The Navigating Disruption Podcast

In this episode of Navigating Disruption, host Shakeel welcomes Maiwand Rahyab, founder of Resilient Societies, who shares his remarkable journey from Afghanistan to Canada and his unwavering commitment to civic engagement and human rights.  Maiwand's story is a testament to resilience, community, and the power of collective action. He reflects on pivotal moments that shaped his leadership philoso...

In this episode of the Navigating Disruption Podcast , Raheena Lalani Dahya, a mediator, educator, and former lawyer, discusses the Window of Tolerance and its significance for leaders and managers. Raheena shares how this framework helps individuals understand emotional regulation under stress and offers practical advice for managing personal and team dynamics in high-pressure situations. By unde...

When you think of  professions embracing AI, a high school English teacher might not be the first that comes to mind. While AI in business and technology is increasingly accepted, education faces unique challenges—particularly concerns about students using AI to cut corners on assignments, potentially learning less in the process.  In this thought-provoking episode of the Navigating Disruption Pod...

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 entrep...

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, h...

In this insightful episode of the Navigating Disruption Podcast, host Shakeel reconnects with his junior high school classmate, Stephanie Bolster. Stephanie is an acclaimed Canadian poet, professor, and winner of the Governor General’s Award for Poetry. Together, they explore how the arts can help leaders strengthen self-awareness and creativity and build character. They compare notes on the simil...

In this episode of the Navigating Disruption Podcast, Shakeel is joined by his childhood friend Riaz Bandali, president of Nordion. They reminisce about how their shared adolescent experiences have shaped them as they delve into their leadership experiences in times of uncertainty. Riaz delves into the profound lessons he has learned throughout his journey, the role of lifelong learning in Riaz's...

In this episode of the Navigating Disruption Podcast, we sit down with Bryan Benjamin, Executive Director of The Ivey Academy, to explore the essentials of building stronger leadership capacity. Bryan shares his experiences at The Ivey Academy, the importance of lifelong learning, and how embracing discomfort and curiosity can enhance leadership skills. We also delve into his perspectives on AI's...

Join us as we delve into the early memories and foundational experiences that shaped one of the supply chain industry's foremost leaders, Frank Bozzo, Vice President and General Manager of CHEP Canada and Pallecon North America. What impact did afternoons with his grandparents have on his leadership style? How do these personal experiences translate into professional excellence?    I first met Fra...

Exciting news! The Navigating Disruption Podcast is officially back after 2 years off. In this trailer, I reflect on the transformative events of the past two years—both personally and globally. The conversations have been deeply missed, and I am grateful to everyone who encouraged my return. Mark your calendar! The first new episode drops on Wednesday, June 5th. Join us as we dive back into explo...

I have long held a belief in the power of a coaching approach to sales and customer relationship management. I think there is potential to expand coaching in business into customer relationships. In this episode I speak to Robert Gray, Certified Leadership Coach with Essential Impact, one my instructors during my coaching certification. He provides a perspective on what coaching is and how it bene...

In this episode I chat with Amy Ballon, a seasoned business coach and strategic advisor. Amy and I were seat mates in our first corporate job 22 years ago as newly minted MBAs. We were both grateful and eager but then the world changed, and that disruption set Amy on a very different path as an entrepreneur and co-author of the book Mom Inc.: how to raise your family and your business without losi...

Alyssa Barry reminds us that it is possible to pursue a drive for helping others with a career in business. We met 9 years ago united by our passion for making the world a better place and improving quality of life for all. I had a feeling then we were deeply connected and this conversation confirms it. Alyssa, principal and co-founder of irlabs, has created a firm to help organizations unlock hid...

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 o...

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...

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 behavi...

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 q...

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 poten...

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 w...

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, creativi...

A bottle of shampoo, a can of potato chips, a candid question from a student in Scandinavia...they all have one thing in common. They were influential in the career and purpose of Saleem Ahamed, Chief Marketing Officer of the game changing Plastic Bank. Plastic Bank transforms ocean plastic into consumer goods, solving an environment problem while improving livelihoods in some of the most difficul...

As we all know, the world of work is changing. Disruptive events and technologies are accelerating change at unprecedented speed rendering many traditional ways of doing work obsolete. With basically all workforces now working in a distributed, hybrid and remote fashion, collaborative work management is enabling the future of work. In this conversation, Amin Panjwani, Managing Director of Execute...

One of the best things about having a podcast is the new people that I get to meet. Eric Wong, Chief Commercial Officer of start-up Impro. AI reached out to me after listening to one of my episodes. I found his story so interesting and enriching that I invited him to a conversation so I could learn more and share it with you. He grew up in the lower mainland of BC and his talent and ambition took...

What is motivation capability? It’s a combination of self awareness, perspective, mindset and reflective practice to help individuals move from a feeling of futility and lack of influence to one of empowerment and impact. Given the amount of uncertainty in our lives today, we could all benefit from a boost here. In the Hercules Meets Buddha episode we referred to Motivation Factor as an approach w...