The Navigating Disruption Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode of the Navigating Disruption Podcast, Shakeel welcomes Jason MacDonnell, Acting CEO and President of TELUS Digital Customer Experience. The two reminisce about their time together in business school and explore Jason’s journey from navigating the tech bubble burst to leading a digital transformation at one of Canada’s largest companies. Jason shares insights on balancing the entrepreneurial mindset within a large organization, the impact of sailing on his leadership style, and the importance of diversity and authenticity in driving innovation. Discover how teaching, mentorship, and goal setting have become pillars of his leadership approach.

In this episode, Shakeel Bharmal sits down with Mohamed (Mo) Jessa, President Emeritus and Corporate Director of Earls, an iconic Canadian restaurant brand. With a career spanning 35 years, Mo shares his journey from an entry-level kitchen position to leading the company's expansion across Canada and into the US. They discuss his early years as an immigrant teen navigating life in rural Alberta, his pivot from a planned career in medicine, and how his passion for learning and teaching shaped his leadership style. Mo's story offers valuable insights into the restaurant industry, his lasting influence on the careers of his staff, and the memorable customer experiences of millions.

People first leadership. It sounds cliché and obvious, but the truth is it is hard to put that into action, to know what to do about it.

In this conversation with Barb MacLean, VP Integration and Analytics at Celero Solutions (https://celero.ca/), we talk about people first leadership and building learning networks to pass on your knowledge and expertise and to gain insights and expertise from others. We also discuss the importance of unlearning to move forward. We also talk about FinTech, the importance of credit unions, women in technology and her small-town farming roots. She shares some surprising insights on what to think about when making investments in technology.

When you start a new role, you are filled with a mix of excitement and anxiety. As the thrill of getting the job offer settles in, the fear of the expectations that your new boss and colleagues have of you also set in. There is a lot to learn and if you come in too confident you worry you might alienate your peers but if you don’t add value quickly enough, you might worry your new co-workers will question the decision to hire you in the first place.

It can be a lot of pressure.

In this conversation with Nick Mosgrove, the VP of Sales and Marketing of Emerald Health Therapeutics (https://emeraldhealth.ca/) we talk about fine balance when starting a new role and he gives us some perspective and practical advice about how to fit in and make an impact quickly.

How can we create more generous workplaces in 2022? I don’t mean generous in terms of giving physical gifts and financial resources but rather gifts of the heart and mind to create more inclusive and rewarding cultures. 

Shannon Cassidy, CEO and founder of Bridge Between (https://bridgebetween.com/), brings more than two decades of experience as she has honed her practice and expertise in behavioural change and leadership. She has worked with hundreds of CEOs and senior leaders to help them build generous practices into their everyday lives so they can step up as role models and leaders and transform the cultures of their teams. She is an executive coach, an author and host of R.O.G. (Return on Generosity) Podcast.

One of my most rewarding projects in the last few years was writing a series of articles about how my early life experiences influenced my leadership practice. A central figure in those explorations was my Dad, Abdul Bharmal. Due to COVID, It had been more than two years since I last saw my Dad. When I could finally get on a flight to pay a surprise visit, I was hungry for deep conversations and quality time. So I packed my audio equipment and we sat down for this conversation about his life as an entrepreneur that started in rural Tanzania prepared him for his journey through disruption to create a better life for his family. Of course I learned about him, but I also learned more about myself and how patterns repeat themselves through generations. To read more about these stories you can find my blogs here https://www.shakeelbharmal.com/#latest-articles

In Obama's final speech, at the end of his term of office, he spoke about how the internet and social media has made it easier for people to dig into and validate their own views. He was cautioning that the internet makes it so easy to find what you are looking for that without an open mind, people tend to seek out information that validates their own ideology and leads to less diversity and potentially a crisis of communication. In the same speech, Obama spoke optimistically about how throughout history, humankind always finds a way to move forward beyond the challenges and limitations of the present time. As much as nefarious forces and bad actors enter the scene from time to time, human ingenuity and the desire to improve quality of life for future generations eventually overcomes. This is where my next guest and this episode fits in. Farhaan Ladhani is the CEO and Co-Founder at Digital Public Square. After years of working in private and government enterprises in Washington DC, Cairo, Afghanistan and Ottawa, he and his company are working hard to leverage the power of the internet and the field of behavioural economics to gently nudge people to expand their perspectives on the most difficult issues of our time. If he is successful, we just may start coming together from the polar ends of our ideologies to improve life for all of us.

In this episode I speak to Adrian Davis, a fellow partner at The Summit Group and the President of Whetstone. He emerged from the wilderness (as he describes it) with a decision to make a difference in his own life by enabling the transformation of the relationship between others. He makes his mark by learning and inspiring others in what some would say is the oldest profession in the world.

There was a time when promotions came to the confident and bold individuals that always seemed to know the answer. Then something seemed to change and now there is a premium for leaders that are keenly aware that they don’t always know the answer and recognize that success only comes from drawing on the people, insights and knowledge around them. In this conversation I thought I would be talking with my guest about confident and candid leadership. But when I actually spoke with Jeff Knisley, Vice President of Business Development at startup Autozen, I experienced the unexpected. Over the years I watched as Jeff found his success in leadership by building an armour of confidence as he worked his way up to executive roles at companies like Purolator, Livingston, UPS, Autotrader, Yellow Pages, Postmedia and Rise People. He leveraged this confidence to push the people he led, to protect them, to provide clarity through complex industry disruptions, and to deliver the answers to difficult questions. Over time, and especially most recently, he has discovered that he needs to shift away from the traits that made him successful and face the uncertain future with courageous vulnerability as he navigates the disruption he has created for himself.

Nature, Creativity, Self-Reflection, Faith - they are all powerful levers, some would say necessary levers, for leadership in this time. In this conversation I speak with Dr. Hafeez Jamal (aka Kaeni), environmental scientist, producer, musician, poet, physician and medical leader. We explore the connection of these diverse fields and how leaders can find their own way to draw from nature, creativity, self-reflection and faith to develop their leadership. This episode is particularly special because Hafeez is also the composer and performer of theme music of The Navigating Disruption Podcast. Listen in to hear from the man behind the music. To learn even more go to Musician | Kaeni Music.