The 10 Successful Entrepreneur Revamping The Future

VOL 07 | ISSUE 03 | 2020

Dr. Buthaina H. Al-Ansari Promoting Women Empowerment and Updated HR Strategies in Qatar

+

INSIGHTS’ SPECIAL 8 Most Effective Leadership Styles for Organizational Success ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR Tarek Mohamed: An Autodidact Leader with Innovative Vision

THE 10 SUCCESSFUL

ENTREPRENEUR REVAMPING THE FUTURE

Editor’s Desk

Into the Wind Entrepreneurship derives by an idea with lots of determination and efforts

R

ecently, in Silicon Valley, a digital payment start-up has raised $200 million fund which is quite an amazing capital for the beginning. This number shows the changing trends in business sector where an idea with strong future potential is entertained and receives all the necessary help it requires to get on the surface. Now, start-up and entrepreneurship are becoming newest way to present an idea, technology or a service. These business trends have also encouraged all the talented minds all over the world despite their geographical and financial condition to promote and initiate their ideas from mere dreams to a reality. Of course, starting a start-up contains a lot of risks but those who are labelled with will power and determination always ready to take those risks and transform them into a success story.

Today, the fundamental shifts in the economy and society are helping entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs to become more practical than ever. People are encouraging the spread of entrepreneurship by supporting accelerators, incubators, and new business competitions in their communities. These communities offer opportunities for experienced entrepreneurs to meet younger people with common interests in creating a company. Also advancement in information technology lowers the cost of starting a company.

In its upcoming edition “The 10 Successful Entrepreneurs Revamping The Future”, Insights Success is bringing the journeys of some of these dynamic entrepreneurs who are recognized for successful business ideas, leadership and entrepreneurship across the world.

The cover features Buthaina Hassan Al-Ansar Chairman Advisor of Just Real Estate. She is also a key driving force behind strategic and operational effectiveness for some of Qatar’s leading industries.

She is steering the company achieving its goals in supporting Qatar’s economic diversification, advising the company and its visionary chairman on issues of marketing, sales strategies and top line structure. Her experience prior to being appointed as the Chairman Advisor, has seen her assume senior leadership roles within organizations such as Qatar Investment Authority and Ooredoo, among others.

Let’s unveil such alike, inspiring stories and interviews of many such passionate leaders in this special edition and spread a word about their contribution in making this world a better place.

Also, while flipping the pages, don’t forget to go through the articles and CXOs written by our inhouse editorial team and industry experts respectively.

Rohit Chaturvedi

Cover Story

08

Dr.

Buthaina H. Al-Ansari

Promoting Women Empowerment and Updated HR Strategies in Qatar

22

Articles

ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR Tarek Mohamed: An Autodidact Leader with Innovative Vision

18

LISE PAPE Helping People with Parkinson’s Walk

32

INSIGHTS’ SPECIAL 8 Most Effective Leadership Styles for Organizational Success

I N T H I S I S S U E July 2020

FRANCHISE ECOSYSTEM Is Franchise a protable stroke of Business?

38

JILLIAN HAMILTON A Procient in Risk Management

26

PATRICK HENRY Helping Farmers Implement Strategic Irrigation Management

44

Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal Managing Editor Anish Miller

Executive Editor

Assistant Editors

Kaustav Roy

Jenny Fernandes Rohit Chaturvedi

Visualizer

Art & Design Director

Associate Designer

David King

Amol Kamble

Sanket Zirpe

Co-designer Asha Bange

Senior Sales Manager

Business Development Manager

Kshitij S

Andy Mitter

Marketing Manager

Sales Executives

John Matthew

Daniel, Ethan, Vishnu Vardan

Technical Head

Business Development Executives

Jacob Smile

Anish, Joe, Alan, Omkar

Technical Specialist Aditya

Digital Marketing Manager Marry D'Souza

SME-SMO Executive Prashant Chevale

Research Analyst Frank Adams

Database Management Stella Andrew

Circulation Manager Robert Brown

Technology Consultant David Stokes

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COVER STORY

The 10 Successful Entrepreneur Revamping The Future

Dr.

Buthaina H. Al-Ansari

Promoting Women Empowerment and Updated HR Strategies in Qatar

“

“ The birth and the death, you have to choose your life between these two numbers.”

E

“Don't be just an individual who carried tow numbers in her life.”

ducation is the magic of my success, because of my education, I differentiate myself among other women in Qatar,” says Buthaina Hassan Al-Ansari. She added “Education helped me to be a good speaker a good panellist. If you have strong Education and you are able to utilise it at the write place and time; it is the only weapon which will never make you lose a battle that you will enter.” She is the Chairman Advisor of her family Business Just Real Estate. She is a key driving force behind strategic and operational effectiveness for some of Qatar's leading industries.

