The Navigating Disruption Podcast

I first met Riaz Meghji on stage, in front of thousands of people, when he introduced me as a speaker at fundraising event. Since that day 8 years ago, I am grateful to be able to call him a friend. Riaz has spent 17 years as a broadcaster and host of Citytv's Breakfast Television, CTV News and MTV Canada. As I became his friend, I came to realize that his on camera personality is the same as his...

I first realized in 2nd year university that organizational behaviour and leadership were going to be a part of my career. But back in the 90's I didn't know what that would be. Well its taken 30 years to achieve the dream. In this conversation, I speak with the person that helped me find this path just two years ago. Dr. Martha Maznevski is a Professor of Organizational Behaviour & Faculty Co...

What do an underground nuclear bunker, a little girl named Sophia and a semi-truck and trailer have in common? You will find out in this episode. I had the privilege of watching Christine McGuire take on big professional challenges with grace and enthusiasm. She and I were colleagues for several years before she became the Executive Director of The Diefenbunker: Canada’s Cold War Museum. In this c...

When we were children, Egan Christensen was my best friend. But then at 11 years old, he just disappeared. I am not embarrassed to say I was a little heartbroken at the time. There was no easy way to stay connected in the early 80’s so we lost touch. In this conversation we catch up after exactly 40 years. We reminisce of course but then we discover how much we have in common in our approach to le...

I have been doing much thinking about the good and danger of social media, online searches, online shopping and digital transactions. On one hand, the web has empowered our social connections, fueled small business survival and the enabled the flexibility to work from home. On the other hand, we have experienced the impact of breaches of data privacy, the spread of misinformation and the ability t...

Embarking on a path of self disruption takes courage and deep self reflection. For Lucas Chang, Founder of Y2 Entrepreneurship Labs that reflection took him back to his time as an adolescent playing street hockey with his buddies. What he has done with that memory and his years of business education and experience is remarkable. His company designs and delivers learning experience for high school...

You just never know when you are going to find people that you so closely align with. I was first introduced to David Pyle, Senior Vice President at Cox Automotive by my colleague at The Summit Group. David was on an executive panel I was moderating at the global Strategic Account Management Association's conference in 2020. His responses to my questions about leadership and customer collaboration...

She is not the typical persona you imagine when you think about a career accountant. Farah Bundeali is a Partner with global accounting firm KPMG.  Her emphasis on leadership and care for people may come from her role as the HR lead on the KPMG audit management team, but more than likely it comes from lessons from her parents. In this conversation she shares the influence of her Dad in shaping her...

My first meeting with Josh Blair was only about 3 minutes long. At the time he was Group President at Telus, responsible for a collection of cutting edge business units. That first short meeting intrigued me enough to do a bit of research about him thinking that I would find a reason to connect for a deeper conversation where I could learn more. It took a few years, but when I saw him announce his...

Back in the 90's, I remember coming into the lunch room to get my coffee and there was Sam flipping through The Province newspaper sports section. He had such a calm and curious demeanour so we would usually find ourselves in a conversation about something that made me think. Sam Sidhu is now Director of HR with McCarthy Tètrault, one of the largest law firms in Canada. But I learned in this conve...

He came to business school with a few years experience as a marketing research associate. Now 20 years after graduating, Dominic Atkinson and his partners have grown a small start-up, DIG Insights, into one of the most innovative and fastest growing customer insights firms in the country. They have far exceeded their early ambitions. Dominic and I were in a learning team together back in 1998 and...

I met Philip Styrlund at 33 when I worked at Purolator. He had been invited by our VP of Marketing, my boss at the time,  to share his thoughts on transforming our go to market sales approach. Nothing is random. We stayed in touch and years later, I became a partner in Phil's company, The Summit Group, before I went on to work in the non-profit sector. I am so fortunate to work with him again now....

