The 10 Powerful Leaders in Business October 2020

www.insightssuccess.com

THE

Employee Care Factors to Eliminate Employee Retention Challenges

10 POWERFUL LEADERS IN BUSINESS

Ahmed R. Ali President & Founder

2020 Volume-10 Issue-03

AHMED R. ALI

EDITOR’S DESK

E

ven though this question is quite common, its essence in the business world has never been more pragmatic. Leadership is a diverse concept with vivid interpretations. Some people use it to derive their purpose in life and some still try to find a meaning for their life through leadership. A true leadership is where your peers are not just associated with your work, they are associated with you. They relate to you on a deeper level, not just on professional grounds but emotional as well.

While some people believe in ‘keeping things professional’ between their colleagues, many people go above and beyond to help their coworkers and subordinates, just to set a good example. It has become quite a challenge, a leader’s dilemma to be exact, fostering and maintaining relationships in the workplace. But the list of issues does not end here.

How important is Leadership in Business?

In this VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) times coupled with the ongoing pandemic, leaders are directed towards facing a lot of challenges in their respective businesses. As the effects of pandemic are not limited to any particular industry, business leaders across different verticals

are facing somewhat similar issues when it comes handling and managing their daily operations.

It is true that challenges are a part of business but coping through its pressure and getting the job done is a task, not many can follow. A sense of true leadership is required to take the ‘entrepreneur-ship’ sailing through the VUCA waves of challenges. Emphasizing on the essence of true business leadership, we are portraying ‘The 10 Powerful Leaders in Business, 2020’ in the latest edition of Insights Success.

On the cover page of this month’s issue is Ahmed R Ali, the President and Founder of Tista Science & Technology Corporation who is leading the business with a persistent attitude. Read in detail about his journey to prominence.

successful entrepreneurs who thinks differently and is always looking to solve problems with innovative solutions is Gary Olsen. He is the Principal of GHO Group and is considered as one of the Thought Leaders in the media and technology industry. Also, read what Chad Burmeister, the Founder & CEO of ScaleX.ai., has to say about the dynamics of leadership in an interview with Insights Success.

Few of the honorable mentions for this month’s edition are Adam Belsher, Marc Inkol, Nick Wagner, Jim Kelly, and Jason Austin.

We have a CXO from 20Four7VA talking about creating a strong brand identity. Do give it a read. To know what is going on inside a powerful business leader’s head, take a look at this month’s latest edition of Insights Success!

The cluster of names for this edition includes Akash Agarwal, Co-founder & CEO of Sahaj Software Solutions. He had been serving the IT industry for more than 2 decades proficiently. Another name in the list is Alvin Ea, Co-founder and CEO of Haulio, who is a leader spearheading a revolutionary collaborative B2B platform in the container trucking sector. Edward Van Leent is one of the pioneering leaders who is making a difference in the Data Centre Training and Audit Industry for a long time. As the Chairman & CEO of the EPI Group of Companies, he is transforming the company from a data center design solutions provider to a fullfledged data center services company. Another one of the

Sneha Sinha

Cover Story

08 Ahmed R. Ali

An Example of Dauntless Innovation

Interview with Insights Success

CXO

16

22

Chad Burmeister An Avid Sales Person & a Profound Leader

Branding Tips How to create a strong brand identity: 5 must-know tips

Article 32 Employee Care

20

26

Akash Agrawal Inspiring Leadership, Delivering Simplicity

Alvin Ea A Budding Trailblazer of Logistical Arena

30 Edward Van Leent A Leader Who Changed the Data Centre Training and Audit Industry Forever

34 Gary Olson A ConďŹ dent & Creative Entrepreneur In Pursuit of Innovation

CONTENTS

Factors to Eliminate Employee Retention Challenges

Editor-in-Chief Sumita Sarkar Senior Editor Anish Miller Managing Editor Sneha Sinha Assisting Editors Abhishaj, Darshan Visualiser David King Art & Design Head Asha Bange Art & Design Assistant Priyanka Rajage Co-designer Paul Belin Art & Picture Editor Deepanjali Jena Business Development Manager Sherin Rodricks Marketing Manager Joseph D'souza Business Development Executives Kelly, Jenny Sales Executives Alice, Joe Technical Head Jacob Smile Assistant Technical Head Amar Sawant Technical Consultants Pratiksha, Aditya, David Digital Marketing Manager Alina Sege Assistant Digital Marketing Manager Amol Wadekar SME-SMO Executives Gemson, Renuka Research Analyst Eric Smith Circulation Manager Tanaji sales@insightssuccess.com

October, 2020 Corporate Ofď€ ce Insights Success Media Tech LLC 555 Metro Place North, Suite 100, Dublin, OH 43017, United States Phone - (614)-602-1754 Email: info@insightssuccess.com For Subscription: www.insightssuccess.com

Follow us on :

www.facebook.com/insightssuccess/

www.twitter.com/insightssuccess

We are also available on : RNI No.: MAHENG/2018/75953 Copyright Š 2020 Insights Success Media and Technology Pvt. Ltd., All rights reserved. The content and images used in this magazine should not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission from Insights Success. Reprint rights remain solely with Insights Success.

10

The

POWERFUL

LEADERS in Business Company Name

Management

Brief

EPI Group of Companies epigroup.com

Edward Van Leent Chairman and CEO

Edward Van Leent is one of the pioneering leaders who is making a difference in the data center training and audit industry for a very long period of time.

Explorer Research explorerresearch.com

Marc Inkol President

Marc Inkol has twenty years of rich experience in working for tier 1 companies which he is leveraging to spearhead the operations of Explorer Research.

Ghogroup ghogroup.com

Gary Olson Principal

Gary Olsen is a person who thinks differently when it comes to solving problems with innovative solutions.

Greensill greensill.com

Jason Austin Co-founder

Haulio haulio.io

Alvin Ea Co-founder and CEO

Alvin Ea is a dynamic leader who is spearheading a revolutionary collaborative B2B platform in the container trucking space.