Buthaina Hassan Al-Ansari is steering Just Real Estate towards achieving its goals in supporting Qatar's economic diversification, advising the company and its visionary chairman on issues of marketing, sales strategies and top line structure. Her experience prior to being appointed as the Chairman Advisor, has seen her assume senior leadership roles within organizations such as Qatar Investment Authority and Ooredoo, among others.

Education is the Key Holding a Doctorate of Business Administration from Nottingham Trent University-UK 2019 along with the Master’s Degree in Strategic Planning and Human Resources, Al-Ansari brings with her a wealth of proficiency, experience and an expansive career that stretches more than 13 years. With Al-Ansari working across education, finance, and telecommunications, prior to joining one of Qatar’s leading real estate consultancies. During this period, she has honed her skills in training and staff development programs, strategic planning, while steering decisive HR strategies in areas including recruitment policies, quality procedures and discipline and grievance.

Al-Ansari asserts “My secret weapon is my education because it exposed me to many things and different cultures.” Education and stability in the family is important to have a healthy environment. The culture: and environment at home arc extremely important. Surrounding oneself with positive people is important. Competition today is no longer typical competition; it is a war over cultural mindsets, not weapons. “We have to build up knowledge and religion, and all this starts at school. Education, the environment at home, and schools should under-stand the new era of the world” she added.

Giving HR Sector a New Direction As the Acting Human Resources Director at the Qatar Investment Authority, Al-Ansari tasked with revising the company's salary and

grading structure, as well as developing and redesigning a Qatarization Strategy and Graduates Program, ensuring that the company was best positioned to support the future Qatari leaders of tomorrow. She also established a NH Digest magazine to help training and recruiting companies with 14 R and the Qatarization and nationalization strategy.

She wanted to raise the profile of training companies.

Al-Ansari also wrote about her experience developing the Qatarization and nationalization strategy and how can one can develop and convert HH from operations to strategic partners in companies. This was her vision when she developed the IIR magazine because she found a lack of knowledge and experience in executing the new HR. Companies were still stuck in old HR styles that only dealt with employee issues. In this new era, HR departments must be a business partner with the company and also protect employees’ rights. She wants to convert Hit from a cost center to a profit generating center because one can contribute to society when they are extremely advanced in terms of development programs.

Empowering Women As a strong advocate of Qatarization and women in

business, Al-Ansari was a key personality behind the development of Qatar’s first International Women’s Day. Tamkeen, it is a company that deals with building skills for both genders. Back in 2010, Al-Ansari came to her boss while she was in charge of the Human resources as an Executive director, and said she wanted to celebrate women international day. He replied what??? Al-Ansari replied with well-prepared answers. Even, when she left the company she continued to have these programs with different companies as well individuals to empower women for leadership positions in the organizations and increase women percentage within the C suite -level. She came with an idea called “Detox your life” and started conference in Qatar. It included workshops, international speakers, fashion show, and real estate investment experts to teach them how to invest their money where and how; each year on March with attendance of more than 400 ladies in Qatar.

Al-Ansari opines “There are a lot of definitions of the women empowerment. It depends on how you want to empower women. From my end, I would say building her knowledge, enhance her ability and skills, provide her with a vision and realistic objective that she can achieve with the positive mind-set, and respecting that she is the other half

of the society together with the other half who is her partner and his success.”

In addition, she said, “In my whole career I want to say that we are not enemies of the other gender we are complete by each other.

Together we can do miracles in different ways but as a women we need love, respect and believe in our ability.”

The Qatari National is a published author, with the most notable being ‘Qatari Women before and after Oil and Gas’ and ‘Sheroes’.

Her contribution to Qatari society has also resulted in her being named among the ‘100 Most Powerful Women in the Middle East’ and crowned ‘Business Women of the Year’

by Arabian Business magazine.

Wielding with Global Leader Traits Al-Ansari has also undertaken high-profile speaking opportunities on the global stage, representing the State of Qatar during the Entrepreneur Forum in London, Entrepreneur Presidential Summit in the US, and the Investment Forum in New York. She has also been appointed as a Judge at the Qatar Foundation’s popular edutainment reality program, Stars of Science competition, conducted by Qatar Foundation popular edutainment reality program.

Al-Ansari also recognized as one of the 100 most-powerful Arab women by Arab Business magazine in 2012 and 2013. On this achievement she says “The award is all about one’s achievements, and I was winking to support women. I faced many challenges,

obstacles and barriers with supervisors and bosses because of their mindset. They did not want women to compete with them as they were raised this way. I was doing a great deal of work in support of women in terms of developing their knowledge, skills, and capabilities.” She developed a magazine called Qatariat to highlight different women and their achievements in society so they can grow their business and networks via her magazine. Then, she joined the private sector. And she found the don people who believed in her, and they promoted her and gave her huge opportunities in Ooredoo.

