In this episode of Navigating Disruption, host Shakeel welcomes Maiwand Rahyab, founder of Resilient Societies, who shares his remarkable journey from Afghanistan to Canada and his unwavering commitment to civic engagement and human rights. Maiwand's story is a testament to resilience, community, and the power of collective action. He reflects on pivotal moments that shaped his leadership philosophy, including: Growing up in Afghanistan and the challenges he witnessed firsthand Establishing civi...
Feb 12, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Season 4Ep. 9
In this episode of the Navigating Disruption Podcast , Raheena Lalani Dahya, a mediator, educator, and former lawyer, discusses the Window of Tolerance and its significance for leaders and managers. Raheena shares how this framework helps individuals understand emotional regulation under stress and offers practical advice for managing personal and team dynamics in high-pressure situations. By understanding their own limits and attuning to others, leaders can foster psychological safety and build...
Jan 08, 2025•1 hr 8 min•Season 4Ep. 8
When you think of professions embracing AI, a high school English teacher might not be the first that comes to mind. While AI in business and technology is increasingly accepted, education faces unique challenges—particularly concerns about students using AI to cut corners on assignments, potentially learning less in the process. In this thought-provoking episode of the Navigating Disruption Podcast , Shakeel sits down with Brett Walker, a high school English teacher who has embraced AI as a tra...
Dec 04, 2024•57 min•Season 4Ep. 7
In this episode of the Navigating Disruption Podcast, Shakeel welcomes Jason MacDonnell, Acting CEO and President of TELUS Digital Customer Experience. The two reminisce about their time together in business school and explore Jason’s journey from navigating the tech bubble burst to leading a digital transformation at one of Canada’s largest companies. Jason shares insights on balancing the entrepreneurial mindset within a large organization, the impact of sailing on his leadership style, and th...
Nov 06, 2024•48 min•Season 4Ep. 6
In this episode, Shakeel Bharmal sits down with Mohamed (Mo) Jessa, President Emeritus and Corporate Director of Earls, an iconic Canadian restaurant brand. With a career spanning 35 years, Mo shares his journey from an entry-level kitchen position to leading the company's expansion across Canada and into the US. They discuss his early years as an immigrant teen navigating life in rural Alberta, his pivot from a planned career in medicine, and how his passion for learning and teaching shaped his...
Oct 02, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Season 4Ep. 5
In this insightful episode of the Navigating Disruption Podcast, host Shakeel reconnects with his junior high school classmate, Stephanie Bolster. Stephanie is an acclaimed Canadian poet, professor, and winner of the Governor General’s Award for Poetry. Together, they explore how the arts can help leaders strengthen self-awareness and creativity and build character. They compare notes on the similarities and differences of providing candid feedback as a leader and as a creative writing teacher. ...
Sep 04, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 4Ep. 4
In this episode of the Navigating Disruption Podcast, Shakeel is joined by his childhood friend Riaz Bandali, president of Nordion. They reminisce about how their shared adolescent experiences have shaped them as they delve into their leadership experiences in times of uncertainty. Riaz delves into the profound lessons he has learned throughout his journey, the role of lifelong learning in Riaz's personal and professional development and what continuous learning looks like for Riaz and why it's ...
Aug 07, 2024•54 min•Season 4Ep. 3
In this episode of the Navigating Disruption Podcast, we sit down with Bryan Benjamin, Executive Director of The Ivey Academy, to explore the essentials of building stronger leadership capacity. Bryan shares his experiences at The Ivey Academy, the importance of lifelong learning, and how embracing discomfort and curiosity can enhance leadership skills. We also delve into his perspectives on AI's role in leadership, the importance of becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable, and what’s next...
Jun 28, 2024•50 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Join us as we delve into the early memories and foundational experiences that shaped one of the supply chain industry's foremost leaders, Frank Bozzo, Vice President and General Manager of CHEP Canada and Pallecon North America. What impact did afternoons with his grandparents have on his leadership style? How do these personal experiences translate into professional excellence? I first met Frank during an executive development program at The Ivey Academy. In this eagerly awaited episode—our fir...
Jun 05, 2024•51 min•Season 4Ep. 1
Exciting news! The Navigating Disruption Podcast is officially back after 2 years off. In this trailer, I reflect on the transformative events of the past two years—both personally and globally. The conversations have been deeply missed, and I am grateful to everyone who encouraged my return. Mark your calendar! The first new episode drops on Wednesday, June 5th. Join us as we dive back into exploring leadership and learning in our ever-changing world.
