Embarking on a path of self disruption takes courage and deep self reflection. For Lucas Chang, Founder of Y2 Entrepreneurship Labs that reflection took him back to his time as an adolescent playing street hockey with his buddies. What he has done with that memory and his years of business education and experience is remarkable. His company designs and delivers learning experience for high school (and sometimes younger) students to immerse them in problem based learning and design thinking. List...
Mar 16, 2021•53 min•Season 2Ep. 8
You just never know when you are going to find people that you so closely align with. I was first introduced to David Pyle, Senior Vice President at Cox Automotive by my colleague at The Summit Group. David was on an executive panel I was moderating at the global Strategic Account Management Association's conference in 2020. His responses to my questions about leadership and customer collaboration were so insightful and reflective that I made a mental note to book some one-on-one time with him. ...
Feb 28, 2021•56 min•Season 2Ep. 7
She is not the typical persona you imagine when you think about a career accountant. Farah Bundeali is a Partner with global accounting firm KPMG. Her emphasis on leadership and care for people may come from her role as the HR lead on the KPMG audit management team, but more than likely it comes from lessons from her parents. In this conversation she shares the influence of her Dad in shaping her career ambitions, how long it took her to feel settled in her career choice and most importantly her...
Feb 15, 2021•48 min•Season 2Ep. 6
My first meeting with Josh Blair was only about 3 minutes long. At the time he was Group President at Telus, responsible for a collection of cutting edge business units. That first short meeting intrigued me enough to do a bit of research about him thinking that I would find a reason to connect for a deeper conversation where I could learn more. It took a few years, but when I saw him announce his new venture, Impro.AI, on Linkedin, I knew the time had come. As the Co-Founder and CEO, he and his...
Feb 12, 2021•52 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Back in the 90's, I remember coming into the lunch room to get my coffee and there was Sam flipping through The Province newspaper sports section. He had such a calm and curious demeanour so we would usually find ourselves in a conversation about something that made me think. Sam Sidhu is now Director of HR with McCarthy Tètrault, one of the largest law firms in Canada. But I learned in this conversation that he started his career in the late 80's by stumbling into a conversation. 15 years later...
Feb 02, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 5
He came to business school with a few years experience as a marketing research associate. Now 20 years after graduating, Dominic Atkinson and his partners have grown a small start-up, DIG Insights, into one of the most innovative and fastest growing customer insights firms in the country. They have far exceeded their early ambitions. Dominic and I were in a learning team together back in 1998 and this is the first time we are speaking since that time. In this conversation, we talk about his jour...
Jan 28, 2021•52 min•Season 2Ep. 4
I met Philip Styrlund at 33 when I worked at Purolator. He had been invited by our VP of Marketing, my boss at the time, to share his thoughts on transforming our go to market sales approach. Nothing is random. We stayed in touch and years later, I became a partner in Phil's company, The Summit Group, before I went on to work in the non-profit sector. I am so fortunate to work with him again now. He advises sales and marketing leaders and CEOs at some of the world's leading companies. No exagger...
Jan 22, 2021•48 min•Season 2Ep. 3
I remember that conversation in May 1993 so clearly. Shortly after graduation from university, I found myself in Neil Zambik's office in what I would realize later was a life defining conversation. Neil was the Director of People Development & Communications at Mohawk Oil (now owned by Husky Energy). In this episode I find out that he also remembers that chat very clearly. Neil re-affirmed for me how long lasting memories are when they are based in authenticity and genuine curiosity. After o...
Jan 15, 2021•53 min•Season 2Ep. 2
In this first episode of 2021, I speak to Amyn Bhimani, President of Hetek Solutions, a 65 year-old company in the industrial commercial leak detection and monitoring business. He and I formed a unique partnership in 1992 when an inspiring and formidable woman took a chance on two young kids with something to prove. We were appointed to senior roles on a very active operating board for a volunteer organization. In this conversation Amyn and I explore the lessons we learned from the mistakes we m...
Jan 01, 2021•48 min•Season 2Ep. 1
In this brief year-end episode I reveal the top 5 downloaded episodes of 2020 and share a quick and impactful segment from each of those episodes. Thank you to all my guests in 2020 and to all my listeners. You have made this experiment so rewarding for me. Leave me a message: https://anchor.fm/shakeel-bharmal/message
Dec 30, 2020•15 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Danny Kelly interviewed me for my first job. It wasn't your typical interview and definitely not the one an optimistic and cheerful new grad was prepared for. You will hear that story in this conversation. Danny was one of those influential leaders in my career, but I didn't report to him. He earned my respect because he was a genuine and authentic teacher. We met when I was in my 20's and he was in his 40's as a Sales Manager. 30 years later, he is still working, teaching and mentoring as a lea...
