All posts by Esha Abrol

Entrepreneur, Marketing Professional, Business Development, Professional Speaker

Entrepreneurial Culture, International Management, Marketing

Lessons Learnt from Nortel’s Demise: How to go from a valuation of $400 billion to 0 in just a few years

March 26, 2015 Esha Abrol Leave a comment

Yesterday evening I had the chance to attend the event: “Nortel: The untold story. From innovation, to acquisition to bankruptcy” at the University of Ottawa.

Left to Right: Mr. Peter Chapman, Distinguished Professor Hussein Mouftah, Mr. Peter MacKinnon, Professor Jonathon Calof

The presenting team, Peter MacKinnon, Professor Jonathon Calof, Peter Chapman, and Distinguished Professor Hussein Mouftah, discussed the research they completed over the past three years. The comprehensive data was collected through surveys and interviews with former Nortel employees, including Executives, and Nortel customers. The report can be found here: http://sites.telfer.uottawa.ca/nortelstudy

I’ve jotted down notes I gathered from the research presented, with my own slant. I’d like to start a discuss on applying the lessons learnt to existing companies, such as Blackberry.

The question worth billions, what caused the company that was valued at almost $400 billion dollars in 2000, to decline to a value of $5 billion in 2002 –in just two years? The stock was at its peak in 2000, just a few years later it would be worthless.

The answer cannot be found just within those two years; the research team looked into the many years leading up to the collapse. Now, let’s keep in mind that this was once the 2nd biggest company in North America at one point, to take on the task of understanding exactly what happened, was almost certainly no easy one. Pinpointing blame to one area or to individuals would not be fair and would be too easy. Although, through this three-year research study, some light has been shed on Nortel’s areas of weakness, upon interpretation of this data, it can offer lessons to existing businesses.

Influencing factors of Nortel’s demise:

1) Unrealistic Valuation: Nortel acquired companies with their stock. Everytime there was an acquisition, it would increase the stock price. Which makes you wonder if the company was even worth $400 billion in the first place. I believe it was an inflated multiple of the actual worth of the company. So, when the industry suffered, company valuations were corrected. In fairness to Nortel, it may be wrong to say the valuation of the company declined by $395 billion when it was never worth $400 billion in the first place. They were hit hard. With a unrealistic view of their worth, I’m sure their hubris prevented them to imagine such a downfall.

2) Poor Acquisitions Strategy: They knew how to handle the market changes and disruptions, there’s even proof of plans they had written; however, they didn’t execute – they didn’t ask their engineers. However, they did make some acquisitions. They created less than perfect human dynamics by a poor acquisitions plan. They acquired many start-ups for millions/billions. Upon due diligence they found that some of the products didn’t operate as expected; however, continued with the purchase regardless. Ultimately, making the acquired start-up owners millionaires and new Nortel employees. These millionaires sat next to Nortel employees, who probably made $100,000/year, who now had to work on fixing and trying to integrate these newly acquired start-ups. Nortel helped make these startup owners very rich instead of their own people. The researchers also pointed out the need to “trust your own people” as they are more likely to tell you the truth and more relevant information.
In addition, of course, a strategic acquisition can be a lucrative move; however, it’s important to point out Nortel’s culture. They were built on organic growth. It seems their environment couldn’t support the integration of acquisitions.

3) Poor communication and trust between executive team and employees: Nortel’s technology was ahead of its times and simply superior. They had predicted the mobile technology we use today. While Apple launched the first iPhone in 2007, Nortel had a similar prototype 15 years prior. But when the engineers at Nortel presented the idea to the Exec team, the Exec team argued that no one would want to walk around with a phone in their hand!

4) Insufficient R&D: In earlier times, Nortel had parallel R&D projects taking place at once. As budgets got tighter perhaps due to market changes, R&D “efficiencies” (ot a cut of R&D) came into place, which reduced the number of projects, so there was less innovation. I feel as though they stopped taking risks and stood stagnant, becoming a “me too” company, with little differentiation from their competitors, as the research team of this project referred to them. From 2000-2009, if you look at their press releases, you’ll see nothing new, the research team point out. As their money went into legacy projects rather than new projects.

5) Failed to have a global outlook or perhaps emotional decision-making: They seemed to have put more weight on products that sold well in the U.S. rather than understanding the needs of the rest of the world.

6) Forgotten mission and vision and drive to help customers: Miscommunication between their business management and technology management. They had all the answers within their organization, but for some reason they just didn’t act on it. Would we be wrong to assume there was a huge communication issue within the company, perhaps like many large companies? Related to this point, near the end, the company was led by more business professionals over technology professionals. As a result, in decisions that were made, the technology analysis was missing in this technology company.

As entrepreneurs, we constantly hear of these factors. We try to avoid such mistakes. To see such mistakes completely eliminate a company over 100 years old demonstrates that their is no magic involved in keeping a company in-existence and thriving.

Now, with these factors in mind, let’s have a look at Blackberry. Back in 2011, I wrote a post on “How to Fix RIM” (as it was called then). I talked about the opportunity to grow their R&D initiatives to innovate new stuff and the need to have a focused plan.

There hasn’t been much innovation. New products have not been received well. Things have spiraled downwards for them since then. From July 2011 to September 2013, 11 750 employees were laid off, including employees from the R&D department.

However, in December 2014, they received a $750 million deal with Vodafone, a loan backstopped by the Canadian ECA, Export Development Canada.

Blackberry gets to survive. Unfortunately, we’ll never have the chance to see how Nortel’s technology would have done; however, with research findings from Nortel’s case study, more evidence on the key influencing factors of the success of a large company have been made available.

Esha Abrol © March 2015

Entrepreneurial Culture

The LAUNCH Festival in San Francisco

August 14, 2014 Esha Abrol Leave a comment

I had the chance to attend the LAUNCH Festival in San Francisco in February 2014. In case you are not familiar with LAUNCH, as stated on LAUNCH’s website, “LAUNCH covers and celebrates technology startups, products and services — and the people who build them”. The annual event features start-ups from all-over and brings in investors and seasoned entrepreneurs to share insights.
My experience at LAUNCH:
Day one of the three-day event, as I entered the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco, I was greeted by the registration folks. I took a selfie and was signed-in, using TicketLeaps’s registration app! Here I am:

The main area was set-up in a tradeshow format (see photo here), showcasing start-ups from all-over the States, even one from Australia. While these companies were around for investors and the public, there were many interview sessions and keynote talks throughout the day, keynotes from Paul Graham (Y Combinator), Mark Cuban, Paul Draper. And, interviews with VCs, angels, and entrepreneurs. Andrew Warner of Mixergy interviewed many of these folks – asked great questions, as always.

In between the keynotes, in the room with the large stage, set-up with investors in the front rows, pitches took place. Pre-vetted entrepreneurs pitched their businesses in app 15 minutes each in-front of a panel of four VC/angels. There were a total of approximately 30 pitches. They were broken-up into about five sessions, changing the panel for each session. Each pitch received feedback from the panelists. Throughout the sessions, large screens displayed a ranking system, wherein audience members could vote for their favorites. The results were displayed in real-time.

Overall ambiance was fun – people who attend the LAUNCH Festival are passionate about entrepreneurship, you can feel the energy in the air. A must attend event.

Keynote Speaker, Paul Graham of the Y Combinator

Self-Improvement

Navigating Multiple Identities: How to Cope and Thrive Without Losing Yourself

January 24, 2014 Esha Abrol Leave a comment

By: Marcelo L. Garcia and Esha Abrol

Most people have multiple identities and group memberships within which they find meaning. For example, it is not uncommon for someone to be a father/mother, a husband/wife, a brother/sister, an athlete, a musician and an engineer – all at the same time. Just to complicate things, that person might also belong to a specific cultural or religious group. In a world of constant flux, holding multiple identities can provide numerous benefits such as opportunities for personal growth, meaningful social interactions and economic mobility. But navigating multiple identities can be quite challenging at times, especially in cases of identity interference, i.e., where the pressures of one’s inherited identity suddenly start interfering with the development, performance, or expression of another equally legitimate newly formed identity.

In our view, the most challenging case of identity interference derives from one’s inherited cultural identity . Because culture tends to affect the way in which we play our multiple roles in society and is based on pre-determined group expectations, it is easy to feel trapped as we try to move forward in our life as individuals. More often than not, identity stakeholders – that is parents, siblings, friends, colleagues, teachers, and even spiritual leaders – will seek to have a disproportionate influence in our decision-making processes. For example, kids born in families where professional careers were valued may feel oppressed if they are naturally oriented towards the arts or entrepreneurship.

Identity stakeholders are entities with influencing roles in our lives, such as : parents, siblings, friends, colleagues, teachers, and even spiritual leaders.

In this article we’d like to put the spotlight on the children of those parents who decided to immigrate to another country in search of a better future. Those children – who were raised or born outside of their parents’ culture of origin – might sometimes feel out of place or profoundly conflicted when choosing their own path in life. The objective of this blog post is to share perspectives and provide tools that will help anyone dealing with cultural identity stakeholders to pursue the path to empowerment and the development of one’s personal identity.

In our view, the identity challenges that, we, first- and second-generation immigrants face on a daily basis are tremendously overlooked. Whether at work, in school, or in our social and personal life, we often feel torn between two or more cultural identities and extremely confused about the direction we should take in our lives. For example, where are we supposed to draw the line between personal autonomy (our own choices) and respect for the traditions, customs and paradigms inherited from our identity stakeholders? How do we tell our immigrant parents that we are not necessarily interested in becoming doctors, lawyers or engineers, but artists and entrepreneurs? How should we manage the possible backlash that might result when we start dating – or perhaps even decide to marry – someone outside our own culture of origin?

Trapped between our sense of loyalty and our inner desire to become the main architects of our lives, most of us often lack the tools and guidance to face those challenges with courage and composure. In some cases, we might feel entangled in false dichotomies (i.e., good v. bad, right v. wrong), perhaps suffocated by stakeholder-driven guilt, or simply confused. There is even a chance we might have felt the impulse to engage in self-destructive behaviours like delaying getting on with our r lives because we feel undecided about what is the “right path”. Some of us might have decided to reject our inherited cultural background altogether because we feel overly oppressed. Some of us might have even opted “to buy peace” by conforming – at least in public or in front of our parents – to a cultural paradigm or life style that is not fully ours.

To buy peace is a short-term solution to a conflict whereby person A does or does not something (whether voluntarily or involuntarily) in exchange of peace (not being pressured or bothered by person B). Buying peace, however, does not solve the underlying conflict.