May 29, 2024•4 min
I have long held a belief in the power of a coaching approach to sales and customer relationship management. I think there is potential to expand coaching in business into customer relationships. In this episode I speak to Robert Gray, Certified Leadership Coach with Essential Impact, one my instructors during my coaching certification. He provides a perspective on what coaching is and how it benefits people in achieving what they want for themselves. Rob shares my view about the applicability o...
Jun 22, 2022•40 min•Season 3Ep. 6
In this episode I chat with Amy Ballon, a seasoned business coach and strategic advisor. Amy and I were seat mates in our first corporate job 22 years ago as newly minted MBAs. We were both grateful and eager but then the world changed, and that disruption set Amy on a very different path as an entrepreneur and co-author of the book Mom Inc.: how to raise your family and your business without losing your mind or your shirt. Today she works as an entrepreneur coach with the Business Development B...
May 11, 2022•46 min•Season 3Ep. 5
Alyssa Barry reminds us that it is possible to pursue a drive for helping others with a career in business. We met 9 years ago united by our passion for making the world a better place and improving quality of life for all. I had a feeling then we were deeply connected and this conversation confirms it. Alyssa, principal and co-founder of irlabs, has created a firm to help organizations unlock hidden value. She has had an extensive career in strategy, investor relations, and communications. You ...
Apr 13, 2022•41 min•Season 3Ep. 4
People first leadership. It sounds cliché and obvious, but the truth is it is hard to put that into action, to know what to do about it. In this conversation with Barb MacLean, VP Integration and Analytics at Celero Solutions ( https://celero.ca/ ), we talk about people first leadership and building learning networks to pass on your knowledge and expertise and to gain insights and expertise from others. We also discuss the importance of unlearning to move forward. We also talk about FinTech, the...
Mar 09, 2022•43 min•Season 3Ep. 3
When you start a new role, you are filled with a mix of excitement and anxiety. As the thrill of getting the job offer settles in, the fear of the expectations that your new boss and colleagues have of you also set in. There is a lot to learn and if you come in too confident you worry you might alienate your peers but if you don’t add value quickly enough, you might worry your new co-workers will question the decision to hire you in the first place. It can be a lot of pressure. In this conversat...
Feb 09, 2022•39 min•Season 3Ep. 2
How can we create more generous workplaces in 2022? I don’t mean generous in terms of giving physical gifts and financial resources but rather gifts of the heart and mind to create more inclusive and rewarding cultures. Shannon Cassidy, CEO and founder of Bridge Between ( https://bridgebetween.com/ ), brings more than two decades of experience as she has honed her practice and expertise in behavioural change and leadership. She has worked with hundreds of CEOs and senior leaders to help them bui...
Jan 12, 2022•47 min•Season 3Ep. 1
One of my most rewarding projects in the last few years was writing a series of articles about how my early life experiences influenced my leadership practice. A central figure in those explorations was my Dad, Abdul Bharmal. Due to COVID, It had been more than two years since I last saw my Dad. When I could finally get on a flight to pay a surprise visit, I was hungry for deep conversations and quality time. So I packed my audio equipment and we sat down for this conversation about his life as ...
Nov 23, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 22
In Obama's final speech, at the end of his term of office, he spoke about how the internet and social media has made it easier for people to dig into and validate their own views. He was cautioning that the internet makes it so easy to find what you are looking for that without an open mind, people tend to seek out information that validates their own ideology and leads to less diversity and potentially a crisis of communication. In the same speech, Obama spoke optimistically about how throughou...
Sep 30, 2021•49 min•Season 2Ep. 21
In this episode I speak to Adrian Davis, a fellow partner at The Summit Group and the President of Whetstone. He emerged from the wilderness (as he describes it) with a decision to make a difference in his own life by enabling the transformation of the relationship between others. He makes his mark by learning and inspiring others in what some would say is the oldest profession in the world.
Aug 23, 2021•48 min•Season 2Ep. 20
There was a time when promotions came to the confident and bold individuals that always seemed to know the answer. Then something seemed to change and now there is a premium for leaders that are keenly aware that they don’t always know the answer and recognize that success only comes from drawing on the people, insights and knowledge around them. In this conversation I thought I would be talking with my guest about confident and candid leadership. But when I actually spoke with Jeff Knisley, Vic...