Al-Ansari further added “I subsequently left the company and continued with my Pha. I also joined my brothers’ tympany to handle all the operation in the corn Pany as well as part of the VIP sales team because of my networking contacts.” She published the books Memos in Arabic and English and Qatari Women lieforelgrer Oil and GM. “We inherited the knowledge and education from the past generations so women heir% successful is not new,” she says. These books highlight the successes of Qatari women to expats. During the blockade, she published another book highlighting how they were stronger than the blockade because of the strong infrastructure in Qatar.

A Future with Hope and Success Al-Ansari stated “I will continue to support women and promote digital reading in Qatar. I also plan to hold conferences and move I-1H Digest online.” There is still a big need in HR, especially for new HR processes. She wants to promote entrepreneurship and for that focus on retail businesses like burgers, cafes, clothes, and others is not enough but also technology also plays crucial part. Sheikha Mon started 10 years ago with the Technology Oasis at the Qatar Foundation. She was adopting stars of science from the entire Arab world. “I would also like to do a comic hook talking about teenage issues with a central character that will come up with solutions to the problems teens face” says AlAnsari.

Buthaina Hassan Al-Ansari Chairman Advisor Just Real Estate

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VOL 07 | ISSUE 03 | 2020

Dr. Buthaina H. Al-Ansari Promoting Women Empowerment and Updated HR Strategies in Qatar

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INSIGHTS’ SPECIAL 8 Most Effective Leadership Styles for Organizational Success ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR Tarek Mohamed: An Autodidact Leader with Innovative Vision

THE 10 SUCCESSFUL

ENTREPRENEUR REVAMPING THE FUTURE

“

Choose E xc e l l e n t, Choose Insights

Tarek Mohamed CEO Sharetheload International

18 | JULY 2020

www.insightssuccess.com

Entrepreneur of the year

Tarek Mohamed An Autodidact Leader with Innovative Vision

I

think, to ever be a CEO/Director, you need to have a brutal streak to ensure everything is done right despite it isn’t right. Just always show your true colours of care and love but never be afraid to pull others in line especially if they depend on you.” This is the leadership mantra of Tarek Mohamed, CEO of Sharetheload, who believes that integrity, being authentic, being accountable, self-confidence, and communication are the vital attributes of a leader. As the CEO, he ensures the directions are being met accordingly and if not he ensures it does. The team has regular meetings to ensure projected outcomes are being met and mitigating any issues they may face.

As an all-rounder with ten years of employment experience, Tarek has gained invaluable skills and experience that has been inestimable to many successful companies. Having studied and excelled in Economics, his background in Finance through education as well as personal selfeducation has allowed him to positively contribute in roles specialising but not limited to Australian Equities.

Additionally, as a visionary entrepreneur, Tarek has been able to self-learn web development. Moreover, as a method of bootstrapping, he created multiple failures such as writersaboard.com and inspiringinvestor.com.au respectively to help him fund his major project which was not a success. Also given his social work/youth work

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background, the experience has been pivotal in understanding and communicating well with others in order to achieve a positive desired outcome. This skill has been carried forward across the diverse roles he has been involved in. After founding ‘Sharetheload’, Tarek has been implementing strategies to make sure that the company is moving towards the right direction of launch. Moreover, his role in the company entails corporate structure, corporate legality, partnerships etc.

According to Tarek, Sharetheload is built on being different to the other major competitors out there. These all stem from personal frustrations as consumers. The company offers RFID tagging, facial recognition, barcode reading which no logistic offers as a whole. In addition, it has entered a world-wide partnership which has allowed it to enter new markets, never seen before. It’s corporate split; the split is 80 (corporate):20 (users). This covers all the expenses and ensures users are satisfied with the service and thus remunerated correctly via positive worldwide connections.

An Idea of Betterment Tarek says, growing up with migrant born parents, he has seen first-hand the trials and tribulations that they must go through to get items from overseas family members. Fast forward today, he likes to purchase items on various sites

2020 JULY | 19

“Come up with your own rules and beliefs but never hurt anyone intentionally”

and would frequently get frustrated with the delay in waiting time. One day, Tarek ordered an express parcel from the United States which was delayed by 3 weeks and thus he came up with the idea. It hurt him as he paid more for the delivery then the actual item. Thus, it made him explore ways of delivery in the last mile and innovative methods.

world. Sharetheload hopes to see its users grow and giving consumers better options that are more affordable across the globe. To reach the company’s potential customers, it has a dedicated team with an extensive background in advertising and promotion. It advertises using some of the biggest platforms in the world including but not limited to social media and flyers.