In our view, none of those behaviours are constructive in the long-run. They can soon become destructive for all the parties involved and create a lot of grief and in some cases fuel further conflict. We believe that the win-win solution lies on developing the tools to make our your own choices in life while preserving good relations with our your stakeholders, especially those with whom we you share close ties like our your parents and siblings. Over the long-run the idea is for you to develop the confidence to deal successfully with our your conflicting loyalties and multiple identities. We believe that being proactive in managing potential conflicts is the best solution for to building inner strength, self-confidence, and courage to make decisions for yourself and realize our your full potential. These are some tools we’d like to offer you:

1. Understand that rules are built on principles and focus the discussion on the principles: Don’t waste time debating the rules!

If your stakeholders are unwilling to support a certain path you want to pursue, whether it relates to your career, education or personal life, do your best to demonstrate that your path addresses somehow their overarching concern. The challenge will be to identify their concern, but once you do you will be in a better position to establish a constructive dialogue with them. For example, if your parents are preoccupied about your financial security (the principle), they might try to push for the idea that becoming a doctor or a lawyer are the only worthy pursuits for you (the rule). If that is the case, take the opportunity to show them that you have also considered financial security when choosing your career. Unless they are unreasonable, your parents probably just want to make sure that you are thinking about the importance of financial stability as you are making career choices for yourself and be creative. Do not argue with your identity stakeholders whether it is a good idea to drink water (the principle) – it is good for you and no one could argue against it! Simply explain to them that you prefer drinking water out of a crystal glass (your decision) instead of a cup like they suggest.

2. Be proactive: Short-term bumps are better than long-term crises

Being proactive about informing your stakeholders about your life choices requires constant efforts and ultimately pays-off. For example, if you know that some decisions you are about to make are likely to create discomfort among your stakeholders, it’s always a good idea to prepare them well in advance by slowly initiating them to your new world view and sending them periodic hints that things are shifting on your side. The last thing you want to do is to shock them or challenge them. You want to come across as someone who is acting consciously and authentically. So make a plan on how your will inform them about your life choices (i.e., career, education, relationships, life style, etc.) and do so gradually, even if you know you will encounter some resistance at the beginning. Short-term bumps are better than full-fledged conflict.

3. Assert yourself at the outset: Be firm, yet avoid hostility

If you commit to being proactive in dealing with your stakeholder’s agenda or paradigm, you will inevitably find some resistance. Levels of resistance can range from manipulation, heated arguments, to direct threats. The best attitude to adopt when facing hostility is to remain calm. You do not want to succumb to your stakeholders’ hostility and respond with the same or even higher levels of hostility.

The assertion comes from informing your most influential stakeholders of your new life choice in a composed way and avoiding arguing with them. The goal is not to convince them that you are right or that they are wrong. Rather than getting into those types of “win-lose” arguments, stick to your guns and be respectful when you do so. Be firm and convey confidence without arrogance.

4. Set boundaries during the process: Do not accept unreasonable or unfair behaviour

Once you start managing the relationship with your stakeholders, you might encounter unreasonable or unfair behaviour. In such cases, it is important that you set boundaries. This is probably the hardest thing to do for those first- and second-generation immigrants that come from very traditional cultures where deference to family or their elders is an absolute value. It is not an easy shift. Your stakeholders have the right to disagree with your life choices. At the same time, your stakeholders are not perfect and sometimes they can be wrong, be unreasonable and unfair. If you are treated unfairly or unreasonably, tell them you will not accept that kind of treatment because you care about the health of your relationship with them. If they insist, distance yourself. It is extremely important that your stakeholders understand that you want to communicate in a civil and mature way. It will add to your credibility and improve your chances of success in the long-run.

5. Help your cause: Be thankful and loving

Be loving to your close stakeholders at all times, especially when you are in the process of being firm with them and setting boundaries. In the case of parents, some of them have difficulties letting go of their children. For some reason they think that we still belong to them when we become adults. Remind them how thankful you are for all the things they’ve done for you. Tell them you love them dearly. The idea is for you to develop a loving relationship with your parents and other stakeholders while asserting your autonomy and living your life fully.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”
Steve Jobs

Disclaimer: The contents of this post are merely opinions of the authors intended to provide general guidance and provoke constructive discussion, and are not intended to provide or substitute professional advice.

About the authors:

About Marcelo: Marcelo has spent much time in multicultural environments all across Canada over the past few years. Thanks to his continuous involvement in community initiatives and professional organizations, he has developed a first-hand understanding of the many inter-generational issues and cultural clashes that arise between immigrant parents and the younger generation of children raised or born in Canada. Marcelo’s cultural roots can be found in the narrower and longest strip of land in South America, and traced back to the lands of Al-Andalus, a province of the historical Caliphate of Cordoba. A few years after his parents decided to move to hedonistic Montreal, he became interested in China’s rise as a global superpower and decided to study political economy in Vancouver. He subsequently worked in corporate Toronto as a lawyer in the area of intellectual property law, and more recently he moved to Ottawa where he provides legal and economic advice on airline industry and business competition. He maintains a solid cross-fit training routine and likes to enjoy the curative powers of mineral waters and balneotherapy. He can be contacted at: marcelo.garcia.rosales(at)gmail.com

About Esha: Please see “About Esha” page.

Esha Abrol, Marcelo Garcia © January 2014

Entrepreneurial Culture, Marketing

Local Parking Business Offers Group-Buying Deal

December 5, 2013 Esha Abrol Leave a comment

Industries such as healthcare, real estate, and parking have offered very little innovation over the years, especially in marketing. Advantage Parking is looking to change that. Ottawa’s parking company, Advantage Parking, is offering a group-buy deal. While researching new technologies to further ease the process for those who park in their locations, Advantage Parking wants to offer a limited-time group-buy deal to test the opportunity and desire for innovation in marketing within this industry.

Esha Abrol © December 2013

Entrepreneurial Culture, Marketing

Before pitching to an investor, or on Dragon’s Den, Shark Tank…

November 27, 2013 Esha Abrol Leave a comment

A recent talk from former Dragon, Brett Wilson, at a Start-up Canada event during global entrepreneurship week has got me thinking more about “the valuation of a company”, particularly a start-up. In this post I’ve jotted down some thoughts that have been circling my mind.

Esha Abrol (who participated in raising funds for men's health, Movember this year) and Canadian entrepreneur/philanthropist/former Dragon, Brett Wilson — Esha Abrol (who participated in raising funds for men’s health, Movember this year) and Canadian entrepreneur/philanthropist/former Dragon, Brett Wilson

You walk into the meeting room and ready to pitch…

Before that, here are a couple of things to consider when valuing your company:

1) Numbers (projections) are subjective
2) Know your value proposition, it is as important as the product/service itself

In this post I want to demonstrate how projections, per-forma statements, and forecasts are just predictions and subjective ones. In addition, rather than discussing valuing a company based on assets, sales, or market size (potential), I’d like to discuss the influences of strategy and value proposition.

Firstly, numbers – the following is a recent news story, demonstrating how even large, established company’s can miss their projections:

In April, upscale fashion company, Burberry, took control of their beauty line, as it was previous licensed out. As a result, they now posses full-control over their products; however, it also has added to their costs – marketing expenses added a heavy weight to their financials – they’ve realized that their marketing costs have doubled. This new strategic direction has been a costly one (at least short-term) and they’ve felt it hit their bottom-line. While they projected sales for their beauty division to reach 25 million pounds, they only earned 10 million, less than half.

The valuation of a company is partly based on projections; the above example is a great example which allows us to see how numbers too can be subjective. The overall picture is required for crafting strategy. Had the demand, current customer knowledge of the beauty line been measured, and need and costs of marketing been considered, would the projection of 25 million pounds been closer to the actual figures? If so, would Burberry have decided to take full-control or continue licensing?

In addition to the product/service itself, strategy and value proposition are key influencers in the success of the business.

Value Proposition:

Value proposition is the unique selling point, which illustrate why the consumer will benefit from becoming a customer, seeing the value in what you are selling.
While at a Start-up Canada event, I had the opportunity to chat with a fellow attendee, Omar, co-founder of YP-it (http://www.yp-it.com). Omar was telling my about his colleague’s, the founder of Canada’s beloved coffeeshop, Second Cup, story. In the 70’s, if you wanted a coffee, you had two choices – the generic cafe coffee and a branded one, both were “vanilla”. Soon after, Second Cup was born (before Starbucks), to provide hard-working folks with a treat, a gourmet hot beverage – priced higher than the other two available, but the value proposition (a unique selling point, which illustrates why the consumer should become a customer) allowed them to do so. They created a market through a vision.

Any recent companies’ value proposition catch your attention lately?

Esha Abrol © November 2013

Entrepreneurial Culture, Self-Improvement

Measuring Intelligence: Who’s more intelligent?

October 11, 2013 Esha Abrol Leave a comment

A couple of nights ago, at a milonga (an Argentine tango event), I was telling a fellow tango dancer about my marketing company, he was fond of our “storytelling” approach and responded, “wow, you’re intelligent, what did you take in school?”
I asked him why that mattered. Is formal education really the ideal way to measure intelligence? In my opinion, the more appropriate measures would be: one’s ability to adapt, discipline, and appreciation for introspection and self-improvement. These are things I was not taught in class, in business school.

I explained to him, I may know more about marketing and business strategy, but he knows more about tango and he is a much better dancer than me. He responded, “That is because I’ve been dancing tango for 12 years, while you’ve only been dancing for one year. You’ll be as good or better than me in time.”

Isn’t that how we all grow – through investing time in learning? School provides a structured system in knowledge intake; however, tests and projects are not a way to assess one’s full knowledge and ability. What I did get from school was: learn more discipline, immediate credibility (versus proving my knowledge via action), and a network which I may or may not have been able to build otherwise.

We can’t learn everything, so we’ll always feel unintelligent on unfamiliar topics, like when I recently asked an architect whether he got to play with LEGO at work or when I asked a violin teacher with the difference between a quarter note and half note was, but all of us are experts at something, even if that’s a video game or black teas.

Reflection question: What in your opinion, what makes someone intelligent?

Esha Abrol © October 11, 2013

Entrepreneurial Culture, Marketing, Self-Improvement

Creating Opportunities

September 3, 2013 Esha Abrol 4 Comments

This post is meant to be a subtle reminder that self-limiting statements are simply rubbish. Let me explain how “the world is your oyster” through rejecting limitations. Please see the illustration below, let the blue “x” represent us. While the dome around the “x”, represents the limitations that we place on ourselves and allow others to place on us. In this post I’m going to explain what a “limitation” is through examples.