Magnet Forensics magnetforensics.com

Adam Belsher CEO

Adam Belsher with his company Magnet Forensics is on a mission to protect the innocent and seek justice through enabling necessary tools to combat the increasing crime rates of today.

Maryland-based

Catherine vanVonno President, CEO

Cathrine vanVonno talks about creating a strong brand identity in her article that Insights Success has featured as a CXO for its esteemed readers.

Sahaj Software Solutions sahaj.ai

Akash Agrawal Founder and CEO

Scalex.ai scalex.ai

Chad Burmeister CEO

Tistatech tistatech.com

Ahmed R Ali CEO

Jason Austin leads Greensil which is one of the leading providers of supply-chain finance.

Akash Agrawal is serving the IT sector for more than two decades dedicatedly.

Chad Burmeister sheds some light on the dynamics of leadership in the exclusive Interview with Insights Success.

Ahmed R Ali is leading the business technological innovation with a persistent attitude.

Cover Story

Ahmed R. Ali President & Founder

AHMED R. ALI

An Example of Dauntless Innovation

“

From day one, TISTA has been about our people

Cover Story

Ahmed R. Ali, the President and Founder of TISTA Science and Technology Corporation attributes his success to his persistent attitude. He says, “Starting the company was a passion and dream of mine, but when I started, it was a very challenging period. I was a oneperson company for approximately two years, working as a sub-contractor to a large business on a Department of Defense contract. I took a huge pay cut when I started my company, and I took a lot of risk that put my family in potential financial jeopardy, but I was determined to work hard and succeed.”

However, this is not the only distinctive feature that makes an irreplaceable leader. His journey to prominence revolves around a fact; the path to exceptional growth, change, and performance requires assertive action. He adds, “Leadership skills are most effectively learned through overcoming adversity. When faced with a challenge, leaders do not wait for a solution to appear—they assess the problem, break it down into manageable components, and identify potential solutions.”

Mr. Ahmed R. Ali’s entrepreneurial journey began while serving in the United Sates Navy for 6 years. Upon completion of his active duty naval career, he worked in the private industry for several years for both small and large businesses, and as a government employee. His technical, management and leadership experiences with the military, private sector and government agencies prepared him for future entrepreneurship and the innovation economy.

Shaped by Experiences The journey to becoming an effective leader is not an easy one. Addressing the obstacles that came along the way, shaped Mr. Ahmed R. Ali into the leader he is celebrated as today.

The charisma of Mr. Ahmed R. Ali is exemplary; he is a

product of his own experience and through gathering strength from distress. He says, “Learning how to lead is a never-ending journey, and every leader’s path varies with their experiences and the people they meet. I began my career in the US Navy, where I was heavily influenced by exceptional leaders and through my interactions with both military and civilian personnel throughout the world.”

Mr. Ahmed R. Ali has continuously pursued relevant educational opportunities, including a B.S. in Information Systems Management, an M.S. in Cybersecurity, an MBA with a concentration in International Business, and several executive level education programs.

In his words, “Leadership requires knowledge; leaders who not understand subject matter related to their business cannot influence successful outcomes or communicate intelligently with others. Even with my education, numerous personal and professional relationships, and more than 30 years of military, federal government, and civilian experience in engineering, information technology, cybersecurity, and project and program management, I still gain new insights in effective leadership every single day.”

Today Mr. Ahmed R. Ali has not only grown to be resilient but also to be an unapologetic leader. “In the first three years, TISTA’s revenue was approximately $200K with only 3 employees, and fifteen years later, the company has now exceeded $200M in annual revenue, with over half a billion dollars in contract backlog, and nearly 700 full-time employees,” he shares.

The Extended IT Department With a growth-mindset and learning attitude, TISTA is at the pinnacle of achieving everlasting success. While these factors contributed to the company’s growth, we wanted to know what gives it a competitive edge. TISTA has gained a

“

AT TISTA, WE VALUE OUR PARTNERS AND THIS ETHIC HAS SUPPORTED OUR LONG-TERM SUCCESS IN THE INDUSTRY

“

T

hroughout history, one consistent trend among successful people is the ability to persevere; the ability to stand up and take a step forward during times of crisis or adversity. In many ways this quality is unnatural. Human instinct is to seek security, retreat, or sometimes, lash out against hardship. What I have found is that perseverance is both a learned trait and a choice, developed through experience and by purposefully choosing alternative paths. It is a series of bumpy steps rather than a steady incline, but over time and by learning from both good and bad choices, it is refined into the foundation for strong leadership. Leaders, and individuals aspiring to lead, believe in themselves and persevere to reach a desired result when other strategies fail.

reputation for delivering innovative and cutting-edge solutions, providing exceptional customer service, and hiring highly qualified subject matter experts.

TISTA’s primary competencies include Agile Application Engineering, Data Engineering and Analytics, Integration Engineering, Test Automation, Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC), Infrastructure Engineering, Cybersecurity, Program and Product Management, and Emerging Technologies (such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Robot Process Automation (RPA), and Blockchain).

With numerous capable competitors in the industry, having a single line of product or service offerings is a considerable weakness. Therefore, TISTA offers a broad range of competencies that focus on customer service, employee retention, continuous improvement through knowledge sharing across programs, and innovative solutions to both technology and process challenges that hinder other companies.

Supporting over twenty Federal Agencies as a prime contractor, TISTA has been exposed to and developed a wide range of expertise in the fields of Cybersecurity, integrated DevOps and DevSecOps solutions, Health Informatics, and Fraud, Waste, and Abuse (FWA) detection and mitigation in support of federal agencies.

Most notably, TISTA’s leadership has made Quality Management one of its core competencies, which has resulted in many industry awards and recognition.