Determined and Disciplined Growing up as a first generation Australian, Tarek’s parents migrated here to give his family a greater opportunity than Egypt. He has always been raised to take education seriously and never take life for granted. He asserts “Growing up, I could see my parents struggle and I said to myself I'll make a change. I also played a lot of sports including Soccer which taught me to be a team player whilst also to perfect my craft. Putting in tireless hours has disciplined positive habits that translate over to my business world.” He often read non- fiction based information across medical, technology and economic factors. Moreover, his life has determined the directions he takes in his life and thus any influences are made accordingly.

Challenging Status Quo Over the course of Tarek’s journey, one of the most challenging roadblocks he has come across is Finances. He challenges the status quo or the conventional methods of capital-raising. He often goes with an IOU basis with many partners and ensures they trust him enough to know he will have his words backed up with actions. This is based off his great track record with smaller projects that have led to great outcomes which has led him to be able to build more.

Vision to be Get Global Tarek’s vision for the company is quite simple. He only hopes to see ‘positive connections’ across humanity and the 20 | JULY 2020

Change is Constant Change is a necessary process for progress. With such a dynamic technological era, Tarek sustains leadership by looking at people and understanding technology to the highest degree by studying in micro detail. He tries and understand everything all technological advancements from Robots, Microchips, Hacking etc.

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echnology, technique—name it, the world has bestowed some remarkably adaptive implications and stimulated them into becoming a global brand. Yet, many organizations are striving to attain the full benefits of being a globally recognized brand. To stretch out confinements, various organizations often offer franchise licenses to franchise owners in potentially profitable regions for acquiring a better customer approach. Instead of starting from a scratch, an individual can purchase a franchise and start with a proven business model that has a more probability of achieving success.

With adequate management and guidance, one can easily flourish in the business world. Franchise business strikes down certain hardships and struggles that might be faced in the start-ups. Choosing franchise 22 | JULY 2020

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Franchise Ecosystem

businesses over a start-up could prove as a better idea, as it has more fruitful benefits that of any initial-staged businesses.

An Established Open System Unlike any start-ups, a franchise business allows an individual to carry out the operation directly from the established foundation. From brand cultivation and marketing to future plans and customer base, a new franchise owner is blessed with almost everything. An outlet of a franchise ensures the idea of following the similar business modules and operational methods can be more effective. And, implementing some new tweaks in such absolute aspects makes the task easier for a distributor.

In addition, it also allows professionals to overview the business reports and key performance indicators which aid www.insightssuccess.com

one to adapt and make appropriate business decisions. Besides, a strong support system is often a necessity rather than a want. It supports an individual in maintaining balance between both independent ideologies and the brand’s business modules. The support mostly includes the vast knowledge about the franchise and an expertise outlook on products. With such system, many new business personalities can perpetually sustain in the massive markets.

Less risk factor and Higher Success Rate One of the primary concern factor and the misconception in franchise business lies within the limitation of autonomy. Unlike individual enterprises, a franchise business might be facing some problems regarding receiving a full scale autonomy which can be overruled thereafter. It requires

compassion over choosing a franchise which is more suitable with a purchaser’s business ethics. This reduces the risk of being dominated by franchisors and other investor entities and helps in drafting own rules to follow on.

Though a franchise comes with a wellestablished platform, it does require consistent efforts on bringing the organization upwards. According to various reports and facts, it has been also stated that the success rate of franchise business is quite higher than an independent entrepreneurial venture. As franchisees operate under a systematic business model, they get an indirect training in marketing as well as staff handling. With a large-scale marketing, the franchisees can promptly attain more customer attraction resulting into a higher growth rate.

2020 JULY | 23

Instant Customer Access Customer engagement is one of the most crucial and difficult processes in a business to bear. To gain more number of customers, an organization has to invest their time and efforts on processing various marketing aspects.

In case of franchise business, the odds are quite similar but with fewer efforts.

As most of franchise brands have a national or a global recognition, franchisees are required to contribute into a “marketing budget” through which the parent companies could process out an extensive promotion campaigns. Meanwhile, franchisee can also start an independent campaign in order to gain instant customer engagement.

Below are some methods through which franchisees can uplift the business, independently.

Focusing on target audiences—instead of exaggerating over customer approaches, one can narrow down the target audiences to highly qualified prospects. It allows business owners to concentrate and come up with best prospects to deliver.

Return-policy—being the most traditional and effective way to attract customers, utilizing return-policies in franchise business will aid the franchisees to get better customer approach. Providing something in return and offering various schemes helps in creating an adverse marketing network.

How Franchise Business works?

Quite a few requirements are needed to be fulfilled by a prospective franchisee owner in order to get qualified for licensing the brand’s name. The qualification requirements significantly vary from one franchisor to other. It often includes maintaining a higher net worth and a good credit score for a larger initial investment. In addition, a franchisee must be having another source of income also an industry/management experience for guiding business effectively.