Imagine a world without this dome, then visualize the number of opportunities (represented by the white space) that lie before you, personal or as a business owner (this is unbelievably effective to keep in mind for sales calls/meetings). The good news is that this dome is formed of merely: ideas, thoughts, opinions, and perspectives – all of these can be altered. We intentionally keep this barrier around us to protect us from real and imagined or perceived threats. The goal should not to remove the dome, but to be aware of it to be able to weigh the actual risks from the fear of discomfort, change, the unknown, or fear itself. Rejecting limiting beliefs and tackling new challenges bring new outcomes and perspectives, seemingly increasing the world’s opportunities. Allow me to elaborate with four personal stories as examples. Please read through them and reflect on how this dome affects your decisions and actions. Please share via e-mail, I would love to hear your stories.

Example #1: Last summer a dear friend decided she would celebrate her birthday by signing a death waiver, strapping on a parachute, and jumping out of a plane. And, she asked her friends to join her. Just excellent. Before I knew it, I was just waiting around on a plane, waiting for it to reach the right altitude. We waited until we could release the plane door, be sucked-out into the atmosphere, pierce holes through the clouds to be able to touch the ground again. Ah, earth beneath my feet – that’s the way it should be!

So, was it really that bad? Not really, I would do it again. Jumping out of the plane does not feel frightening because my mind just couldn’t process what was happening – how often do we jump out of moving vehicles, particularly those 12,000 ft in the air? My mind just couldn’t register what was about to happen. However, prior to the jump I was uncomfortable, apprehensive, OK, and petrified. Hey, the anticipation of facing the unknown and the idea of conquering this daring adventure was a little unnerving. I also questioned my sanity: “What the heck is wrong with me… Why do I need to jump out of plane, again?!!!!!!!!”

Why was I scared? I was about to break out of the dome. The ideas, thoughts, opinions, and perspectives were scary. I kept repeating to myself and others, “I’m not the type of person who goes skydiving, I prefer calming and soothing activities, like yoga… I’m terrified of heights, I’d never be able to accomplish this, etc..” And I began to believe all of it. In reality, I actually knew very little about skydiving, but somehow I had already decided that it wasn’t for me. It was only something I had seen on TV, but never paid much attention to. So, let’s try to breakdown the fear:

The idea of jumping out of a plane- imagine it in your head? Humans don’t have wings (unless you drink Redbull). The visual of jumping out of a moving vehicle, from 12,000ft in the sky is scary because we’re supposed to feel earth beneath our feet. Because it is so scary-looking, the thoughts that run through my head are ones that validate the idea that this could kill me. Then, a friend asked me, “Esha, what if a bird pops your parachute? This is not for you!” My friends know exactly what to say to comfort me. Now, their opinions were based on their thoughts and ideas of skydiving because they had never actually done it themselves. They were perspectives.

I was terrified, but who wouldn’t be? As I drove to work that day, my eyes became a little moist as I said drove past a park where I played in my childhood – “I may never come back!” I thought. (This experience brought out a more sentimental and perhaps dramatic side in me)

It wasn’t easy to get myself on the plane, but once I was there, there was no turning back.

I did it! You know, it was actually not that bad at all. I felt glad that I kept my commitment and followed through by rejecting the limitations.

The world now looked like this, I had given myself a little more space to explore:

Example #2: A few months later, as I walked into the gates of an amusement park with friends, voices in my mind repeated, “I hate rollercoasters. Rollercoasters are scary and dangerous. Stay away from the rollercoasters.” I’d heard many stories of accidents – belts failing, old equipment giving up, etc. My friends said to me, “Esha, if you can jump out of a plane, this should be easy, no?” So, I joined them and waited in line, for all three of the rollercoasters there. And, I survived them all.

Now, my world looked like this:

Example #3: For years and years, I was told that India was not a safe place to travel alone, especially for females and, that the food would make me ill. I really wanted to go; however, these images became fears in my mind – “I can’t go to India because I will become ill and possibly be kidnapped. I’m not the type of person who takes risks like this. I am content traveling somewhere more safe.”

Recently, I met someone sporting a bright-coloured suit and top hat at an event. In a more conservative city like Ottawa, he really stood out, I had to get to know him. Turns-out he was visiting from San Francisco. We immediately connected – his appreciation for creativity and doing things differently was obvious. We exchanged experiences, knowledge, and stories including this study he shared with me: A divider was placed in a fish tank, giving the fish access to only half of the tank. The fish would swim within the area that was available to it. After some time, the divider was removed. However, the fish remained in the same half of the tank that it was used to. It never crossed to the area where the divider once stood.

Upon an inspiring exchange of ideas and thoughts over tea with this extraordinary character, I went back to my office and booked my flight to India. I departed in two weeks and returned alive, although with serious food poisoning I would be OK soon and my life had forever changed. India was absolutely magical – the people, the history, the art, the vibrant colours, and architecture – breath-taking.

My world now looked like this:

Example #4: About a year ago, I was preparing to celebrate my third-anniversary working at a large company, the job I had started after university. For my age, I had become very “successful” as many old schoolmates, friends, professors, parents, and other family members would say. But, why didn’t I feel “successful”?

After school, I started applying for jobs because that’s what most people do after school. Originally, I only chose to study business to be better equipped to start my own business. I let myself forget that based on what I was seeing around me. The idea of applying for jobs and working with a stable income brought me more certainly and ease and it allowed me to “fit in”.

Three years at my job just flew by. As I was telling a special entrepreneurial friend about my upcoming anniversary, instead of congratulating me, he said, “Esha, just quit that stupid job already.” Forward and rude, but exactly what I needed, a reminder that I was letting limiting thoughts make my decisions, thoughts such as, “I am not as open to risk as I thought, I’m just not brave enough.” or “I have failed as a business owner before, I will fail again.” I finally quit my job (no 3-year anniversary cake for me) and this is what happened to the dome after I realized that my lungs would still have access to oxygen after I made this decision:

We create a dome around us and allow others to ensure we keep it snug and air-tight. It acts as a barrier, blocking-off threats but also opportunities that may offer developments and improvements. These limitations are set based on excuses that we create to avoid discomfort that may challenge us. Of course challenges are not easy, people who encourage you to push yourself further are a key ingredient – I am thankful for the people who have been there to give me a little push when I needed it.

As we face new challenges, the domes around us continue to grow, allowing us to experience new things; however, the white space around it also seems to grow – how far do you want to go?

On a separate note, the next time I see you, remind me to tell you about the bandages on my hands in this picture:

Cheers, Esha

Esha Abrol © September 2013

Entrepreneurial Culture, Self-Improvement

Good Distractions: The Dots in the Sky on the Way to the Gualeguaychú Carnival in Argentina

June 26, 2013 Esha Abrol Leave a comment

I was in Argentina, on my way to the Gualeguaychú Carnival with my dear friend, Ketevan. We managed to find the right bus and now heading to Gualeguaychú from Buenos Aires. It was around 11PM, as we were passing the country-side, I looked up from the window. The stars were beautiful, like I have never seen. Immediately I pulled out my iPhone to try to capture the beauty in a photo… this is how it turned out:

The breathe-taking view...? — The breathe-taking view…?

I took another one, same results.

The sky, clear of light pollution, twinkled. The shiniest stars were the ones that make up the constellation of Orion, the seven main stars were very bright. As I stared, a shooting star flew by.

The reason we pull-out our cameras to capture such moments? I would say, because these moments move us, capturing the visual may help us capture the emotions felt at the time and share with others too. What if the picture doesn’t turn-out, or you forgot your camera at home? How about observing each detail to be able to take a mental picture! So, I just stared… well, into space…

It looked like sparkles on a black blanket or fireflies stuck in the sky. There were millions of them. Each dot illuminated a radius of about an inch surrounding it. The visual of the contrast of luminance to dark was what made it so capturing. The inconsistency of the amount of light and twinkle each star gave-off, gave the sky character and mystery, telling us that the limit is unknown and there is more than we can see with our eyes. Every time a car drove by, the lights from the headlights would hide the some stars, mostly the smaller ones, the ones farther away. Although they would be hiding, I knew they were there.

OK, so what’s my point? This is not just meant to be an attempt at poetry 🙂

While I’m staring into space and journaling, I am now realizing, we were not sure if we were even on the right bus or which stop to get off at. And, we could not communicate with anyone on the bus because of the language barrier. At this point, it was almost 1:00 A.M., the carnival was supposed to start around 12:00 A.M. I wasn’t worried though, counting the stars kept me calm, without me even realizing it. Similar to a tough yoga class, as attention to the breathe makes the poses more bare-able and keeps the mind from wandering. I was focused on something more positive.

I realized, I’ve never found undisturbed tranquility from the stars before. Perhaps if I was home in this same situation: uncertain of which bus I was on, with people who I couldn’t communicate with, and with no idea where I was in the middle of the night, my reactions may have been different.

While on vacation, the dots in the sky may be more clear and appreciable. Now, imagine being in such a state while working, brainstorming new ideas, and in our everyday lives.

Rather than just remembering the visual, I took note of the emotions evoked. How I felt: Inspired, happy, pensive, philosophical, curious, intrigued, and fortunate. OK, the nerdy side of me made me wish I had an encyclopedia on space with me, so I could look-up everything I saw. Feelings and thoughts were anything but stressed or worried. What good would such thoughts have done, anyway? What good do such negative thoughts ever have?

“Stress is nothing more than a socially acceptable form of mental illness.” – Richard Carlson

A reflection question for you: Relating this experience to accomplishments, how would changing our perspectives based on the positives around us, better support us in achieving our goals?

By the way, we did make it to the Carnival; however, how we got there and returned back to Buenos Aires is a story I’ll tell you in person as I would need to use a lot of hand gestures and facial expressions.

Esha Abrol © June 26, 2013

Entrepreneurial Culture, Marketing, Self-Improvement

In this Story, the Brand Plays the Leading Role

June 5, 2013 Esha Abrol Leave a comment

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA
Introducing Oscars for Brands…

Just a few weeks ago, for fun and in hopes of improving my presentation skills, I enrolled in acting classes.

I wanted to talk a bit about my first class. No different from any “first class”, we started with an introduction-round. We all shared our story, explaining what brought us in that room. There was a high-level of openness. With some corporate background, I’ve attended countless meetings and presentation. Comparing the emotions exhibited in class to a business meeting would be like comparing blowing your nose with Kleenex (the extra soft kind) vs. sandpaper. I realized that I’ve been quite unkind to my nose. Sorry, weird analogy, but I felt it created strong imagery (the reason for my apology).