Aug 09, 2021•50 min•Season 2Ep. 19
Nature, Creativity, Self-Reflection, Faith - they are all powerful levers, some would say necessary levers, for leadership in this time. In this conversation I speak with Dr. Hafeez Jamal (aka Kaeni), environmental scientist, producer, musician, poet, physician and medical leader. We explore the connection of these diverse fields and how leaders can find their own way to draw from nature, creativity, self-reflection and faith to develop their leadership. This episode is particularly special beca...
Jul 17, 2021•56 min•Season 2Ep. 18
A bottle of shampoo, a can of potato chips, a candid question from a student in Scandinavia...they all have one thing in common. They were influential in the career and purpose of Saleem Ahamed, Chief Marketing Officer of the game changing Plastic Bank. Plastic Bank transforms ocean plastic into consumer goods, solving an environment problem while improving livelihoods in some of the most difficult parts of the world. Listen in to this conversation to hear this incredible story and get a deeper ...
Jul 12, 2021•44 min•Season 2Ep. 17
As we all know, the world of work is changing. Disruptive events and technologies are accelerating change at unprecedented speed rendering many traditional ways of doing work obsolete. With basically all workforces now working in a distributed, hybrid and remote fashion, collaborative work management is enabling the future of work. In this conversation, Amin Panjwani, Managing Director of Execute Strategy and Achievan Solutions educates me (and you) on the growing field of collaborative work man...
Jun 23, 2021•57 min•Season 2Ep. 16
One of the best things about having a podcast is the new people that I get to meet. Eric Wong, Chief Commercial Officer of start-up Impro.AI reached out to me after listening to one of my episodes. I found his story so interesting and enriching that I invited him to a conversation so I could learn more and share it with you. He grew up in the lower mainland of BC and his talent and ambition took him first to Toronto and then to San Francisco working with the executives of some of the largest tec...
May 10, 2021•46 min•Season 2Ep. 15
What is motivation capability? It’s a combination of self awareness, perspective, mindset and reflective practice to help individuals move from a feeling of futility and lack of influence to one of empowerment and impact. Given the amount of uncertainty in our lives today, we could all benefit from a boost here. In the Hercules Meets Buddha episode we referred to Motivation Factor as an approach which helped my guest Martha define purpose. I talked all about Motivation Factor in an episode of Jo...
May 03, 2021•41 min•Season 2Ep. 14
I first met Riaz Meghji on stage, in front of thousands of people, when he introduced me as a speaker at fundraising event. Since that day 8 years ago, I am grateful to be able to call him a friend. Riaz has spent 17 years as a broadcaster and host of Citytv's Breakfast Television, CTV News and MTV Canada. As I became his friend, I came to realize that his on camera personality is the same as his off camera personality. 2 years ago Riaz set aside his successful career to fulfil his calling to he...
Apr 22, 2021•56 min•Season 2Ep. 13
I first realized in 2nd year university that organizational behaviour and leadership were going to be a part of my career. But back in the 90's I didn't know what that would be. Well its taken 30 years to achieve the dream. In this conversation, I speak with the person that helped me find this path just two years ago. Dr. Martha Maznevski is a Professor of Organizational Behaviour & Faculty Co-Director of Executive Education at the Ivey Business School. As a leadership coach with the Ivey Ac...
Apr 19, 2021•50 min•Season 2Ep. 12
What do an underground nuclear bunker, a little girl named Sophia and a semi-truck and trailer have in common? You will find out in this episode. I had the privilege of watching Christine McGuire take on big professional challenges with grace and enthusiasm. She and I were colleagues for several years before she became the Executive Director of The Diefenbunker: Canada’s Cold War Museum. In this conversation we talk about how to find personal growth, overcome challenges and lead with gentle pers...
Apr 05, 2021•50 min•Season 2Ep. 11
When we were children, Egan Christensen was my best friend. But then at 11 years old, he just disappeared. I am not embarrassed to say I was a little heartbroken at the time. There was no easy way to stay connected in the early 80’s so we lost touch. In this conversation we catch up after exactly 40 years. We reminisce of course but then we discover how much we have in common in our approach to leadership, customer relationships and business. He has had an incredible career in sales, service and...
Apr 01, 2021•49 min•Season 2Ep. 10
I have been doing much thinking about the good and danger of social media, online searches, online shopping and digital transactions. On one hand, the web has empowered our social connections, fueled small business survival and the enabled the flexibility to work from home. On the other hand, we have experienced the impact of breaches of data privacy, the spread of misinformation and the ability to mobilize some terrible forces in society. Jon Lloyd, head of campaigns at Mozilla Foundation joins...
Mar 31, 2021•56 min•Season 2Ep. 9