Subsequently considering all the factors, the franchisor determines whether the prospective owner is worthy enough to be qualified for the business or not.

A Franchise agreement includes certain sets of terms which are required to be followed by the franchisees. After being qualified, an individual signs an agreement where he/she has to pay a franchise-fee in order to acquire the license to use the brands name and its business processes. Simultaneously, the franchisor assists franchisees with allocation, supplier connections, storemanagement and staff training.

However, it also bestows various facets like specific tested operating system, with creative marketing strategies.

Initially, the opportunities of implanting reinvention in franchise business are narrowed down as the focus of a franchiser is on delivering a consistent experience across all the locations. A multiple franchised locations, a franchisee can easily attain increased purchasing power. Also, Franchise business allows business persons to be flexible to try new products or services in order to test in the real-time market scenario. Thus by considering above aspects, it can be concluded that the franchise business is most secure and best option to invest in.

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JILLIAN HAMILTON

A Proficient in Risk Management

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or a leader, leadership is a process of constant learning which strengthens by an unwavering commitment to development and collaboration. One such leader is Jillian Hamilton, who believes good leadership is a lifetime work that requires continual learning, supporting others, and having a perspective to understand which things are really important. She is the Managing Director of Manage Damage, a risk management advisory firm that focuses on the true cost of risk, working with clients to provide their business with specialist advisors who can drive your efficiency, productivity and profitability.

Later on, they needed a Safety and Environment Officer and as I had an environmental background he appointed me and placed me on a WHS Officers course. This was my new found profession - I really never looked back after working on Australia’s largest remediation project at the time then elevated to oversee a few more Remediation projects of as I learnt more and more;

Below are the highlights of the interview conducted between Insights Success and Jillian Hamilton:

I was then asked to work in Western Australia in the mining industry undertaking a State Safety Manager position for a then thriving blue chip mining and infrastructure company; a few years later I took a temporary assignment in a national rail position but found my greatest role in a large multi-state now multinational labour hire company.

Describe your background and what did you do before you started or came into this business?

I started my career in Risk Management by chance - I had just come back from overseas and a friend needed me to help her with the accounts on a civil construction site. It wasn’t long until the Project Manager suggested I took the Safety Committee Meeting Minutes, as he could see I had a good demeanour with all different people on the site.

26 | JULY 2020

I then transferred to another company which was a Tier One Builder and completed some Australian Defence work buildings and then worked in demolition, safety in design, Greenstar building and high rise.

The dynamics were fast, furious and fantastic - I learnt so much from the entrepreneurial leaders and this paved my way to found Manage Damage an entity to assist business borrow the expertise they needed for just the time they

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The 10 Successful Entrepreneur Revamping The Future

JL Hamilton Managing Director Manage Damage

www.insightssuccess.com

2020 JULY | 27

needed; later we developed our first patent Risk Dollarisation® and delivered our book and process now worldwide to various levels of business and even government clients.

What people, what books, what life factors have influenced and impacted you?

My father is a farmer – he works from sun-up to sun-down to feed his cattle, plant his crops, check his fences, plan the shearing or use the horses to move the stock around and ensure the waters. I really watched, learned and even worked with my parents from a young age to learn the ethics of work, hard decent, honest and ethical work. I saw that if you work hard and keep doing it day in day out and prepare your ground and care for it and respect it, and help your neighbours that when there is a bushfire – they will help you.

Every person I met gave me a piece of themselves – they helped me see the world through their glasses. Later I wanted to do this through my work, so we started to export Manage Damage services and found the application worked even better overseas than locally! So now my international clients and colleagues help mould the version of me.

From a business perspective and risk approach I am on constant readiness to be inspired by another view and aspect that helps solve problems. I really found a love to eat elephants – if you had a problem; I wanted it to solve it for you and for me!

What is the operating philosophy and cutting-edge solutions/services that the company has been built on?

We create new descriptors, with additional and specific costs/values rather than the current values of safety – TRIFR, LTIFR and other malleable reporting values (nonfinancial).

The Risk Dollarisation® method increases the importance and understanding of the current non-financial functions of a business. This is because they are now represented in financial terms.

This approach allows the leaders of business who think in dollar terms and financials terms every day to know and understand the true cost of Damage Costs.

This approach challenges the concept of assigning costs, people and damage in one conversation.

Currently, businesses only become comfortable talking about the costs of risk when there is a catastrophe and everyone says, “We should never do that again!”

Risk Dollarisation® allows a business to accept that Damage Costs can be identified, assessed and managed at all stages of a business, not just at catastrophic moments.