After the intros, we got right into it. We were given a short dialogue. With a partner, we were given a minute to prepare a scenario, then rehearse the lines, act it out in-front of the camera, with the bright lights shining in our faces, the rest of the class crowded around the TV screen watching our every move, and the teachers providing very direct feedback, challenging us to show more emotions without over-acting.

Five words to describe the scenario? Un.com.fort.a.ble. We naturally resist everything involved in acting! Even with the butterflies in the stomach, it’s crucial to keep important details in mind, such as:

1) Connecting with your co-actors, demonstrating generosity by delivering your lines with full sincerity even if they are in the spotlight, allowing them to work with you to give their best performance

2) Working with the emotions you are feeling at the moment rather than pretending

3) Catch and toss: matching the emotions and tone of your co-actors

4) Avoiding our distracting quirks that we unconsciously do to “hide”, ex. tilting of head, raising eyebrows, forgetting to breath (apparently acting is 90% breathing). Afterall, we all go watch the flicks to see the awkward moments and uncomfortable emotions we are shy to emote in real life

5) The list goes on…

Although this was unfamiliar territory, I was able to find some comfort. As a marketing professional, I got to appreciate that branding and film-making were more alike than I had realized. Both should tell a story. Both should evoke emotions. In the case of acting, we are the product, we are the brand. Common elements in evoking emotions include: facial expressions, words, environment, gestures, tone of voice, and colours.

Sell your products with the Oscar in mind

Film-making means story-telling, expressing raw feeling, without hiding anything.

faces

Think about your own experiences with adverting as a consumer. Are there any commercials that you would actually watch rather than fast-forwarding through? Do you follow any company’s Facebook fan pages? Do you show preference over brands in the garbage bag aisle at the grocery store.

Odds are these brands are not just companies, but personalities. These personalities show us the value of their products and services through a truthful story. If we can relate to the story and personality, we will be moved in some way and build connection with this brand. With an established connection, we are more likely to pick their products over competitors when we are overwhelmed with options.

Marketing has come a long way, just over the past few years. Today, as consumers we are given a choice on whether or not we will engage in conversation with brands, we can share stories that move is in seconds, and we can better educate ourselves on products and services within minutes.

BrandsRole is an initiative that I founded with the hopes of helping companies of all sizes share their stories. At BrandsRole we are always eager to seek and share inspiration through the power of story-telling.

Please contact me or see the BrandsRole website for more info: http://www.BrandsRole.ca

Let’s discuss.

Esha

-Esha Abrol, Director of Seeking and Sharing Inspiration, BrandsRole

BrandsRole © June 2013

Self-Improvement

Do you really make your own decisions?

April 4, 2013 Esha Abrol Leave a comment

A few days ago, I was chatting with a brilliant university student who is still exploring possible career paths (no different from most students). He asked me “which area of business do you think would be best for me?” This question triggered some reflection. I shared the story below and asked him to think about something we’re all guilty of, what I call: the decision-validation process.

Career decisions can be life-altering. Not to mention anxiety-causing. These important decisions often come with a tight deadline. Action is required.

A common action is to contact friends, contacts met at networking events, old co-workers, and family members. Upon telling them about the choices that lay before us in a particular situation, they may respond by sharing, “what they would do.” But do we already have some idea what they will say? The student I was talking to knew that I was extremely passionate about entrepreneurship. I’m quite sure he didn’t expect me to recommend a stable 9-5 job, where he is given set boundaries and limitations. When I suggested he consider starting his own business, his eyes lit-up.

Let me provide an example of the decision-validation process: While I was in university, I was offered a summer intern with the federal government. Everyone in my program wanted a summer intern with the government. It meant I would, most likely, be able to secure a government job upon graduation.

This placement was about a one-hour commute, I would have to be up at 4:30 A.M. to make it on time. (I was around 20-years-old – at that age, I wasn’t a morning person. 🙂 ) The pay was not great and the work itself didn’t seem all that exciting, so I wouldn’t be able to save much or gain much tacit knowledge.

My parents suggested I pass it up, but the interviewer, my potential future manager, was very persuasive – he said that if he was me, he would take this job.

I didn’t know what to do.

Dessert display in a cafe in Buenos Aires: decisions, decisions! — Dessert or no dessert? #ToughDecisions (Dessert display in a cafe in Buenos Aires)

I asked a friend for his opinion. I explained that I would have to be up at 4:30 A.M., then have to bus to the other end of the city and to do boring work for the next four months. I asked him what he would do. He was still in shock that a 4:30 in the morning existed. He said he would never do it. And he also said, “You knew what I would say.” He suggested I only asked him because I knew he wasn’t a morning person and that he would never even even consider such an offer. He was right. I obviously didn’t want the job or to secure a government job. I needed people to endorse me in my decision. I did end-up turning down the offer and never looked back or regretted it.

Being open to other’s perspectives and new opportunities is valuable, but ensuring the decisions made are yours, in the long run, will prove to be more rewarding and fulfilling. We often look to others to validate our opinions to make decisions. Why? Perhaps to avoid making mistakes by considering every single perspective, trusting others’ judgments more than our own, remove pressure from our own plates – it’s not as nerve-wrecking to make a decision for someone else. Making a decision can be stressful and difficult, but who knows your objectives, goals, strengths, weaknesses, and what you enjoy and find insufferable better than you?

Entrepreneurial Culture, Self-Improvement

The path to bliss though entrepreneurship

April 4, 2013 Esha Abrol Leave a comment

This post was published on Kevetan’s blog, Because, for a guest post in January titled “The path to bliss though entrepreneurship”

You often hear “Be your own boss, create your own hours, do what you love” as reasons why the life of an entrepreneur is greater and therefore by definition happier than everyone else’s I learnt that none of this is true after I relinquished my 9-5 life to fully commit to my start-up. I quickly realized that quitting a job that doesn’t make you feel happy will not magically change things, nor will starting a business. The life of an entrepreneur is an emotional roller-coaster quite the contrary to “the perfect life”. Let me draw you a quick picture; although you have no boss, there are always people to answer to, such as clients, media, parents, and most importantly yourself, who is more important than any boss. While you do create your own hours, to be successful, one requires consistency in their schedule, discipline, and focus. Although you may choice not to work during the standard 9-5 hours, you will need to work as many, or more hours. Although you are doing what you love, starting a business is hard, and operating and developing one to grow is even tougher – your job responsibilities will include boring things like paperwork and data entry – it’s not always fun. The pressure to achieve results and the hectic lifestyle can make you forget that you are enjoying what you do. Doesn’t sound very blissful does it?

If starting a business is not a highway to happiness and one has to endure various hurdles, why are most entrepreneurs so content? I believe that the path of entrepreneurship can result in contentment because of the opportunities it presents. First, you are given the freedom to channel your full potential. Second, your are forced adjust your mindset which leads to personal development because in order to be successful you must tackle things you are uncomfortable with. And lastly, entrepreneurship channels to self-discovery as well as the ability to prioritize and focus, which can further enrich your well-being. Also, many entrepreneurs are content simply because entrepreneurship allows for a direct link between their passion and contribution to this world, and perhaps even inspires others! All of this is very much related, let me explain…

Reaching your Full Potential: The Jigsaw Puzzle Analogy – Can I Paint and Re-size the Pieces?

When it comes to potential, being an entrepreneur requires being opportunistic, energetic and possibly a narcisstic leader simply because your chances of making it are much lower otherwise. If you posses characteristics entrepreneurship endows but you are not an entrepreneur those qualities might never be used. A corporate job is comparable to a one piece of a 100,000,000-piece ocean-scenery jigsaw puzzle, if you go missing, the Arctic Ocean will still look like a large body of water, with the world surrounding it. The scenery is beautiful and you may feel honoured to be a part of it, but you feel like you could represent at least 50 pieces of that puzzle and you would imagine re-sizing the pieces and perhaps even painting them a different colour. If you were to re-size and change the colour of the pieces, would you still fit in this puzzle? If so, how would the puzzle look? I’m sure you’d be advised not to alter the pieces in any way by those around you to avoid any risks of destroying the Arctic Ocean. Then again, you may have been able to add a multi-coloured arc over the sky, adding to the beauty.

This feeling, that you are wasting your time at your job, partly comes from hierarchies and pointless job titles, which imply that we can contribute, but only within limits. Limits and boundaries are set by “the boss”, job titles, and hierarchies. Basically, you feel guilt all the time, as if you are selling yourself short by being a part of a system that doesn’t challenge you enough to contribute all that you are actually capable of contributing. If you are not reaching your full potential and capability, you are also not reaching your full threshold of happiness.

Adjusting your Mindset

Entrepreneurial personalities are more likely to be type-A personalities from what I’ve seen, perhaps narcissistic too. Naturally, experiencing the rewards of successful endeavours is their favourite drug. The rewards are proof of our potential, what we are capable of, the endless opportunities in the world that we are all capable of realizing.

Despite their can-do attitudes, these optimists do have to overcome very many pressures. The pressures include greater risks and responsibilities, mainly the financial risks. Responsibilities not only include leading the business, staff, stakeholders, but most importantly, ourselves to ensure they remain motivated, focussed, healthy and happy. Over the past year, I have grown a much greater appreciation for personal development through analyzing our own perspectives and new ones and being open to adjusting my own mindset.

If one wants to remain an optimist after getting on the entrepreneurship roller-coaster, one must adjust ones mindset. Especially when it comes to handling the most difficult thing about being an entrepreneur; Yes, failure.

Entrepreneurs, constantly face rejection in some way because the lifestyle is action-oriented. You’re constantly doing, you’re a hustler. It is difficult not to take the rejection personally. Just as the rewards and successes are extra special, the loses are as harsh, or worse. Through conversations with others and my own experiences, the rejection and set-backs can be devastating, discouraging, and depressing. However, with a change of mindset, it could be easier to view failures and “scary situations” as opportunities instead of “tough times”. Opening up to dealing with uncomfortable situations, like failures and facing your fears can open up doors, creating more opportunities. I believe realizing this has been one of the most valuable personal development opportunities in my life. Being able to deal better with failure and becoming more fearless has led me to cool things – like going skydiving, viewing the world from 12,000 ft off the ground to gain a new perspective on the world and my place in it. I would not have been able to lower my blood pressure levels, anxiety levels , and make great new friends through Argentine tango if I let the fear of possibly making a fool out of myself (I’d never danced in public before) hold me back. All the “scary” activities I may have engaged in over the past year allowed me to experiment with boundaries and helped me realize there are no limits. Once I discovered this, I was able to view the emotions that come with fear and failure as opportunities to improve myself. Adjusting mindset and getting out of your comfort zone can be scary, but it is absolutely necessary if you are looking to increase your levels of exhilaration.

