell me about it in some detail. Please write to me by email (skladha@gmail.com). I will then be happy to respond. If you have written about a mentoring relationship, I will, most probably, offer a phone conversation of up to 30 minutes to discuss your interests and needs.