28 | JULY 2020

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“

“

e Financial Approach to Non-Financial Risk”

The Risk Dollarisation® moral imperative is to drive activity of stakeholders in the business financially. If you understand this and realign the approach it will mean safety gets a seat at the table and is spoken in language that is understood. We are completely simplifying/demystifying safety & making it meaningful/practical. It's not magic – it’s simple economics & measurement - marked measured & managed.

What is your vision for the company for the next five years?

Manage Damage will remain sharp on all edges – we are launching a new app which will have some useful practical tools for business to manage risk without specific one on one guidance... we are also working on a new Global Safety Governance Offering so standby for this one.

As a Managing Director, describe a challenge you overcame.

I think if any Managing Director doesn’t let you know that they overcome challenges daily; they are really having a lend! The greatest challenge at the moment is really staying abreast of the macro and micro economic forces at play in our global business environments – the speed of change is so great – but the CV19 environment adds a whole new level – still waiting for my Truman Show Contract. We are on a reality TV show right now - right?

How do you sustain your entrepreneurial/leadership spirit in this changing technological era?

What’s to sustain? – this is the most exciting moment in our lifetimes for tech growth, changes, leaps and bounds – never has the speed of change had such a profound effect on the rate and output in development – there is so much happening – I am just crossing my fingers that holograms get so good that I can consult globally without a 42hr transit; or heck – when’s this “teleportation” they speak of is actually going to work – if I was an airline or cruise ship company right now I’d consider a pivot to this work?!!

What advice would you like to give to the emerging business leaders?

I think you have to remember before you start; fill your pockets with as much cash as you can, clear your debt, plan your path, prepare your whole business before you start, get yourself a crash hat, get a mouth guard fitted and get ready to hussle harder than you ever have before. This is a tough ride where the wins are like gold and the losses make you be glad you bought a crash hat!

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2020 JULY | 29

The 10 Successful Entrepreneur Revamping The Future

LISE PAPE

Helping People with Parkinson’s Walk

A

College of Art (RCA) and Imperial College London, a course focused on enterprise, entrepreneurship, incubation and business support at the Royal College of Art in London, when I came up with the idea for the system.

It was important to her that, the solution should not have any side effects but rather only add positive benefit, which eventually laid the foundation stone for Walk With Path.

According to Lise, bringing Path Finder LaserShoes to the market was a key achievement, which is changing the daily lives of its users for better.

I worked closely on the idea with a partner from my RCA class, Florian Puech, who had an engineering background.

Then the RCA's own incubator helped us get more structure to our idea and work through the business basics, such as getting a legal agreement in place. We joined the global startup accelerator Mass Challenge and obtained grants from the Dyson Foundation, Helen Hamlyn Trust and Nesta, among others.

fter seeing her father struggling to walk and do other tasks that many of us take for granted, the Founder and Managing Director of Walk With Path, Lise Pape decided to create simple solutions that have a positive impact on those, who are suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

In an interview with Insights Success, Lise Pape the Founder and Managing Director of Walk With Path has shared valuable insights about her company and its struggles.

What people, what books, what life factors have influenced and impacted you?

Below are the highlights of the interview between Lise and Insights Success;

My father suffers from Parkinson’s and after seeing him struggle to walk and do other tasks that many of us take for granted, I set out on a mission to create a solution that could help him and other people living with Parkinson.

Describe your background and what did you do before you started or came into this business?

What is the operating philosophy and cutting-edge solutions/services that the company has been built on?

With a background working and studying in human biology, finance, advertising and product development, I was studying Innovation Design Engineering at The Royal

It was important to me that the solution should not have any side effects (like drugs) but rather only add positive

32 | JULY 2020

www.insightssuccess.com

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2020 JULY | 33

benefits. This was the beginning of Path Finder LaserShoes for people with Parkinson’s and why I founded Walk With Path.

What is your vision for the company for the next five years?

We want to mobilise other groups of vulnerable individuals and help improve their quality of life. We are now developing Path Feel to help people with diabetes, stroke and multiple sclerosis. People who live with these chronic diseases are often struggling to walk because they have peripheral neuropathy (a loss of sensation in the soles of their feet). We wish to launch a product that will help, mobilise and provide confidence to millions of people worldwide.

According to you, which upcoming/current technology is going to be a disruptive force in a near future?

One of the main challenges in designing Path Feel is the lack of space fitting the battery into the insole. We are 34 | JULY 2020

aiming to fit a battery that will last for at least a day of use with the current technology available (e.g. batteries) for the first version of the product we will put on the market.

However, the rate of innovation allows us to predict that battery technology will significantly advance and batteries will become smaller and more compact with similar if not greater capacity. Solid-state batteries are meant to be widely available on the market in the next five years and can contain up to three times more energy per unit weight than conventional lithium-ion batteries so we are planning to monitor new battery technologies to use in our next version.