Dec 22, 2020•42 min•Season 1Ep. 23
After my interview with Dr. Jody Anderson in the episode Journey to Purpose, she asked if she could interview me to get the story of how I found my purpose. So in this interview the tables have been turned. Jody asks me the questions and I describe my journey from 2000 to 2020 as I have sought to define my reason for being. I'll be honest, I do feel a bit vulnerable putting this out there but how can I expect others to share openly if I am not willing to share. At the end we had a great conversa...
Dec 14, 2020•48 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Since childhood I have been deeply fascinated by the integration of two ideas. The first is how to understand the needs and expectations of others and the second is how to organize engagement with others to exceed those expectations. I embrace the fact that makes me sound like 'geek' but lets call it being an aficionado for the sake of my guest. I discovered later in life that the integration of these two ideas has a name...."Customer Experience Management" or CXM for short. This fascination wit...
Dec 11, 2020•59 min•Season 1Ep. 21
I started my first corporate job as a sales coordinator in June 1993. I often reflect on how different my life would have been had I not had someone persuade me to reconsider, when I turned the offer down at first. The reason it was such a defining period was because of Jeff Mulock. He had just been promoted to the role of General Manager of Sales of the industrial & commercial lubricants division and I was his first hire. I didn't know the term until many years later, but he was my first ex...
Dec 09, 2020•45 min•Season 1Ep. 20
The fact that Jennifer Jones is the President of The Toronto Library Foundation makes so much sense. Almost like it was meant to be. But the truth is that her path to this incredibly important leadership role was not direct. Rather it was a result of a series of ricochets and unique life experiences. She was raised to be an independent and confident woman and that was put to the test in high school when her parents packed up to live in India while Jennifer stayed behind to begin her adult life. ...
Dec 08, 2020•56 min•Season 1Ep. 19
I almost called this episode "Joy" because that is what I feel every time I listen to it. I worked with Victoria on a brief project 8 years ago and realized pretty quickly that she was a special human being. Victoria Porter Cramer is the President of Lodging Dynamics Hospitality Group, a builder and operator of 50 premium brand hotels in the US. We talk about what she has learned from battling Cancer twice, the first time as a new Mom to 8-month old twins, training for mountain bike racing compe...
Dec 02, 2020•51 min•Season 1Ep. 18
When I was 21 and in university, I was volunteering at a community centre. There I met a 16-year old that demonstrated incredible leadership skills for someone his age. Zahir went off to university himself and over the course of the last 30 years, I have seen him a handful of times. Each time he was conquering a new professional challenge in a different part of the world. With a mix of gratitude, giving, growth and hard work he turned a summer job as a Pepsi taste patroller into his current role...
Nov 26, 2020•54 min•Season 1Ep. 17
I was introduced to Randy Buchamer in 1993 when he came from headquarters to visit the sales office where I was working. I still remember his words of welcome to the company and his invitation to come see him once I was settled in to my new job. I had just graduated from university and was in my early 20's. Randy was the VP of Corporate Services at Mohawk Oil and I was a bottom rung sales coordinator in the lubricants division but his invitation was sincere and after a few weeks I did go to see ...
Nov 24, 2020•33 min•Season 1Ep. 16
When I went to my boss to quit my job in 1998 I was so anxious. The job I was leaving was considered by many as the best job in the company and I didn't want to let him down. I finally got a chance to debrief with him 22 years later in this conversation. Cosimo (Cos) got his start just as I did, pumping gas at a Mohawk gas station. After we parted ways from the head office of that company in the late 90's, he went on to start a career at a fledgling company you may have heard of...Starbucks. Whe...
Nov 23, 2020•40 min•Season 1Ep. 15
My last one-on-one conversation with Anthony Ostler was in a little restaurant in London, Ontario in January 1999. We were discussing an article on corporate strategy written by the late Professor C.K. Prahalad. Anthony was leading the recruiting efforts for the firm I was interviewing for a summer internship. It felt like a make or break conversation for me so I was a little nervous. Anthony made it easier for me because he was genuine, caring and curious. I reconnected with him 21 years later ...