Over the years, TISTA has been listed multiple times on the Inc. 500/5000 list of fastest-growing companies in America. In both 2019 and 2020, programs supported by TISTA received FedHealthIT Innovation Awards. And in 2020, TISTA was ranked #4 by the Washington Business Journal as one of the largest veteran-owned companies in the Washington metropolitan area. “We are a trusted partner offering high quality, cost-effective services,” shares Mr. Ahmed R. Ali. Promoting Organizational Growth Although TISTA has experienced tremendous growth during its 15 years, its mission has not changed: to

deliver the highest quality IT services and innovative solutions to its government customers. The company accomplishes this by continuing to improve and mature its processes, strengthen and expand its core competencies, and develop and leverage emerging technologies and trends to provide the innovative and efficient solutions that its government customers expect and deserve.

“Combined with our service and product lines of business, we expect to grow to a billion-dollar company within the next decade,” states Mr. Ahmed R. Ali. Enabling this achievement involves detailed strategic and tactical plans, both short- and long-term, based on the accumulated knowledge and expertise of Mr. Ahmed R. Ali, the TISTA leadership team, and active participation of the entire workforce in their respective areas.

The guiding principles driving TISTA’s growth strategy are consistent with Mr. Ahmed R. Ali’s goals when he founded the company: • Being passionate and focused on customers and associates.

This passion also drives TISTA’s community involvement.

• Continuous learning. TISTA’s associates love to learn, so it is important to provide growth opportunities. The company has partnered with colleges and universities that align with its goals of supporting veterans, technologists, and leaders.

Sustaining Competency and Innovation Entrepreneurs and business executives around the globe know

Cover Story

that it is only through continuous innovation that success can be achieved, and Mr. Ahmed R. Ali is no different. He believes that innovation is a perennial management challenge. “The 2020 pandemic has been a time of great challenge for all of us. I’m thoroughly humbled in the way that our associates have exemplified leadership, perseverance, and adaptability during this time. We have shown what we are made of. We are innovative during times of change and challenge,” comments Mr. Ahmed R. Ali. TISTA’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic was a full corporate-wide transition to a remote work-from-home model in March 2020. Despite more than 90% of personnel previously working in offices, this transition was conducted over a single weekend, with full operational capacity both at the corporate level and across all programs the following Monday with a 100% remote workforce.

While some individuals acquired different responsibilities under the virtual model, TISTA had not a single layoff, and has continued to expand with dozens of new associates joining the company since this past March. Not content with just a transition, TISTA found new methods of enhancing transparency, communication, and collaboration through feedback and knowledge-sharing technologies.

“Productivity has increased, and customer satisfaction of our pandemic response has been overwhelmingly positive,” says Mr. Ahmed R. Ali. Going further, TISTA established an entire team responsible for supporting both TISTA associates and their communities, and developed an online and mobile-accessible COVID-19 Tracker app that consolidates multiple data sources on confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S. Under the leadership of Mr. Ahmed R. Ali, TISTA has integrated best practices and structures that promote ongoing innovation while sustaining its existing competencies. The company aligns its services with customer missions and actively engages with customers to consistently solve customer problems, provide transparency and proactive risk mitigation, and deliver measurable cost and time efficiencies.

TISTA’s innovation and engineering teams, components of TISTA’s Office of the CTO, continuously perform technology market analyses and are prepared to inject new innovative solutions or augment existing solutions as it encounters customer problems.

TISTA fosters two classes of innovation to sustain its competencies. Delivery Innovations are those that align with current competencies managed within the core

business units, where usually the innovation would offer rapid returns by improving an existing capability or an operation of the business.

New Growth Innovations focus on proactively identifying challenges TISTA has not yet faced, and conducting ground-breaking research, solution architecting, pilot implementation, and thorough testing. Results of both Delivery Innovations and New Growth Innovations are provided to our customers in the form of white papers, demonstrations, and proposals.

“We mindfully combine and enhance our existing competencies by employing viable technologies. TISTA, as an organization, promotes an innovative culture within our workforce where we adopt techniques such as design thinking, and continuously groom our competency maturity level to differentiate us from companies that offer businessas-usual solutions,” comments Mr. Ahmed R. Ali. Foreseeing the Future Mr. Ahmed R. Ali’s journey and his persistence act as the fuel that inspires people to achieve specific goals, no matter how unlikely or difficult the path might be.

“In the past four years, TISTA has quadrupled in size and become a solid mid-size business. We have nearly 700 associates who have entrusted TISTA as their employer and committed to advancing the missions of our federal government customers. However, perhaps surprisingly, our goal is not growth for the sake of growth. TISTA does not employ salespeople to attract customers or sell our services. Instead, we have historically grown through demonstrating phenomenal success on increasingly challenging service delivery programs for our customers.

When a potential customer has a requirement for information technology services relevant to TISTA’s expertise, we provide a draft solution, and explain our prior experience achieving successful outcomes. When we are selected to implement the solution, it is not a ‘successful sale’—we view it as a responsibility and align our company’s resources to ensure our associates can deliver results that exceed our customers’ expectations. Growth is earned, not given. If TISTA were to fail at service delivery, we would deserve neither growth nor customers.”

– Mr. Ahmed R. Ali. No matter what the future holds, it is clear that TISTA, under the leadership of Mr. Ahmed R. Ali, is scaled for continuous growth while ensuring that it continues to offer superior and customer-centric solutions.

The 10 Powerful Leaders in Business

subscribe

Global Subscription $250.00

$130.00

$70.00

$25.00

1 Year

6 Months

3 Months

1 Month

(12 Issues)

(06 Issues)

(03 Issues)

(01 Issue)

Stay in touch.

Subscribe to Insightssuccess Get Insightssuccess Magazine in print, & digital on www.insightssuccess.com

“

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

INTERVIEW WITH INSIGHTS SUCCESS

CHAD BURMEISTER An Avid Sales Person & A Profound Leader In an interview with Insights Success, he shares some valuable insights of his journey and how he continues to be at the forefront of inside sales and high-velocity selling strategy and execution.

Below are the highlights of the interview:

CHAD BURMESITER Founder & CEO ScaleX.ai.

“

A

powerful leader is someone who leads from the front and does not manage with an iron fist.