I remember that conversation in May 1993 so clearly. Shortly after graduation from university, I found myself in Neil Zambik's office in what I would realize later was a life defining conversation. Neil was the Director of People Development & Communications at Mohawk Oil (now owned by Husky Energy). In this episode I find out that he also remembers that chat very clearly. Neil re-affirmed for...

In this first episode of 2021, I speak to Amyn Bhimani, President of Hetek Solutions, a 65 year-old company in the industrial commercial leak detection and monitoring business. He and I formed a unique partnership in 1992 when an inspiring and formidable woman took a chance on two young kids with something to prove. We were appointed to senior roles on a very active operating board for a volunteer...

In this brief year-end episode I reveal the top 5 downloaded episodes of 2020 and share a quick and impactful segment from each of those episodes. Thank you to all my guests in 2020 and to all my listeners. You have made this experiment so rewarding for me. Leave me a message: https://anchor.fm/shakeel-bharmal/message

Danny Kelly interviewed me for my first job. It wasn't your typical interview and definitely not the one an optimistic and cheerful new grad was prepared for. You will hear that story in this conversation. Danny was one of those influential leaders in my career, but I didn't report to him. He earned my respect because he was a genuine and authentic teacher. We met when I was in my 20's and he was...

After my interview with Dr. Jody Anderson in the episode Journey to Purpose, she asked if she could interview me to get the story of how I found my purpose. So in this interview the tables have been turned. Jody asks me the questions and I describe my journey from 2000 to 2020 as I have sought to define my reason for being. I'll be honest, I do feel a bit vulnerable putting this out there but how...

Since childhood I have been deeply fascinated by the integration of two ideas. The first is how to understand the needs and expectations of others and the second is how to organize engagement with others to exceed those expectations. I embrace the fact that makes me sound like 'geek' but lets call it being an aficionado for the sake of my guest. I discovered later in life that the integration of t...

I started my first corporate job as a sales coordinator in June 1993. I often reflect on how different my life would have been had I not had someone persuade me to reconsider, when I turned the offer down at first. The reason it was such a defining period was because of Jeff Mulock. He had just been promoted to the role of General Manager of Sales of the industrial & commercial lubricants divi...

The fact that Jennifer Jones is the President of The Toronto Library Foundation makes so much sense. Almost like it was meant to be. But the truth is that her path to this incredibly important leadership role was not direct. Rather it was a result of a series  of ricochets and  unique life experiences. She was raised to be an independent and confident woman and that was put to the test in high sch...

I almost called this episode "Joy" because that is what I feel every time I listen to it. I worked with Victoria on a brief project 8 years ago and realized pretty quickly that she was a special human being. Victoria Porter Cramer is the President of Lodging Dynamics Hospitality Group, a builder and operator of 50 premium brand hotels in the US. We talk about what she has learned from battling Can...

When I was 21 and in university, I was volunteering at a community centre. There I met a 16-year old that demonstrated incredible leadership skills for someone his age. Zahir went off to university himself and over the course of the last 30 years, I have seen him a handful of times. Each time he was conquering a new professional challenge in a different part of the world. With a mix of gratitude,...

I was introduced to Randy Buchamer in 1993 when he came from headquarters to visit the sales office where I was working. I still remember his words of welcome to the company and his invitation to come see him once I was settled in to my new job. I had just graduated from university and was in my early 20's. Randy was the VP of Corporate Services at Mohawk Oil and I was a bottom rung sales coordina...

When I went to my boss to quit my job in 1998 I was so anxious. The job I was leaving was considered by many as the best job in the company and I didn't want to let him down. I finally got a chance to debrief with him 22 years later in this conversation. Cosimo (Cos) got his start just as I did, pumping gas at a Mohawk gas station. After we parted ways from the head office of that company in the l...

My last one-on-one conversation with Anthony Ostler was in a little restaurant in London, Ontario in January 1999. We were discussing an article on corporate strategy written by the late Professor C.K. Prahalad. Anthony was leading the recruiting efforts for the firm I was interviewing for a summer internship. It felt like a make or break conversation for me so I was a little nervous. Anthony made...