Nov 23, 2020•42 min•Season 1Ep. 14
He is a man of many cultures. Francis Pun came to Vancouver from Hong Kong as a child. After getting his engineering degree from UBC he traveled from Canadian forest to forest maintaining in a very traditional and old economy industry. He completed his MBA with me at Ivey Business School in 2000 and has been on the edge of innovation ever since. Working in tech and innovation in Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong for the last 20 years he has had a front row seat on disruption. As an ecosystem driver...
Nov 10, 2020•44 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Many people aren’t able to find their purpose in life. For those that are, often the journey is long and winding with many stops along the way. That was certainly the case for Dr. Jody Anderson. When she discovered the burgeoning field of Corporate Social Responsibility in the late 90’s, she thought she had found it. She invested in a graduate degree at Ivey Business School and she embarked on her dream career. And then several years later she watched a close friend come to the end of their life...
Nov 01, 2020•40 min•Season 1Ep. 12
In his teens, Ruben Dua watched his Dad watering trees and saw an opportunity. He also observed him taking the time to connect with people in every day interactions in his practice as a physician. This was the inspiration for how Ruben decided to spend his life and make his mark on the world. Ruben is the CEO and founder of Dubb.com, a frictionless video communication platform that transforms the way people create trust in business relationships. In this conversation we talk about how he sees th...
Oct 29, 2020•43 min•Season 1Ep. 11
What was a Canadian twenty-something pest control salesperson doing on a Belarussian subway with a backpack full of rubles? Listen to this interview with Tara Landes to find-out. While we both grew up in Vancouver, it took a decision to change our life direction for us to meet at our MBA program at Ivey Business School. For the past 12 years Tara has been the President of Bellrock Benchmarking, Inc., a company which she founded. In this very personal conversation we share memories and lessons le...
Oct 15, 2020•37 min•Season 1Ep. 10
In 1980 a child was born to a healthcare worker and a teacher in war torn Kabul, Afghanistan. That child grew up hearing stories about the "Golden Era"...what life was like before he was born. Instead of feeling resentful for not seeing those wonderful times, he decided to choose hope and equipped himself with the skills to help the people of his country get access to basic healthcare they needed. And so began his life of service. I met Dr. Fawad Akbari 7 years ago when he came to Canada under s...
Oct 13, 2020•43 min•Season 1Ep. 9
When I first met Dean Mills in 2004 he was a strategic account sales professional at Purolator Inc. I watched as he calmly and methodically grew his customer base to become a top performer and President's Club winner. As he succeeded he not only maintained his humility, he developed his strong inclination to teach and coach his colleagues to also become successful. I watched him continue to rise in increasingly senior leadership positions. I reconnected with Dean earlier this year, after 8 years...
Oct 12, 2020•37 sec•Season 1Ep. 8
In late October 1998, I was walking from my apartment to business school in London Ontario. It was the first snowfall and my first extremely cold day in Ontario. I was prepared with warm clothing but one of my classmates, Neeraj Monga was not. He had just recently arrived from India. I ran into him on the way into the building. He was freezing cold in a sweatshirt as he walked to school that day. You would have never known it by his performance in class. He was on fire as usual. Neeraj was consi...
Oct 06, 2020•37 min•Season 1Ep. 7
What do you get when you take a self declared introvert, combined with self confidence, an open mind and strong desire to develop others? You get one of the only female IT senior executives successfully leading one of the largest IT teams in corporate Canada. In this second episode of the "Days of Future Past" mini-series, I speak to Alison James, the SVP of Technology Operations at one of Canada's largest banks, CIBC. Alison graduated with me from the Ivey Business School 20 years ago. While I ...
Sep 29, 2020•34 min•Season 1Ep. 6
In a mini-series I am calling "Days of Future Past", I am commemorating my 20th anniversary of graduating from the Ivey Business School by interviewing classmates whom I have not seen in 20 years. Most of my classmates are now in senior leadership positions across multiple sectors and I am curious about what they have learned in the past two decades that will be helpful as we navigate the next two decades. In this first episode of the mini-series, I talk to Christina Cheung, CFO of The Procon Gr...
Sep 22, 2020•35 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Now is the time for customers and suppliers to collaborate and innovate to thrive during this time of disruption. It is not just about their companies' survival, it’s about all of us. Unless businesses can understand the shifting priorities and needs of end consumers, they will not develop solutions that are relevant to our changing lives. In this episode, I share an interview from a few months ago with well-known expert in emotional intelligence, business acumen and customer relevance, Philip S...
Sep 03, 2020•32 min•Season 1Ep. 4