As a CEO/leader, describe a challenge you overcame.

Being a start-up in health-tech and in hardware gave us a lot of challenges. Trying to source first stage investment is not easy and it may take some time before you are able to make your first sale. Health-tech solutions are a type of products that have quite a long time to market. Health-tech is also heavily regulated and you need to adhere to the standards of regulation. Therefore, bringing Path Finder LaserShoes to the market was a key achievement, and it feels incredibly www.insightssuccess.com

Lise Pape Founder & Managing Director Walk With Path

“

Walk With Path is a mobility company with a social mission to transform the lives of thousands of people.

rewarding to hear from our users how it is changing their daily lives for the better.

What advice would you like to give to the emerging business leaders?

How do you sustain your entrepreneurial/leadership spirit in this changing technological era?

Try to ďŹ nd an investor that is a good match to you and make clear what you expect from them and if you are looking for an active partner or more passive support. Connect with likeminded people. It has been very valuable for me to be a part of many of the networks that Walk With Path is a part of, such as Mass Challenge, EIT, AARP, Social Innova, Cartier and SIT Alumni Network. It is also paramount that you stay persistent and not at least patient if you are in health-tech.

I listen to the end users of our product. On a daily basis we help hundreds of people live a free and independent life.

One user told me how he was able to keep working instead of having to go on early retirement – simply because he was now able to walk to the train station and go to work. Stories like that keep me motivated and give me strength to overcome the challenges that we face every day.

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8

Insights’ Special

Most

E ective

LEADERSHIP ERSHIP Styles for

Organizational

SUCCESS A

n effective leader is the first and foremost condition for a successful business. The hugely successful leaders adopt a combination of multiple leadership styles or just one selective

style.

As a fluid practice, leadership is always changing and improving the way the company grows. There are different types of leadership styles exist in a work environment. The culture and vision of an organization determine which one is the most suitable style.

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8 MOST EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP STYLES

01

TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP Inspires the staff through effective communication and collaboration

INFO GRAPHIC DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP

02

welcomes views & suggestions from the employees

03

LAISSEZ-FAIRE LEADERSHIP allows the employees to make their own decisions

TRANSACTIONAL LEADERSHIP establishes a clear chain of command implementing a carrot & stick approach to management activities

05

AUTOCRATIC LEADERSHIP have signiďŹ cant control over the staff, seldom considers any suggestions from staff

STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP

06

encourages collective decision-making

07

BUREAUCRATIC LEADERSHIP follows a strict set of rules and policies

CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP charms the staff with individual charisma

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04

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TYPES OF LEADERSHIP STYLE 01

TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP

One of the most effective leadership styles is the transformational leadership style.

Transformational leaders inspire their staff through effective communication and collaboration and thus initiating the path to success. They set challenging goals and higher expectation from each employee eventually achieving a greater result.

These individuals are often blue-sky thinkers. For the successful implementation of their strategic visions, the organization might need more detailoriented managers.

03

LAISSEZ-FAIRE LEADERSHIP

The term ‘laissez-faire’ literally means ‘let them do' in French. In leadership, this is typically translated to ‘let it be’. In this leadership style, the leader allows the employees to make decisions. Laissezfaire leaders are known for their hands-off approach which is often criticized for poor role definition for managers.

Such leadership style is effective in creative jobs and workplaces with experienced employees.

However, active monitoring of performance and effective communication regarding the expectation from the leader’s end is must to get the most out of this style of leadership.

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02

DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP

Democratic leadership is another highly effective leadership style. Often known as Participative leadership, in this style the leaders often ask help and collaboration from their subordinates.

This leadership usually reports higher levels of job satisfaction and the company can benefit from individualistic creativity. However, this style involves more than one individual in the decisionmaking process which makes the process slower.

04

TRANSACTIONAL LEADERSHIP

Transactional leadership is basically focused on group organization, establishing a clear chain of command and implementing a carrot-and- stick approach to management activities. According to Boundless.com, transactional leadership includes: clarifying what is expected of followers’ performance; explaining how to meet such expectations; and allocating rewards that are contingent on meeting objectives.

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05

AUTOCRATIC LEADERSHIP As the name suggests, the autocratic leadership style is the extreme version of transactional leadership.

Autocratic or authoritative leaders take control of the staff and rarely accept or consider employees’views or suggestions. Ruling with an iron fist is rarely appreciated by staff, which can lead to high turnover and absenteeism.

Autocratic work environment rarely has any flexibility.

07

BUREAUCRATIC LEADERSHIP

Bureaucratic leadership models are most suitable for highly regulated or administrative environments, where adherence to the rules and a defined hierarchy are important. In this leadership style, the leaders set a strict set of rules, regulations, and policies which they follow precisely, and they expect their teams to follow the line.