Understanding yourself is the first key to great leadership – how can you lead others if you do not understand yourself to the core of who you are,” believes Chad Burmesiter, the Founder & CEO of ScaleX.ai.

Chad has a successful career in building high-velocity sales teams at companies including Cisco-WebEx, Riverbed Technology, ON24, ConnectAndSell, and RingCentral. He was the Founding Chapter President of the AA-ISP Silicon Valley Chapter which was voted two years in a row as “Chapter of the Year”, Director of AA-ISP Frontline Friday, and Colorado Chapter President to help advance the profession of inside sales to the next level of professionalism and performance.

Chad is currently on the team who launched the Denver Enterprise Sales Forum. He has been voted Top 25 Most Influential Inside Sales Professional by the AA-ISP 10 years in a row (2010-2019).

Chad is also the author of two books called SalesHack and more recently ScaleX.ai, Multi-Channel Sales Acceleration, Powered by Artificial Intelligence.

16 | October 2020

Brief us about your journey and tell us why and how you chose to venture into your respective industry.

As a child, I was very interested in magic. When I could show an audience a magic trick, or even in a one-on-one setting, the pure joy and amazement of the other person was a real thrill to me. I was also extremely competitive. When asked, “do you hate to lose, or love to win?” the answer is both for me. I guess I started selling when I was under 10 years old because I would sell suckers on the bus to school.

I became sure that sales was for me while studying abroad in New Zealand. In a marketing class at Lincoln University in Canterbury, I came across this page which led me down the path of sales.

Please describe in brief about your company and its services/products.

ScaleX is the leading provider of Pipeline as a Service.

Since launching in December 2017, ScaleX continues to double every year – thanks to our team of Pipeline as a Service Experts including sales, marketing, operations, and client success.

What were the challenges you came across in your career as a business leader?

Understanding your why is the first key to becoming a great leader. As Robert White, author of Living an Extraordinary Life, asks, “What is the purpose of you?” and “Why are you here on earth”? For John Denver, after a four-day workshop with ARC International, he came up with these lines – I am a song! I live to be sung! I sing with all my heart! As a leader, we need to connect with our purpose and when we do – the hand of God comes into play, and can become an unstoppable force of change for you and others.

www.insightssuccess.com

What unique ideas have you implemented as a leader of your company that makes it different from competitors?

ScaleX.ai lives at the bleeding edge of technology. While other companies find a niche, and stick with it, the world changes. And these niches get exposed to competition, and the effectiveness of the “magic trick” goes away, because everyone else learns how to perform the same “magic”.

What worked in 2017, does not work as well in 2020. An example – ScaleX Introductions uses AI to determine who the influencers are in your network that could make valuable introductions on your behalf to your top prospects.

With AI, this exercise takes 8-12 minutes on a network of 10,000+ connections. A human would take months to perform this task (especially when you look at 2nd connections on LinkedIn – for every 10,000 first connections, a person usually has 1M or more second connections). Emailing influencers to introductions yields 70-80% open rates, and 10-30% reply rates. Add video, and watch out, even better yield.

What is your take on a positive work culture within a team or an organization and how do you bring positive work culture within your organization?

I am lucky, my parents must have done something right, because I look at the world as a cup overflowing with possibilities. So generally, I’m a positive person to be around in the virtual world of selling that we live in today. I tend to look for positives in people, and align them in a role that they can thrive in. When there isn’t a fit, rather than prolong the bad situation as many leaders would do, I’ve gotten better at identifying the issue early and “failing fast”.

What used to take me six months to a year, I can now identify in 1-2 months, or better yet, before they are hired – by leveraging partners like Score More Sales and their sales profiler tools and methods.

How do you keep up to date about the technological advancements and changing market trends in your industry?

We invent the change, and we live it for and with our clients.

www.insightssuccess.com

How do you strategize on scaling your career and your company in the future?

Remember Robert White’s advice on discovering the purpose of you, mine goes something like this – there are 86,400 seconds in a day, invest them wisely!

What would your advice be to the aspiring entrepreneurs and business leaders of tomorrow?

Find mentors – a few of them. Perhaps a financial mentor, a marketing mentor, and most important, a mindset mentor!

October 2020 | 17

Akash

T

he very core of leadership is to make an impact, leave footprints, and to pass on its eternal flame to the ones born from it. What good are leaders if exploiting people is their agenda, and what good can leaders not do when the power of positive persuasion is bestowed upon them? Coming to the kind of leadership that’s required to run a company right from scratch to glory, it could be safely said that Akash Agrawal, the Co-founder and CEO of Sahaj Software Solutions, is an ideal representation.

Agrawal

Inspiring Leadership, Delivering Simplicity

Akash has been in the IT industry for over two decades now and displays the same level of proficiency. He started his career with some of the major global IT Services Companies like HCL, Infosys, Aditi and ThoughtWorks. He started off as a Java developer and went on to do projects in the ERP space. Akash has played the role of Managing Director and COO for ThoughtWorks India and grew the company’s India operations from 250 people initially, to about 850 people by the time he left.

In 2014, Akash started Sahaj Software Solutions along with four of his colleagues from ThoughtWorks. “The idea of Sahaj was very straight forward, we wanted to create a company which is all about its people and tries to reduce exploitation of its people and clients. At the same time we realized that in the last 20 years, very little innovation has happened in the IT services space,” states Akash.

Considering this as an opportunity, Akash and his team at Sahaj, used this opportunity to create a disruptive and innovative IT Services company, which came up with its own unique delivery methodology, backed by a strong people culture.

Exhibiting Expertise The Sahaj Software delivery model reduces wastage in software delivery by more than 50%. The company delivers complex technology projects and products much faster and with a minimalistic, but high powered technology team.

Broadly, Sahaj is a premium technology consulting company and offers Custom Development, Product Design and Technology Advisory.

20 | October 2020

Akash Agrawal Co-founder & CEO www.insightssuccess.com

10

The

POWERFUL

LEADERS in Business

Sahaj takes pride in delivering simple solutions to complex business needs.

