E162 | Leading Simply, Staying Human - Leadership for a Complex Age | Rajneesh Singh

What if the most powerful leadership tool isn’t a metric or a model, but the decision to be simply human? That’s the throughline of our conversation with Rajneesh “RS” Singh—factory-floor HR leader turned media CHRO turned co-founder of SimplyHR—who built a 15-year firm on clarity, courage, and care.

We start with RS’s three-layer career arc: a foundation forged in rigorous HR, a testing ground of plant shutdowns and M&A, and an application phase inside the daily chaos of newsrooms. From there, he shares the story of SimplyHR’s bar-napkin beginnings, why the brand’s black elephant stands for big ears and small mouth, and how a simplicity-first philosophy cuts through jargon to solve real business problems. The lesson for leaders: fall in love with chaos, then organize it into trust.

RS also maps the shift from relationship-led leadership to data-heavy dashboards and argues for a “touch and tech” balance. You’ll hear exactly what Millennials and Gen Z expect—transparency, dialogue, no surprises—and how managers can marry empathy with accountability without becoming “nice” and ineffective. For HR pros, he frames the function as a marathon: protect mental fitness, read the market, and use AI to elevate judgment, not erase humanity.

The most moving segment arrives when RS opens up about surviving stage four colon cancer. Humor, prayer, and purpose carried him through, and now he counsels others, proving that hope is a management tool. We close by looking ahead: India’s innovation mindset beyond jugaad, work-from-anywhere as a durable model, and the ethical spine that turns companies into institutions. If you lead people—or want to—this is a masterclass in building cultures that are clear, kind, and uncompromising on results.

If this conversation sparked something, follow the show, share it with a friend who leads teams, and leave a rating with one takeaway you’ll put into practice next week.

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