06

STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP

Strategic leadership is a commonly effective leadership style. This leadership style involves a leader who is essentially the highest authority of the organization. Strategic leaders are not, however, limited to the top authority of the company. They include a wider audience at all levels who want to create a high- performance life, team or organization. This is because of this approach this is one of the most desirable styles of leadership.

08

CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP

A tinge of resemblance is evident in both charismatic and transformational leadership. Both the leadership styles rely heavily on the positive charm and personality of the leader.

However, this style of leadership is seldom considered to be effective because the success of projects and initiatives are closely linked to the presence of the leader

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2020 JULY | 41

The 10 Successful Entrepreneur Revamping The Future

PATRICK HENRY Helping Farmers Implement Strategic Irrigation Management

W

ith the focus on helping farmers implement strategic irrigation management GroGuru came into existence. The organization measures things like soil moisture, temperature, and salinity at various root depth of crops by deploying soil sensors.

GroGuru wirelessly transmits this data to the Cloud where it adds additional information to make AI-based recommendations to farmers about when and how much to irrigate their crops. GroGuru’s recommendation engine accounts for the data that it gets from the soil sensors, but also crop type, weather, soil type, and additional data.

As the CEO and President of GroGuru, Patrick Henry drives the overall strategy and operational execution for an exciting AgTech company that will change the way that farmers grow crops by using an innovative IoT system for precision irrigation and soil monitoring and management.

In an interview with Insights Success, Patrick has shared key insights of the company and his journey as a serial entrepreneur.

Describe your background and what did you do before you started or came into this business?

I am a serial entrepreneur that has run four tech startup companies, including GroGuru. I have had multiple exits including an IPO that lead to a $1 billion valuation. I have an engineering undergrad and an MBA. I’ve worked in technology my whole career.

What is your role in the company?

I am the president and CEO of GroGuru. In this role, there are many hats, especially in a startup: chief salesperson, chief operating officer, chief fundraiser, chief recruiter, and chief cheerleader. We are an innovative agriculture technology company focused on strategic irrigation management. We help farmers make more money by increasing crop yield and more efficiently using water and other scarce resources in a sustainable way.

What people, what books, what life factors have influenced and impacted you?

Below are the highlights of the interview between Patrick and Insights Success; 44 | JULY 2020

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Patrick Henry CEO & President GroGuru

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2020 JULY | 45

I’ve had a number of excellent mentors in my career that have really helped to shape and guide my career path. Some of my favourite business books include: The Innovator’s Dilemma, Crossing the Chasm, Built to Last, Competitive Strategy, Strategic Selling, and Good to Great, to name a few. I’ve always been very goal and achievement oriented, and my parents were very supportive of my pursuits. I also love personal development books like Earl Nightingale’s Lead the Field and Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich.

What is the operating philosophy and cutting-edge solutions/services that the company has been built on?

GroGuru has developed an innovative and now patented technology called the Wireless Underground System, or WUGS, that can communicate through several feet of rock, soil, concrete, etc. This technology enables the permanent installation even in annual field crops. We then apply machine learning to this proprietary data stream and make recommendations to farmers about when and how much to irrigate through a simple, intuitive, farmer-friendly user interface.

What is your vision for the company for the next five years?

I think we can grow to be the leader in irrigation monitoring and management for commercial farmers in the US and worldwide.

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According to you, which upcoming/current technology is going to be a disruptive force in a near future?

Other than GroGuru, I think genetic code and genetic editing solutions are going to experience explosive growth and tons of innovation. Also, anything to do with improving soil health and carbon sequestration.

As a CEO/leader, describe a challenge you overcame.

There have been many challenges I’ve had to overcome in my career. In my experience, adversity is where leadership is tested and proven. I think persistence with patience and a cool head during times of great uncertainty, ambiguity and stress is essential for leadership. In my career, I’ve had a failed IPO that we turned around and made successful, I’ve navigated a company through the great recession, and at GroGuru we’ve had to raise money and build a company in an incredibly difficult funding environment.

How do you sustain your entrepreneurial/leadership spirit in this changing technological era?

I actually wrote a book about this called PLAN COMMIT WIN: 90 Days to Creating a Fundable Startup. I think one of the most important things as a startup leader is to never give up. Don’t quit before the miracle happens. And stay

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“ Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes o the goal.

positive. This is not to say you should be Pollyanna, but don’t give up just because things get hard. Have a plan, adjust as appropriate, and have a commitment to win!

What advice would you like to give to the emerging business leaders?

Get a mentor. Have advisors and mentors in your life that are further down the path that you are pursuing. Be open minded and willing to listen and learn. Get the data then trust your gut.

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