Akash evidently comprehends that designing and developing a simple solution needs in-depth understanding of clients’ problems, the ecosystem, years of experience, knowledge of the best practices in order to come up with intuitive designs and technical choices, and finally like that of an artist, a knack for drawing the best solutions.

All these requirements most certainly need a different set of people, and what better an example than team Sahaj?

The Sahaj team collectively has the experience of taking multiple start-ups from an idea stage to market stage in about 2-4 months. Such product design and development engagements start with a short 2-3 day discovery, ideation and product design exercise, followed by service / experience design going in parallel with development, managed in short iterations that are typically 1 week long. Each iteration ends with an evolving version of the working product, facilitating feedback at the end of each stage.

Sahaj helps its customers make appropriate technology and process choices. It also helps them define their technology roadmap for new business strategies, new product architectures in the evaluation of existing or new and innovative product ideas to assess the technical robustness of existing solutions. The company’s recommendations are based on years of collective experience, its passion for solving complex problems as a team and passion to find simple solutions.

Staying Inspired, Staying Successful Akash’s goal in life is to keep learning, experimenting and building something that can inspire others. Whereas, his

www.insightssuccess.com

“A great leader is one who inspires others to be a leader, to believe in something and lead others, to grow others and to create a movement.” biggest source of inspiration is his partner, friend, the guardian of his values and mentor, his wife Nidhi.

“She has been a perpetual source of inspiration for me. Her ability to keep fighting all odds, keep calm when in deep trouble, ability to think out of box and above all motivate people around at all times, has been the biggest inspiration for me,” Akash expresses.

There have been times in Akash’s life when he felt lost or broken in his journey. His approach towards surpassing such times has always been going back to the drawing board and trying to rehash everything, and also the ceaseless support of his wife.

Success for Akash is not the growth of the company or the idea, but in the growth of people who believe in that idea. According to Akash, a leader is just not about the idea but more importantly about the people who believe in the idea. Akash knows, if the people who are on the journey have learnt, and grown then that’s success.

“A leader’s best asset is the ability to influence and inspire others. If a leader is not able to inspire others then that’s job half done,” says Akash.

Bequeathing Excellence In his advice to the budding entrepreneurs, Akash states, “I am still in the learning process of entrepreneurship, but one thing that I can say is have an unwavering belief in the team that you build for your venture. Spend good time in making the right choices when you build the initial team. In my mind entrepreneurship is a team sport. Every member of the team has an important role to play in the game. And also play to enjoy the experience and not only win it.”

Concluding his perspectives and opinions on leadership and inspiration, Akash talks about the future roadmap for himself as well as his company. He says, “Ten years is too long a time.

I believe in taking life as it comes.

However, I do see myself helping young leaders and playing more of an advisor and a coach kind of a role in the years to come.”

Akash and his team of experts aim at redefining the entire premium software services space and establish Sahaj as the Market leader in that space. After establishing the company in India, US, now they are looking at setting up an entity in UK and also have Singapore next on the cards.

October 2020 | 21

HOW TO CREATE A STRONG BRAND IDENTITY

5 MUST-KNOW TIPS ABOUT THE AUTHOR Catherine vanVonno is the CEO and President of 20four7VA, one of the fastestgrowing virtual staďŹƒng companies in the world today. She is passionate about helping small business owners scale by giving them access to reliable and highly trained remote talent. She is also deeply invested in providing employment opportunities for skilled individuals from around the world.

Get in touch with her on LinkedIn.

22 | October 2020

www.insightssuccess.com

Branding Tips

W

hether you lead a large multinational or a mom-and-pop store with only a handful of employees, developing a unique brand identity should be top of your priority list.

Strong and consistent branding communicates your values, story, and message. If done right, your brand identity should not only attract an audience and keep you top-of-mind but turn leads into paying customers.

What is a brand identity?

First things first: while the words “brand” and “logo” are used interchangeably, these are two different things. A logo may symbolize a company, individual, or organization, but it’s just one (visual) element of a brand.

On the other hand, a brand is the collection of qualities that fuel people’s ideas and feelings about something. In short, it’s how people feel or think about your company.

When you take steps to develop a specific image of your company — a process we call branding — you create a brand identity.

A brand identity is the set of tangible elements — logos, colors, tone of voice, typography, and messaging — that convey a particular image of a brand. The more robust, more consistent, and more specific these elements are, the better the chances that the brand will leave a lasting impression and compel your audience to engage with your company.

Why do I need a brand identity?

Marketing experts say that the average person is exposed to between 4,000 to 10,000 ads daily. Social media platforms have made it easier to create brand awareness, but with millions of companies clamoring for views, consumers are drowning in content. Worse, studies say that you only get about 20 seconds to make an impression online.

The battle for attention may be more challenging than

www.insightssuccess.com

ever, but the truth is that digital marketing remains one of the best ways to reach prospects and drive sales.

The key to successful marketing is building a brand that communicates your unique perspective and value proposition. No matter how good your product or service is, without a cohesive brand identity (and an excellent online experience), people will gloss right over you and move on to the next thing.

With that said, here are five must-know tips for creating a unique, strong, and memorable brand identity.

Tip #1: Know thyself.

Creating a brand image starts with looking within. This means conducting a brand audit and identifying your main value propositions, values, and mission statement.

These form the very essence of your brand identity. By analyzing your data, you will gain a clear understanding of who your audience is and be able to map out your customer journey.

You also need to know who you are competing with for market share, what strategies they are implementing, and how you can set yourself apart. Conduct an in-depth competitor analysis to find out where you stand.

Tip #2: Creativity and data work hand-in-hand.

Once you’ve laid the foundation for your brand identity, it’s time to work on the creative elements. This is where it really pays to get help from professionals.

While business owners know their company’s internal workings more than anyone else, they’re not always in the best position to tell how they’re perceived from the outside. When business leaders wonder why their marketing efforts aren’t paying off, this is usually one of the reasons.