Self-Discovery – An Inspiring Radiance

Entrepreneurship channels self-discovery because being an entrepreneur doesn’t make you a know-it-all. Often entrepreneurs are faced with trial and error, and discoveries along the way continuously change the path. Entrepreneurship is a never-ending journey that is practically impossible without epiphanies and self discovery. Not everyone will book a ticket to India or go bungee jumping; it may be through literature, listening to Mixergy pod-casts, new experiences, through meaningful conversations with cool people, etc..

It is impossible to be the best at everything. Although this is obvious, we often try anyway, which can lead to anxiety and stress. Through discovering yourstrengths and passions, and what’s important to you, you can sort out and prioritize what matters to you, positioning yourself to develop meaningful goals then embark on a journey to achieve them. Not only will your idea better the world, but the sheet of radiance around you will bring inspiration to others. Before racking your brain, trying to come-up with that Eureka moment, an idea that will change the world and make your neighbours happier, knowing what makes YOU happy first will allow you to develop goals that you can truly be proud of upon achieving them, which will allow you to create a sense of peace and ease for the mind, body and soul, allowing you to be healthy and do the best work possible.

In conclusion, realizing potential, adjusting mindset, and embarking on a journey of self-discovery are key ingredients that we need as humans, whether you are an entrepreneur or not. These three aspects contribute to self-actualization, contributing to happiness and fulfilment. As Maslow’s hierarchy of needs proposes, self-actualization can only be achieved once more basic human needs are mastered. How to reach this level will be unique for each individual; however, the results will be similar. Happiness and fulfilment are a common output that will results in higher quality of life, a life without depression, anxiety and stress. For me, this has been achieved though becoming an entrepreneur…

________

About Esha:

As a young child I always knew I wanted to own my own business. However, upon graduation, when everyone around me started applying for 9-5 jobs, I thought it was something I was supposed to do too. So, I did the same and soon after started working a 9-5 job like everyone around me. The thought of doing something different, like starting my own business at a young age was scary and would make me very different from everyone around me. But I wasn’t happy, I felt like I was an actor in a terrible movie, that I was cheating myself of my potential. After three years of working very hard in corporate marketing, I finally became OK with the idea of being different and accepted the challenge of facing my fears of the unknown by quitting my job and fully committing to my start-up. Thus far, it’s been an adventure! If you’d like to chat more, I’m always down for chatting over tea, feel free to ping me. Cheers, Esha

Photos: Property of Esha Abrol

Entrepreneurial Culture, Self-Improvement, Uncategorized

8 Steps to Achieving Your Goals

November 27, 2012 Esha Abrol 4 Comments

Please kick me if you ever hear me say: “I’m too busy!”

The other day, I caught myself complaining about my schedule, which has been more full than usual lately. Instead if complaining and raising anxiety levels, I should have used my time crafting a better management plan for my time, removing waste and items with little ROI.

One of my biggest pet peeves is people telling me, “I’m too busy…”. I’ve always said, telling people (complaining about) how busy you are is a fantastic way to market yourself as a poor time manager. Why would you want to do that? And what exactly do you do with your time that blocks you from sparing 15 minutes of your time? I would hope that they actually mean that they are just not interested in the proposed project/request because they have other priorities and commitments.

When I meet new people and get asked that same exciting question; “where do you work?” (A question I very much despise – try replacing this with: “How do you spend most of your time?”), I usually respond: I don’t work, but this is how I spend my time…. Often people ask me how I’m able to get so much done. I wanted to share “my secrets”, which unfortunately aren’t actually secrets at all…

An e-mail exchange with a dear friend and fellow entrepreneur a couple of weeks ago got me thinking about the difference between staying focused and poor time management skills. I told this person that I would not be able to attend an upcoming networking event he invited me to because I was unable to draw the line between my business objectives and my time spent at the event. I told him that my main focus currently was: focus! He said he was concerned about my schedule being too busy. I explained to him my priorities based on my business objectives and he then was able to appreciate my declining the invitation. He appreciated how I respected my own time and others’ time and how this positions me better to reach my targets.

When I was a student, a mentor and I had a discussion on time management. He told me, “Esha, if you want something to get done, ask a busy person”. Honoring multiple commitments requires prioritizing, focus, and a strong grasp of your strengths and weaknesses. A busy person should have all of these mastered and knows how to get things done!

I recently was telling someone that I practice meditative activities daily. She said: “Wow, I wish I had the time to do that, you’re so lucky.” In reality, she chooses not to make time for meditation… she also implies I have all the time in the world, when in reality, she probably has more free-time than me. She wishes she had time to meditate, but doesn’t take action to make it happen. Perhaps she doesn’t need to, she doesn’t realize the benefits it could have in her life, or she’s just slothful. We have the ability to choose how we spend our time. We can make time for anything, if we really wanted to. But the moral of this story is: we need to align our high-level objectives with our actions. Currently my top two objectives are (without going into detail): business growth (sales) for my start-up and being happy. To help me achieve my objectives, some of tactics involve: measuring monetary ROI on all business events I attend, investing in personal health (meditation, diet, weird hobbies to diversify my interests, surround myself with good, like-minded people) to be in top-form for my business and happy/satisfied overall.

Let’s get started. Let’s look at how we can all start managing our time better to achieve anything we want.

#1 Make two columns on a piece of paper. List what you do on a daily basis in the first column, the activities that take up most of your time. In the second column, list the outcome (your return).

#2 Define your goals, short-term (something you want to achieve over the next two years), and long-term (2-10 years). When setting goals, be ambitious, keep your standards high, but be realistic. Most importantly, ensure that you goals are aligned with your objectives. Ask yourself, why do I want to achieve this? Will achieve x make me happy five years from now?

In my office, I have a reminder, nothing fancy:

If you don’t know what your goals are, how will you achieve them?

Goal: ____

N = _x_ ( x is the length of time you need to achieve your goal)

#3 Most people stop there. This has been one of my mistakes. When I was younger, I set many ambitious goals for myself, many would be impressed when I talked about them, this made me feel like I was on the right track. I thought that my life would magically follow some invisible path that would guide me to achieving my goals. I forgot to construct the path. I sometimes still fail at this, for example, as silly as this sounds, I have overlooked scheduling eating lunch in my schedule, which has adversely impacted productivity and overall happiness.

The path is your plan. Of course things won’t go perfectly as planned and it’s important to remain open to new opportunities. The HOW is the most important piece to this process, it’s the most challenging and a step that most people don’t think about. It’s especially important if you’re like me, I’m a typical entrepreneur – see opportunities everywhere and a creative mind. For those that work 9-5 jobs, it’s easy to get caught up in our day-to-day activities; we get stuck in a rut and don’t even realize it. I found the only way to get out of it was to quit my 9-5 job – it was too much of a distraction. Another challenge is, we may keep moving on from one thing to the next without getting much done.

Go back to the sheet of paper from step 1, list the tasks you should be doing to get to your goal – break-down the big stuff into small pieces. (Feel free to e-mail me for more info on this).

#4 Prioritize and set time commitments for each activity that will lead you to your goals. The amount of time we put into something does not necessarily reflect the outcome. The trick is to work smarter. Multi-tasking is not the answer; it’s actually been proven to be counter-productive. The first step in improving time management is looking into how we spend our time, and the outcome of our input. Then, re-organizing how we spend our time using a daily scheduling system that will allow you to evaluate the ROI on each commitment and a to-do list.

How to measure ROI? ROI or return on investment is the return from the time you invest. The return will be aligned with your goals and ultimately your objectives. It does not necessary have to be monetary return, it can be anything from “achieving a clear, calm mind”, “strengthening your relationship with your sister” – it depends on your objectives and goals. Go back to the piece of paper you’ve marked you goals down on and list the necessary outcomes of your activities. Then be able to evaluate on a scale of 1-10 the impact of each item – this will help you prioritize.

#5 Stay focused. This is not easy! Reaching new places requires you to develop new habits, which it can be as difficult as quitting smoking. It’s easy to modify your path, but you need to accept you will not fulfill your objectives without action and hard work. There are no other secrets other than discipline.

#6 Diversify your interests or more commonly recognized as keep a “work-life balance”. I would recommend participating in unique activities to keep a balance and diversify your interests and how you use your brain power. Time spent away from your goals can allow you develop new skills and perspectives to achieve more. For example, I recently picked up Argentine Tango, ballroom dance, photography, and horse-back riding – these activities involve me to wake-up a side of my brain that doesn’t get to be used as often in the office, meet new types of people, give me new perspectives, learn more about my own strengths and weaknesses, and keep stress/anxiety levels in control.

#7 Reflect. I know some people who journal every day. I set aside time at the beginning of the day, every day to reflect on the day before, be thankful for another opportunity to carpe diem and reflect on how I can make this day better. I also look at my productivity at the end of each week which dictates how I spend my week-ends (a busy week = relaxing, work-free week-end, a less busy week = a busy week-end!).

#8 Update your plan. This step is based on your feelings during your reflection. this entire self-improvement exercise can offer many new opportunities. As a result, you’ll be able to better your plan and position yourself in a positive place surrounded by good things (as cheesy as that may sound) – at this point, it’s important to be open and adaptable. Being too rigid in following your plan can easily result in missing out on seeing opportunities presented to you. I find the biggest challenge finding the balance between focus and evaluating different opportunities that are presented to me on a daily basis. That’s what makes this so fascinating, this process requires constant experimenting and dedication to find the most healthy recipe for your mind and soul.

This may look overly comprehensive and a little overwhelming the first time you look at it, but these are just guidelines – develop your own list, one that works for you. Let me know how it goes!

Until next time, cheers, Esha

International Management

Managing Foreign Exchange Rate Risks in International Trade Transactions

November 6, 2012 Esha Abrol Leave a comment

There are a few techniques to manage foreign exchange rate risks. Such techniques include: exposure netting, money market hedge, domestic pricing, price adjustments, and forward contracts. Let’s explore them more.

Exposure netting involves a company utilizing the same currency for payables and receivables. The net amount of payables should match the amount of receivables.

For example, a Canadian company exporting to France will receive payment in Euros and also make payments for imports from a market that uses Euros. So, this may require the company to set-up suppliers in a country where Euros are used, if they don’t already.