Building a brand identity is about developing the look, feel, and voice on which every single piece of marketing

October 2020 | 23

collateral your company produces will be based. It’s a lot of creative work, which involves both subjective and objective choices.

When making design decisions, leaders sometimes forget that the design is for their target audience, not for them.

Try to avoid this. Instead of letting the highest-paid person in the room make the final creative choices or going with the majority opinion, gather data, follow best practices, and validate your choices through experimentation.

Tip #3: Be you.

That said, you must also never forget that your brand identity is all about your distinctive experience.

Your brand must reflect who you are as a company. For this reason, you should be careful about following trends and monitoring your competitors too closely. Keeping a finger on the pulse of marketing in your industry is essential, but don’t rely on convention all the time. Be aware of what your competitors are doing but don’t copy their strategies or content.

The only way to build lasting relationships in the age of tech-savvy customers is to be authentic.

Tip #4: Use all available platforms.

Building your brand identity is a long game. To succeed, you need to utilize all the marketing channels available to you. The more platforms you use, the higher the likelihood of reaching a wider audience and strengthening your brand.

Develop robust marketing campaigns for email, social media, print, and television. Create a PR strategy and get your company featured in podcasts, videos, and publications. Partner with influencers. Communicate

24 | October 2020

with your audience directly on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. Most of all, make sure that your website is on-brand, optimized for mobile, loads quickly, and is user-friendly.

Tip #5: Build, measure, learn.

No matter how good your initial plans may seem, they must adapt to change. The market is continuously evolving, and, along with it, so must your battle plan.

To remain competitive, you need to continuously analyze, recalibrate, and ensure that you’re still attracting and offering value to your customer. Fortunately, modern marketing tools give you the ability to monitor your existing strategies and test new ones.

Lastly, don’t be afraid to rebrand. Large corporations and small businesses alike have found that rebranding — a logo tweak, a new slogan, or a change in demographic focus — can lead to substantial growth.

Final thoughts Developing a brand identity takes a lot of work, but it’s work that undoubtedly pays off. The last thing any business owner wants is to lose potential customers because their branding is all over the place. Take care not to substitute analysis and reflection with half-baked gimmicks. Even paid PR opportunities won’t work if you’re leading your audience to a website that doesn’t accurately reflect your company’s spirit — and doesn’t convert.

Take the time to figure out who you are, who your customers are, what they need, and what they think of you. The learning alone will be well worth it.

www.insightssuccess.com

ALVIN EA A Budding Trailblazer of Logistical Arena

W

ith the vision of saving time and resources for hauliers, while improving visibility and reliability for end customers, one entrepreneur thought out of the league, and crafted a brand new eco-system to overhaul logistics operations.

Alvin Ea is that trailblazing leader who is on a mission to bring value to the various stakeholders within the container trucking space. He is the Co-founder and CEO of Haulio, which provides a revolutionary collaborative B2B platform to get containers moved.

Mesmerizing Entrepreneurial Journey Alvin started his logistics profession through his family business HUB Distributors Services, a local SME 3PL firm in Singapore since 1988. He decided to start the company’s container haulage arm in 2013, and from there built it up from scratch – from a fleet of 1 to 15 trucks – in the span of 3 years.

“The process was painstaking, as I built it through the traditional way. It wasn’t easy meeting the expectations of customers and juggling the demands of an unpredictable job that lacked operational stability,” asserts Alvin.

After years of toiling in the traditional logistics industry, Alvin understood the importance of technology and observed the likes of eCommerce companies changing the entire landscape in ridiculous speed.

26 | October 2020

He was very happy with the remarkable growth of his company but wanted to do something different. He was tired of trying to make a change to solve his own company’s daily struggles, when in actual fact these problems resonate with the rest of his other “friendly competitors”. The turning point came when Alvin met Sebastian Shen, the co-founder of his company, who had the same grand vision as him – to change this traditional industry through technology.

Haulio’s Offerings Alvin’s company offers a web-based platform that bridges the information gaps across the industry today by simply matching demand to supply.

“Due to the consolidation of vessels upstream and increasing vessel sizes, there is an increased volatility in spikes and troughs of shipment. Haulio helps to even out haulage resources through the sharing of resources,” added Alvin.

As the CEO of Haulio, his goal is to maximize haulage resources through industry level sharing to improve job productivity and asset utilization. He also gives equal emphasis to add value to end customers by providing realtime visibility and reporting of fleet operations.

Further, Alvin continuously pushes his team to read widely and to document their learnings. He wants each of them to grow with Haulio – be it as a UX researcher, a product designer, a software developer or a marketer.

“I hope that through Haulio, they will build and develop into professionals in their respective fields,” stated the CEO. Alvin’s Biggest Feat Alvin considers his biggest achievement till date with Haulio is the validation of the work that he is contributing. He cannot emphasize enough about the role that the trucking community plays in the industry and by seeing the impact that they have on the industry regardless of the size of the customer, is what drives him forward.

“A notable achievement would be getting one of the largest Port Operator in the World to be our investor and client where we managed to develop on a project that was once their “Innovation of the Year” and servicing a contract with them from the start of our incubation till today,” stated Alvin.

Viewpoint on Leadership and Entrepreneurship Alvin believes that a leader should lead by example. As the leader of the company, “I represent the core values that the company stands for and the best way to set the culture is to be the one who display the values within,” added Alvin. Moreover, walking the ground and getting to interact and know more about his colleagues is another way which he uses to influence employees in a positive and interactive manner.

www.insightssuccess.com

I AM CONNECTING CONTAINERS TO CONSUMERS FOR THE BETTERMENT OF EVERY

10

The

POWERFUL

LEADERS in Business

STAKEHOLDER For budding entrepreneurs, Alvin has a piece of advice.

He says, be the change you wish to see in this world.

There is no problem too big to solve. He has already stepped into a highly fragmented industry like haulage to try and make a difference. According to Alvin, there will be many walls and obstacles that will come your way, just learn to deal with them, one at a time. It always seems impossible until it’s done, reflects Alvin.

Furthermore, he added, there are also many stakeholders and departments involved, each with differing agendas - the challenge will be to get companies to fully adopt the changes and move towards a digital platform for the booking and execution of their daily Container Haulage requirements.

On recalling his future lookout about the industry, Alvin said many interesting things. “I see Haulio as the future of haulage – this is what haulage SHOULD be. Haulage today is still stuck in the 80s, and this needs to change,” concluded Alvin. “I hope that in 10 years, haulage will be digitalized, with Haulio leading or partnering with others, to bring this change.”

www.insightssuccess.com

Alvin Ea, Co-founder and CEO

Alvin’s Take on ‘Challenges’ and ‘Future Outlook’ Alvin considers that the biggest obstacle that occurs in most of the businesses is of longer conversion cycles.

He explained, to effect reformative changes in the traditional industry like haulage needs longer time as more time is needed to change the mind-sets and business processes.

October 2020 | 27

E

xceptional leaders are dedicated, honest, and confident. They have an indomitable will to overcome insurmountable odds and lead their team towards success and deliver services which add value to their customers. Such leaders are inspirational, possess excellent communication skills, and have an innovative streak. One such pioneering leader with an undeterred will to succeed and make a mark in the industry is Edward Van Leent, the Chairman and CEO of the EPI Group of Companies (EPI).

Edward pursued his education in economics, electronics, and electrical engineering. After leaving school, he gained work experience in designing chips and printed circuit boards. From there on, he joined the world of Computer Aided Design and Computer Aided Engineering (CAD/CAE).

Eventually, he moved into highavailability computing environments, through which he entered into the data center domain. Then, Edward was hired by EPI to setup the Asia business.

Two years later, he ascended to the position of Chairman and CEO of the company. Edward turned the organization around from a data center design and built organization and transformed it into a data center services company. From there, the company quickly grew into the largest data center training and audit organization in the world which currently has nine offices covering all continents and having a large partner network.

Conquering Challenges to Attain Excellence Under Edward’s visionary leadership, EPI overcame many challenges from

30 | October 2020

Edward Van Leent A Leader Who Changed the Data Centre Training and Audit Industry Forever

being an unknown company from Europe trying to establish itself in Asia and other continents, as well as moving from a design and built company into a data center services company. As a result, the company had to transform completely in terms of their positioning, services, marketing, processes, competences, and so on. “I was lucky in that in one of my previous organizations, we had to move the company from a hardware organization into a solutions-based organization which had a major impact,” says Edward. The lessons learnt there made it easier for him to carry out the transformation at EPI. Ensuring Development with Effective Communication Edward believes that direct communication is essential to make sure everybody understands the big picture and comprehends the reasoning behind the decisions he makes. He says, “I always find that if you make a decision and indicate to the staff why you made it, highlighting both the good and bad reasons it makes it easier for them to understand and accept the decision”. Edward believes that the challenge is always when one has information which they cannot disclose yet, for some reason, and they have to take a decision without prior

explanation to the staff. It could lead to the staff not fully understanding why a decision is made.

A Result-Focused Entrepreneur Edward has a clear perspective for himself and his team. He is focused on the goals and objectives of the company. He says, “I believe it is one of the most single important thing to do being in a management position which is to make sure that everybody understands where the organization is heading and what is expected of everybody and what role they play in the total scheme of things”. Edward is of the opinion that it is important for everybody to understand how they contribute to the overall success of the company. “I am blessed with having an amazing team”, he adds.

Edward’s source of Inspiration Edward believes in making the most out of life and to always do the best one can. He takes inspiration from his previous managers as well as Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father of Singapore.

Edward moved to Singapore in 1997 and he admires the country for the way it transcended from where it was to where it is today. He says, “Lee Kuan Yew changed this country in a mere 30 years from what people called at that time “a swamp” to a first world

www.insightssuccess.com

10

The

POWERFUL

LEADERS in Business country and keeping harmony in a multicultural environment. He was a focused leader and although not everybody always agreed with his ideas and way or getting things done, the results of his achievements speak for itself”. He gathers inspiration from various videos where Lee Kuan Yew provides his amazing insights and views on life and the world. Edward believes that Lee Kuan Yew was, without a shed of doubt, an amazing leader putting Singapore on the world map and one the world will probably never find again.

Remarkable Accomplishments Throughout his illustrious career, Edward has achieved many noteworthy landmarks. There are many accomplishments which he fondly looks back at from a work perspective. He has achieved various accolades throughout his celebrated career. These include getting his first management job, winning his first big award – the ‘Chairman Achievement Award’ at Mentor Graphics, and achieving the position of Chairman and CEO at a relatively young age. “The ultimate position of being a CEO is which so many aspire but yet so little people realize what it entails. It has been a very exciting and rewarding career and life”, he says.

Advice to Budding Entrepreneurs Edward recommends emerging entrepreneurs to focus and work hard to achieve the desired goals. He suggests them to listen to customers and always look at how to help them with their business. “There are three steps every entrepreneur should think about. First of all, have a good strategy, make sure you have an operating model in place to execute the strategy and finally, make sure you hire the best people you can to make it all work”, Edward concluded.

“It is not about hours people work but it is about the output/value they can create.” www.insightssuccess.com

Edward Van Leent Chairman and CEO

October 2020 | 31

Factors to

Eliminate

Employee

Retention

Challenges

32 | October 2020

F

or any company, finding talented and productive employees is like a dream come true. While finding good employees is one thing, keeping them is another.

Employees have various reasons due to which they switch companies.

Retaining good employees has become a challenge for all companies.

It is natural that employees want to grow. Peoples’ needs and wants from their work change with time and the

www.insightssuccess.com

Employee Care situation. The definition of a good job has changed these days. People not only expect good salary and financial benefits, they also expect professional growth. Like earlier times, people aren’t staying in the same job and position for ages.

Well, now the question is, how do the companies retain the employees? This is quite a challenging task. It is said simply, but to execute is difficult. Here are some factors to be considered by employers to reduce the challenges of employee retention:

In current times like these, it has become essential for employers to retain good employees. The good ones are the ones that the company can trust to help them during the hard times.