The risks of currency fluctuation is removed because currency would not need to be converted, it would require the company to set-up a bank account in the foreign market, allowing the company to make transactions with the foreign currency. This is a strategy that is ideal of larger organizations as it can mean setting up suppliers in a new market (to be able to make payments in the same currency), if they don’t already. It would also require careful attention as the payables and receivables amounts require to be equal in order for this method to be effective.

Another method is called: Money market hedge. If a company was unable to set-up suppliers to match the payables to receivables, the company could take out a loan in foreign currency. The loan should be in the amount of the expected sales in the same currency. This is a technique that companies with the ability to borrow can benefit from.

Domestic Pricing is a relatively easy method as it simply involves the exporter to charge in their own currency, completely eliminating the step of converting currencies. However, this approach forces the customer to carry the risks of currency fluctuations, so not ideal.

Price adjustment requires the exporter to think about possible currency risks when developing their pricing strategy. The pricing will be slightly inflated in order to mitigate risks of additional costs of currency conversations. The risk is over-pricing compared to competitors and or not being able to cover all the costs of the currency fluctuations should economic conditions become unstable.

A forward contract is one of the most common strategies. A forward contract allows an exporter to set a pre-determined future currency rate. This contract is made with a commercial bank, wherein the exporter commits to selling a currency at the rate set. This strategy eliminates the uncertainty of future rates, helping minimize costly risks of fluctuations. However, this also doesn’t allow the exporter to benefit should there be favorable movements in currency rates. Future contracts are similar to forward rates, but they trade within markets instead. Also, much like stock options foreign currency options are also a possible method.

Entrepreneurial Culture, Social Responsibility, Uncategorized

The Cost of Poor Customer Service: Is Healthcare in Canada really Free?

September 27, 2012 Esha Abrol 4 Comments

After complaining and complaining even more about the poor service and advice I continuously receive from my family healthcare practitioner, I decided to do a little more research to find out why and try to explore opportunities on how to fix it!

I was quite astounded with what I found. Wanted to share my research findings and my thoughts:

Firstly, let’s look at how the compensation model for doctors works:

According to The Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care, the average family doctor makes $351,000/year. The compensation model is quite interesting. Forty-five (45%) percent of doctors (I believe this is all family doctors) are compensated by a fee-for-service model. Plain and simple, they make $25 per visit, regardless of how long the visit is; they also can make money through receiving a cut from referrals.

A closer look at the compensation model vs. the average annual compensation

Let’s use the average compensation number, rounded to $350,000 and dig deeper on what it takes to achieve this amount:

1) Let’s say approximately 15% of total compensation came from referrals. So, $50,000 of the total $350,000, leaving $300,000 to earn from patient visits

2) If they make $25/visit, they need 12,000 visits per year to reach $300,000
3) After vacation time, after 49 working weeks per year, working five days a week, a doctor would have to see app 245 patients a week, or 49 a day!

Based on these numbers, a doctor in Ontario needs to see an average of 49 clients per day to achieve the average compensation amount of $300,000.

No wonder I am always rushed out of the doctor’s office, no wonder it’s always full, no wonder he never does any research or provides alternatives, he doesn’t have the time!

The Improvement Opportunity
My no means do I want to sound ungrateful, I am a proud Canadian, and proud of the idea of a free healthcare system. However, there are some serious issues that need to be addressed. Because we don’t directly pay, I don’t believe that means we should be OK with receiving terrible service. Poor service from your healthcare practitioner and poor service from a cashier at Wal-mart are both irritating. However, one of them can possibly cost you your life, cause a unhealthy society, and ultimately cost the healthcare system more.

Healthcare practitioners play a vital role in the condition of our health, well-being, our futures, and our overall society. The fact that they are given hopes of a promising career, which will guarantee financial stability, seems to have led to doctors offices to over-commit to the number of patients they see to meet their sales targets, which is adversely affecting us all. They are left with little or no time to do research, talk to us to get to ensure the correct diagnosis is being recommended, speak to us about alternative medicine, perhaps even refer us to natural remedies because there’s no financial incentive in it for them. This is just scary! This is leading to misguided or the wrong diagnosis and confusion for the patient on what in fact is good for their health and what isn’t. I’ve heard many people tell me about medication they take, including medication with serious, long-term side-effects, for minor health issues. When I ask them, “why?” Their response, “My doctor recommended it.”

Aren’t we supposed to be able to trust our doctors? Aren’t healthcare practitioners supposed to help prevent illness, not just treat them? This requires more time and research, with the current compensation model, doctors may feel pressure to meet their targets, they may find it challenging to maintain the work-life balance, which is causing them to rush through seeing as many patients, causing society more harm than good!

The Ministry of Health needs to step in to introduce a metric in the compensation model that will measure the quality of service and delivery being offered.

What I did about it
I recently gave up on my family doctor for regular visits and started to see a naturopathic doctor. She reminded me of the importance of doctors and healthcare. She exceeds my expectations every time, goes out of her way to look for alternatives for me, and sends me e-mails messages, following up with me. Now, she may be an exception because of her genuine passion for her work, but my intention is to illustrate the difference and for you to imagine how our province would be with more doctors like her. The key difference: caring!
I think that there are many health practitioners that are still passionate about their vital role in saving lives and, more importantly preventing harm. They are not recognized enough for what they do. I want take this opportunity to thank them for what they do, not just for their individual patients, but for society and our world. They are truly inspiring people, and wonderful examples for entrepreneurs to emulate in terms of quality of customer service and doing your job to contribute to the common good of humankind, and think about how it impacts the world.

Entrepreneurial Culture

Ten Steps to Progress from the Business Idea Stage

July 17, 2012 Esha Abrol Leave a comment

Just over the past week, I’ve received quite a few e-mails with the same question: “Esha, I have a business idea, what do I do next?” Firstly, I’m flattered that these folks reached out to me on this – honoured to be a part of your great ideas. I wanted to share my response for others in the same position.

Based on my expereince, I’ve developed a list of the things I usually do after a light-bulb moment, things I do before I even think about developing the business plan:

1) Define exactly what the business idea is
However, don’t go too far at this stage to avoid misusing efforts in case you realize you don’t want to pursue the idea. Misusing efforts can cause frustration and sensations of failure and this negative energy will make one think twice when one has another “light-bulb moment”. You want your brain to associate “business idea” with positive energy instead. The biggest mistake here is not pursuing an idea out of fear of failing.

2) Be able to define your mission
The mission is something that should go beyond the product itself. I had great conversations with Scott Annan, of Mercury Grove and Nazim Ahmed, of DNA11 and CanvasPop – these two are great examples of Ottawa entrepreneurs who exemplify this in their companies and personalities.

Bringing an idea into fruition is hard. You will face many barriers. How to remain motivated and inspired? Don’t develop a business idea based on the money you will be able to collect; base the business on something you feel you can do well, something you want talk about all the time, something you want to tell everyone about, something you genuinely care about. I think the hardest part is realizing what that “something” is.

3) Draw out the business model
Keep it simple – the aim is to ensure your idea makes business sense by illustrating/visualizing the key business components (You can Google a business model template or email me for a copy of the template I use)

4) Look for feedback
Share the insights from the above three steps with entrepreneurial minds to receive different perspectives. I like to ask people who are completely different than me – different age groups, different stages in their career, different personalities. Networking events for entrepreneurs are the best place for this because you can talk to tons of different people and its good way to practice the pitch. LinkedIn and Twitter have also worked for me. I also make sure to ask people I know well too. At this stage, be open-minded and receive feedback as a gift.

5) Analyze the different perspectives from the feedback received.
This stage shouldn’t change your mind about the idea, but will help you realize things you didn’t think of before. You’ll receive really interesting questions that will force you to think about things you didn’t and will help strengthen the idea should you decide to pursue it.

6) Meet with potential customers
If you decide to pursue, meet with the potential customers to ensure their feedback is used in shaping the product – get their “stamp of approval” and do everything you can to get them to pre-order – get them to commit to paying you for the product. If this happens, then you know you want to pursue the idea. At this stage, I like to remember Steve Jobs’ perspectives on customer feedback. As a past researcher, his thoughts on market research completely resonate with me – research should always be taken with a grain of salt. Intuition shouldn’t be ignored.

7) Look for the help/expertise you may need
If you’re not a programmer, don’t try to learn how to program so you can do it yourself. Stick to what you’re good at. Meeting people has become easier with the number of networking events in the City. Check-out EventBrite and Twitter for events.

8) Look for funding opps
I don’t look to secure funding at this point, but like to know what’s out there and start talking to investors to receive feedback on what they are looking for.

9) Try to pick-up media attention
A tough one. But, would be a great way to gather more insights on the impact your business will have – the reaction (or lack of) members may be a good indicator. The more disruptive the idea, the better!

10) I would say the last thing should be the business plan
Although they are unpleasant and painful to put together, they’re important, but I don’t think you need to develop one until you compelte the steps above. Once you’re ready, here’s a post I did on the importance of a business plan: “How To Fix RIM!”

Entrepreneurial Culture, Marketing, Uncategorized

Prices, Promotions and… Emotions

July 13, 2012 Esha Abrol 1 Comment

I tweeted this link (“Why JCPenney’s ‘No More Coupons’ Experiment Is Failing”) a few weeks ago. It’s still on my mind, so I thought I’d share my thoughts on it.

In a nutshell, JCPenney wanted to be fair with their customers by abandoning the illusion of saving through sales and coupons. As we know, retail stores often inflate prices, then promote campaigns, advertising discount offers to attract customer through this hype.

I think it was highly commendable of the company to implement this new strategy and create a campaign out of it – they took a risk. Unfortunately, the risk didn’t pay off, sales dropped. Total sales dropped by 20%.

I want to focus on two areas: i) Why it was a great idea; ii) Was the failing of this strategy caused by the campaign message not resonating with customers or did the “fair and square” practice fail to excite customers to return to the store as often?

Why it was a great idea

On paper, this sounds like a plan that cannot go wrong:

1) The brains behind the strategy was CEO Ron Johnson, the man responsible for the success of the Apple Stores model. This guy knows what he’s doing.
2) Wal-mart and dollar stores already practice this approach and have achieved success
3) They took care of their customers, by engaging in open, honest communication
4) The strategy was logical and rational from a business perspective
5) As a result of the abundance of information through the internet today, customers are more educated and aware of business tactics, so should this “fair and square” practice and the campaign been more appreciated?

What caused the poor response?

This article concludes that customers like the excitement of couponing. As Mr. Johnson admits here:

“We did not realize how deep some of the customers were into [coupons],” said [JCPenney COO Michael] Kramer.
JCPenney CEO and Apple retail God Ron Johnson weighed in on it too. “Coupons were a drug,” he said. “They really drove traffic.”

The effect “getting a deal” has on our mind, involves a greater understanding of psychology than we thought. It seems our brains are triggered to release dopamine when we are able to procure items at discounted prices. This is proof that pricing is more than just a mathematical formula.

JCPenney “Fair and Square” Campaign Touches on Customers’ Expectations

Wal-mart and dollar stores also practice the same strategy; however, their positioning and marketing has never gone where JC Penny did. JC Penny recognized how the abundance of info available on the internet and social media has changed customers’ expectations. Customers today are more educated and appreciate open, honest communication. So, JC Penny delivered an honest, open marketing campaign, revealing their stance on the illusion of saving.

Three reflection points:

1) For the entrepreneurs and marketing folks out there, this proves there is much, much more involved in developing a pricing strategy than simply the knowing the break-even point and target sales/profits/costs. The formula for determining the right price should be a collage of finance, accounting, consumer behaviour, what the competitors are doing, environment, and some blue construction paper, and glitter glue. What does the blue construction paper and glitter glue mean to you?

2) Other companies, like Wal-mart and dollar stores (entities which have proliferated lately!) offer lower prices on a regularly and have achieved extraordinary levels of success. Based on JC Penny’s sales drop, are customers resistant because the “fair and square” campaign message simply didn’t resonate with them, or is it the lack of excitement as this article implies?

3) Is consumerism getting out of hand?

Entrepreneurial Culture, Uncategorized

The stairs, elevator, remain on the ground floor, or e-mail?

May 25, 2012 Esha Abrol 4 Comments

A few months ago I decided to quit my 9-5 job. Tomorrow is my last day.

So, what next?

It doesn’t matter!

“What do you mean you’re not looking for a job?!”
I was chatting with a friend today who will also be moving on from her 9-5 job. Why? Has she found another job? No. Is she at an age where she can officially retire? Not even close. She’s taking time off to spend time with her family, reflect, and open her mind to the world. We were talking about the looks of confusion see receives when she tells people this.

Society has shaped our minds to feel like our shoulders should be raised with stress all the time, that our Outlook calendars should dictate how we spend our time, and that we should remain stationary in front of a computer for the better part of the day from Monday to Friday. Only if you do these things can you feel satisfied with your level of productivity and self-worth.

I think entrepreneurs are outcasts when it comes to these beliefs. I had the opportunity start my own business while I was still a student and hail from a family of business owners. Upon two other entrepreneurial ventures I experimented with as a student (that didn’t quite lift off) and then graduation, I felt I needed to get a “job” like everyone else. So, I did. A great one, actually…

After working more than 150 hours/week for months as an entrepreneur, employee at a retail store, summer intern with the government, and student (all at the same time!), I embarked upon a new adventure: the corporate world – the 38-hour work-week where I would be able to apply my knowledge of intern’l trade, marketing, and leadership. It was different. Upon two and a half years of working away in corporate marketing, I’ve met great people, worked on challenging project, and had great laughs. Even while working my 9-5 job, on the side, I built a couple of other start-ups just for fun. I have come to understand that if entrepreneurship is in your DNA, it’s impossible to live a “normal” life. Only other beings of this species seem to comprehend.

Only you determine your worth

You can choose to take the stairs, elevator, enjoy the beauty of the site from the ground, or just walk-by ignoring the site with all your attention focussed on typing an e-mail reply on your mobile device.

Many folks asked me why I can’t continue to build ideas on the side, while continuing my 9-5. I then ask them: “If you decided to build a business and knew that it would bring you fulfillment, after a lot of hard work that you would enjoy, would you work in a job that you were not passionate for?” Confidence is king. As I was flipping channels a few years ago, I stopped on an interview with Oprah, I remember her asking the audience to: imagine the world in their minds and picture their position in it – their projection of this world in their minds is the first step in making it a reality. Whether it’s accumulating monetary wealth, the contentment that comes from doing something you enjoy, or the optimal health that can be achieved through the state of being satisfied in the inner mind and spirit.

Reach for the sky, Esha

Marketing, Social Responsibility

Greek Yoghurt and Corporate Social Responsibility

April 25, 2012 Esha Abrol Leave a comment

I was watching a documentary called “The Corporation” recently. It made me realize, I don’t think we stop to think about the strides we’ve made in how we conduct business and the growing development of socially responsible behavior. Sure, there’s progress to be made, but we’ve come a long way!

How important is social responsibility and what’s the impact? Let’s look at some examples of how the word “corporation” has become so tainted:

1) Let’s look at the petrochemical era, year 1940, when the discovery of synthetic chemicals was made – that new chemicals could be fabricated at an unlimited scale out of the petroleum molecule. For pretty cheap, too. For example, pesticides, like DDT, which was dusted on people to stand typhus. It wasn’t until years later, after large amounts of data could be accumulated and studied, this era was recognized for its effects: cancer, birth defects, etc . Do you think the companies knew all along?

2) Then, rBGH, an artificial growth hormone injected in cows. It’s known to cause disease in cows, which in turn causes increased bacteria in milk – humans consume antibiotics through milk, creating resistance… all for short-term profits.

3) Sweatshops.

4) Not as dramatic as the previous examples, but I need to add Greek yoghurt (aka strained yoghurt) to this list! It’s marketed as a thicker yoghurt and more expensive than the regular stuff. For those who don’t know their yoghurts as well, as per our friends from Wikipedia, Greek yoghurt is:

“yoghurt which has been strained in a cloth or paper bag or filter to remove the whey, giving a consistency between that of yoghurt and cheese, while preserving yoghurt’s distinctive sour taste. Like many yoghurts, strained yoghurt is often made from milk which has been enriched by boiling off some of the water content, or by adding extra butterfat and powdered milk.”

When you read the ingredients label on most Greek yoghurts in the grocery store, you’ll notice that almost all of the top brands add corn starch, which is a thickening agent. So, you’re actually buying normal yoghurt, which has had a bunch of things added to it,like the corn starch. The marketing of the products implies differently, resulting in implied health benefits which may actually be false – the added ingredients may even cause more harm than good! I would classify deceptive business activities like this as socially irresponsible.
In today’s world, the good news is, consumers now have the power to educate themselves, which has had great impact on the developments we see. It’s really not that hard to gather info either. You don’t need to be an early adopter, or pinning on Pinterest to know the brands you bring home and what you’re consuming.

To be fair, I also think that “corporations” have made enormous stride in improving how they conduct business. Young business leaders have the knowledge and education that may not have been available decades ago. Back when I was a student, the commerce program in which I as enrolled included a required class on social responsibility.

A thought I’d like to leave you with:

At the end of the documentary, CEO of interface, a carpet company who changed how they did business once they were made aware of the harmful environmental effects they were having, raised a thought, “Some products can be made more sustainably. Those that can’t, maybe they shouldn’t be made at all.”

Entrepreneurial Culture, Marketing

You Have the Power!: The Kony 2012 Campaign Case Study

March 9, 2012 Esha Abrol Leave a comment

We’ve all come across the “Kony 2012/Invisible Children” campaign on the Internet over the past week.

Without getting into the legitimacy of the cause or the intentions of the minds behind it, let’s think about the affects – the fact that millions have shown such enthusiasm in seeking positive change, global development, simply through info shared in a 30 minute video, which has become the most talked about viral video.

The message was spread so quickly and effectively, it was able to bring millions of people around the world together to connect and as put in the video, “turn the system upside down”, giving “the people of the world” the power.

social networking utilities + people + idea = a new world

Reflection questions:
Do you feel this change has been gradual?
How will it affect how we communicate from now on?
How will it affect marketing/how businesses engage with customers?

[Added: May 1, 2012]
I received quite a bit on feedback on this post. Many assumed that I believe it and support the cause. I don’t. But, that wasn’t the point. If you thought it was a scam, you were probably right.

The intended message of my post was to ask ourselves: Do you believe that Kony would be equally “famous” if it was 1990, when many of us were typing with one finger and the only active website on the internet was, pretty much, http://www.yahoo.com? Technology has come a long way and it’s developing so rapidly. Why not appreciate being a part of this development instead?

Also, to clarify my perspective is that of an entrepreneur. I wanted to show appreciation for the proliferation of effective, “new” marketing vehicles that are available to us and the potential benefits for a business. Many existing businesses are aware of the existence of social media utilities and the power of video, but are clueless on how to capitalize on them. Government departments and large corperationss have been spending large amounts of funds, bringing in consultants to try to understand Facebook, Twitter, and viral videos. When really, even the (self-proclaimed) “social media gurus” have no clue. No one actually has a clue.

It’s unbelievable, considering how new social media is, people expect it to tackle complex issues. Perhaps not a game-changer yet, but let’s not forget this social media thing isn’t even five years old. Not that long ago Facebook was seen as a procrastination tool for high-schoolers, and now expected to improve all bad things in the world!

Cheers,
Esha

Entrepreneurial Culture, Uncategorized

Open Letter to all Presidents/CEOs of large, bureaucratic organizations: Give the young ones a chance!

February 24, 2012 Esha Abrol 2 Comments

Firstly, I only have 28% battery life left on my laptop and without the power adapter. My challenge: To get my thoughts down somewhere are share them through here… forgive me for grammer/spelling/scattered thoughts. 🙂

Secondly, this entry will not actually be in a letter format… because, well, who writes letters anymore?
Today, at an annual work conference, I had the opportunity to hear many cool individuals speak about, mainly, various areas of organizational culture. Yeah… org culture… but this is actually interesting, so I hope you’ll keep reading. The two folks that really got my attention were Tom Jenkins of OpenText and Alex Benay, also from OpenText.

They talked about the diversity on their team, with the only commonality among the team at OpenText being the drive to innovate. And, the average age of their team being app. 27 years old. Tom Jenkins shared his appreciation for the fresh perspectives and new ideas “young” people bring. He recognized, with those under the age of 30, as memory may be diminishing, we can see creativity and the ability to multi-task rising. He recommended all companies bring-in more creativity and multi-tasking abilities to senior levels of the organization, whether that be on boards or executive teams (i.e. senior levels). By giving the younger generations a chance!
Let’s talk about this. So, if I were to approach the CEO/President of a large corporation today, gave them the most impressive elevator pitch they have ever heard, listed what I would bring to the table if on the Executive team, then, went for the close an asked them to hire me… What would he/she say? My guess would be, they would pause, smile, then, realize I was serious and question my sanity.