Compensation Packages Employees always seek equitable pay for their work. As a result, the first step towards this is to enhance the compensation packages. The company can have compensation packages that include salaries, insurance, a retirement program and employee leave. An employer can give a larger portion of employees’ health insurance premiums or introduce a new bonus program based on their performance. However, any business needs to ensure its compensation and benefit packages are in line with those of the competitor companies.

Recognition Recognition is a very important factor to consider. If employees don’t feel appreciated they tend to seek acknowledgment elsewhere. An employee recognition program can have a significant impact on the ability to retain top employees. Most organizations lack this feature of recognition, which makes the employees feel unappreciated. In the case of a risk analysis in such organizations, the top employees are at the highest retention risk. The process of hiring new and good employees is tedious. To avoid such circumstances companies must invest time and energy in forming recognition policies.

left for them in their current company.

Skill and talent development is a basic need that people wish for from their jobs for self development. It also helps them increase their personal and professional opportunities. As a result, implementation of self-development programs is an effective tool to increase employee retention rates.

Funded education programs, in-house training, offsite training, seminars, skill development conferences, etc. are things that attract employees to stay.

Hygiene Factors Job satisfaction is one factor that employees of all sectors and income brackets seek. Hygiene factor is one main element that can cause employee dissatisfaction. The hygiene of the company must be maintained in order to retain employees. Every company must revise their hygiene policies every now and then. The hygiene factors mainly include work environment, the company policies or particular physical aspects of the job.

Limiting the physical or emotional dissatisfaction for employees must be the main aim of the employers. A company may introduce environmental safeguards and associated audit programs to best protect the health of the employees.

Small things like those stated above can keep the employees morally sound.

The company can retain its employees by just doing a few simple things that are usually overlooked. Simple care of the well-being of the employees can also influence them in their decision to stay in the job. If such things are done then employee retention can become easy to an extent.

Self Development Skill development is another major factor. Employees quit a job when they feel there are no more opportunities

www.insightssuccess.com

- Shreevarshita Gupta

October 2020 | 33

Gary Olson

A Confident & Creative Entrepreneur In Pursuit of Innovation

T

he successful entrepreneurs are not just the hardest working, they are the most innovative. One of those successful innovative entrepreneurs who think differently is Gary Olson. He is one of these tech- savvy entrepreneurs constantly looking for innovative solutions to solve problems. Just like every entrepreneur, he also has a different story about why he decided to start a business. Let’s take a closer look at his insightful story and remarkable aspects of his life.

Start of Something Extraordinary Gary has always been interested in new technologies with an innate curiosity on understanding how things work. He never thought his engineering degree in computer design would lead to his career in the media industry and then become the basis for his interest in bridging the gap between broadcast and computer technologies. His father was a small business owner. This guided Gary to work for himself and become his own ‘Boss’. Gary is one of the few people who never worked for anyone else in his professional career. Currently, he is a Principal of GHO Group and leading the company as strategist, designer and project manager for a variety of communication and information technology projects.

Gary is considered one of the Thought Leaders in the media technology industry and provides services as an IP Broadcast & Media Technology Designer.

He is a successful author with his book ‘Planning and Designing the IP Broadcast Facility - A New Puzzle to Solve’ an industry standard. He regularly publishes articles providing knowledge and

34 | October 2020

Gary Olson Principal

www.insightssuccess.com

10

The

POWERFUL

LEADERS in Business

“When you are asked if it can be done, always say YES, then figure it out and get it DONE.” education to the media industry with a considerable following reading his articles on ‘The Broadcast Bridge’ and LinkedIn, including webinars and online courses.

At the beginning of his career, he solved interesting challenges that typically bring together computer and video technologies. He was involved in the efforts to introduce Teletext into the US market and was the part of the team that created the first interactive satellite video conference network and launched the first satellite business television network. Gary was part of the team launching the first video fiber network for Teleport communications.

When he was asked to design a new televised shopping network, he saw this as the opportunity to start his first company entering the world of entrepreneurship, designing and launching a new satellite and television cable networks.

About GHO Group The GHO Group is an independent consulting firm that specializes in planning and designing media production facilities for broadcast and cable companies, corporations, educational institutions, and cultural organizations. It provides unique, practical and cost-effective solutions

www.insightssuccess.com

to the challenges faced while building new facilities or implementing new technology strategies. GHO builds the bridge between technology and business, converts vision from its initial concept to final implementation whether it is traditional media, a Web, smartphone, eBook, portable media player, or anything in between.

His Mantra of Success A strong leader builds a strong team and such a leader always keeps the goal in the mind. As a leader, Gary recognizes the strengths in people and encourages and empowers their development creating a strong team to solve problems. He says, “One of my responsibilities on many of my projects is to help the new senior management with change. I explain that a large organization is like a pyramid, if you are at the top you can see what’s happening across the organizations and manage.” He continues, “If the pyramid is upside down because the manager is also doing everything they are crushed by the weight of the organization. My colleagues embrace the concept and became successful change managers.”

Gary has also faced challenges, but he turned his hard hitting challenges into powerful victories. For him, building

the first commercial television broadcast networks in six Central European countries was challenging as well as a ‘once in a lifetime experience’.

His best piece of advice to budding Entrepreneurs “Entrepreneurship is doing everything that needs to be done to be successful. Behaving like an executive when there’s no real business is a recipe for failure. Not all entrepreneurs make good CEO’s.

Know your own strengths - maybe the right thing to do is hire one.”

Gary on Future of GHO The company is going through a changing phase now, moving into artificial intelligence and into a new industry sector of Public Safety and National Security. It is applying extensive media knowledge to an industry overwhelmed by video and struggling to analyze it for useable information in the prevention of incidents and attacks. GHO is looking forward at the role artificial intelligence will play in the industry and how other industry sectors are using media requiring broadcast knowledge and expertise to assist them as they produce more and more media.

October 2020 | 35