Large organizations need to re-visit there HR strategies and their organizational culture. There are amazing companies like OpenText out there with a start-up mentality, willing to give young, 20-somethings a chance to be empowered, make mistakes (opportunities to learn lessons they’ll never forget), and achieve greater rewards.

What would be the pros of adding a 20-something to the Executive discussions? More creative abrasion, more learning, new ideas, possibliy PR opportunities if they did it now (think about the headlines: “Large corp hires a 26-year-old as the Senior Director of Innovation”), opportunities to grow a presence within a younger demographic, stronger organizational culture, etc.

Alex Benay talked about how companies today don’t have 10-15 years to establish themselves anymore. I would agree. Just look at Facebook and Shopify as they continue to ship new features on a regular basis. Communities like Sprouter make it easier for the entrepreneur to get their name out their and to reach out for help. Contrary to what the economists are saying, there are many opportunities out there today in terms of work. But, the exciting ones are for the Gen Y’ers because of their risk profile. Who exactly? Those who finished-up school, did the 9-5 thing for a while to save $ to eat, without a mortgage and family support are in a position to take more risks and will see more rewards. These minds are also crucial in large orgs. Intrapreneurs are the bold ones that keep organization relevant and profitable. They also need to know today’s world through tacit knowledge.

My advice to large organizations: Please consider change.

Cordially,

Esha

Marketing, Uncategorized

Creating a Tipping Point: Let’s Tilt a Glass to All the Key Players

December 21, 2011 Esha Abrol Leave a comment

In my observations, for a few years now, “leadership” has remained high on the list of “top buzz words of the year”. But what about the “follower”? The follower rarely receives attention.

Have a look at this video:

Let’s look at this from a business strategy perspective. I think “leader” can be compared to the first-mover concept or companies who are prime-providers in a particular industry, and “follower”, the second-mover concept or companies who are players in a competitive arena.

While developing their business strategies, organizations (especially start-ups) often craft their product positioning statement and vision statements to include something on being a leader in “x”. (Example: To become the leading providers of molybdenum to China for their infrastructure developments.)

Often, the “leader” status is seen as the ultimate badge of honour.

Being the “leader” is not the most ideal for all organizations; this video offers a fantastic message, which demonstrates the level of impact “followers” have to offer.

Let’s tilt a glass to the ambitious, local start-ups – may they continue to impact the world.

I feel satisfied that I finally found a relevant way to share this video – love the marketing message and high entertainment value. Hope you will take the time to watch.

Esha

Entrepreneurial Culture

Top 5 Qualities in a Good Leader & The Importance of Good Coaching

November 11, 2011 Esha Abrol 2 Comments

Just finished reading The One-Minute Entrepreneur. Good book – offers logical counseling in an interesting format wherein guidance for entrepreneurs/ intrapreneurs is shared in the format of a story. For this post, I wanted to hone in on a point covered in the book that’s been on my mind for a couple of weeks: leading people and the importance of coaching.

The authors, Blanchard, Hutson, Willis, provide the following anecdote in a chapter on performance management:
They talk about DW40’s CEO, Gary Ridge’s stance on leading people. At DW40, Gary employs a “don’t mark my paper, help me get an A” approach. Actions speak louder than words. This wasn’t something he just said. He was so insistent on this performance management system, that he has terminated managers of poor performers rather than the poor performers.

Dilatory behavior, mediocre quality work, minimal contributions are not a result of stupidity or laziness. These symptoms can be attributed to a root cause, poor team leadership.

A leader’s responsibility is to provide teammates support through good coaching, maximizing their ability to succeed. A question raised in the book: What if you work closely with an employee and they still don’t deserve an A? It’s possible that the job is just not for them – it doesn’t allow them to excel in the areas they are strong in. In this case, coaching is best to be shifted towards career development counseling, directing them in the right area for them.

The day I hired a group of talent for my company, I very quickly learned that my responsibility grew threefold. Not only was I responsible for the business (which involved me wearing multiple hats), but also managing my team’s productivity, and providing a clear vision though leadership.

I’ve worked with more than ten different employers, have asked for counseling from mentors, lead my own teams, and have given back though coaching aspiring entrepreneurs. Looking back, the strongest leaders I’ve worked with, share some common practices. I’ve grouped some like-practices/qualities I find important and listed them below (in no particular order):

1) Understand the Benefits of Good Coaching: Not only was when employees are off-base with their work, but providing employees with regular feedback on how they are doing in achieving their goals and the company’s objective, recognizing good intentions, offering development opportunities, both personal and career-wise contributes to engagement levels and helps build relationships. Coaching sessions can allow the leader to better understand their employees’ strengths to better leverage them in the team and ensure they are engaged and passionate about their role

2) OK with showing some humility: Demonstrating confidence, genuineness, and an approachable demeanor to connect with employees, creating a stronger team environment. If you’re the type that always needs to be right, consider opening-up to new perspectives and showing more openness towards new ideas by team members to create an environment that encourages creativity and innovation. You don’t even have to like the ideas, but appreciation for your teammates sharing through acknowledging the idea by taking note of it can create a very positive culture shift

3) Committed: Developing a set of goals and a plan for the year aren’t enough. Often, goals are jotted down in December while developing a plan for the next year, then, never looked at again. Rather, structuring all tasks around the end goal is a way to ensure high productivity. Focus and dedication are key, but also allowing some leeway can generate new ideas and improvements. Demonstrating enthusiasm and recognizing actions that work towards achieving strategic objectives ensure everyone has the ultimate goal in mind and continues to work towards it as a unit

4) Open-Minded: Although creative abrasion and different opinions/areas of expertise are necessary for innovation and continuous improvement, openness to new ideas and perspectives is essential in empowering everyone on the team to be a leader, to love what they do, encourage them to take initiatives, offer opinions, and work together to improve what they love, THEIR company

5) Strong Communication skills: This skill is an obvious one that never goes out of style. Being mindful of the words used to deliver a clear message in an open, honest, direct, and appropriate manner is a key quality. Imagine someone you know who is both, successful and well-respected. Odds are their communications skills are robust

Entrepreneurial Culture, Marketing, Uncategorized

How to Fix RIM!

August 15, 2011 Esha Abrol 1 Comment

Three words: Strat. E. Gy. Or lack of it.

RIM is choking on a piece of rotten fruit, it has been for a while — why are they only seeking medical attention now? RIM needs CPR, now. No miracles needed, just a lot of focus and strong leadership can bring it back to life.

Yes, I DO think Research in Motion’s business is fixable.

As I work on finalizing a business plan for a new business to be fully launched in early 2012, I am relieved I’m almost done with this dreadful phase of developing a start-up. Putting together a good business plan is always painful because of the countless hours of work and re-work required. However, after discussing sections of the document with my business partner last week, of course, we were reminded of the importance of this thing. It forced us to look into areas we didn’t think of before, to answer questions that we didn’t ask ourselves before. And, this is exactly what a strategic business plan should do, if done properly.

Addressing areas of the business that were not previously looked at or answering questions that were never asked should be approached with strategy, supported with clear business objectives. Now, I think most would agree – this all sounds logical, simple and straight-forward, but business decisions are often made without any strategic- thinking.

Without strategy, business operations can quickly become tactical and meaningless. Multiple activities being performed, just for the sake of getting something done because you have realized action needs to be taken. That can work for a while. After sometime, this approach can lead to a domino effect — one, tactical quick-fix will eventually lead to another, and so on. Although everyone is busy, productivity sinks. Business operators become caught-up in getting things done without stepping back for a minute to ask, WHY. We forget to evaluate the impact of business activities being performed and exploring better of doing things. There may be approaches out there now that are more cost-effective, efficient, or just cooler that can provide a competitive edge.

In my opinion (there are currently a lot of these on RIM), I do think RIM’s business is fixable. But they need to go back to the original business plan template and write-up a plan.

Leadership has moved at pace which can be called reactive, or worse. In the competitive mobile communications space, the first-mover advantage can be vital, especially when your competitors are Apple and Google. Blackberry’s R&D seems to be based on Apple’s or Google’s actions with iPhones or the Android system.

To get the obvious out of the way: Yes, support for innovation is weaker in Canada, than in the U.S., but Canada does have a large pool of talent. So I do think RIM is comparable to Apple and Google.

For example, we only heard about the Playbook, which was then called the BlackPad, after the first iPad was already launched. Was it smart business to take-on the heavy costs that would eat-up cashflow to develop a product so quickly even though the competitor had already had the chance to develop, launch, test, and learn from their mistakes?

The problem is, I don’t think they can honestly answer this question even now.

The company’s failure to understand their competitive edge and to fully capitalize on it has been the ultimate cause of their current position. Eventually, their reactive, tactical approach was bound to catch-up to them. With financial analysts and investors’ reduced confidence, a disoriented team culture (with the recent news of laying-off 2,000, or 11% of their workforce), tough critics, and even tougher competition, RIM’s got a bit of work to do.

Entrepreneurial Culture

Celebrating Entrepreneurial Spirit in Ottawa

June 22, 2011 Esha Abrol Leave a comment

It’s 1:00am, while reciting positive self-talk as I try to fall asleep… Eureka! I’ve come-up with the most amazing business idea that will, without a doubt, change the world. I translate the images in my mind into words, as I type what I’m thinking into my iPhone notepad.

Excellent, now I’ll get some sleep and tomorrow, change the world.

It’s 6:00 a.m. the next morning, before the morning jog, I review the notes I took a few hours ago and question my sanity. “How am I going to implement this?”. Unfortunately, “reality” kicks in.

My name is Esha and I’m an entrepreneur and 1/3 of the Avacano team. As we countdown until the launch of our latest start-up, Avacano, I wanted to take some time to share progress. The soft launch will be held on Monday, June 27th, at 7:00pm. Do register to celebrate entrepreneurship with Avacano: http://avacano.eventbrite.com/

The Team: Behzad Malek, Dominque Noisette, and me. We’re from Ottawa, Canada.

We’ve been working quite diligently on our business, Avacano, not only do we want to promote our business, but we also want to promote entrepreneurship in Ottawa because Ottawa’s got talent, and as Desiderius Erasmus once said, “no one respects a talent that is concealed.”

Today, let’s talk about the unfortunate ”reality” I mentioned earlier. Ottawa has been described as the next “Silicon Valley”. I feel very fortunate to live in a city with many entrepreneurial minds. A lot of ideas. Unfortunately, commercialization, not so much.

What is this “reality” that comes in the way of ideas crystallizing? Is it lack of funding? Is it risk-averse attitudes? Perhaps lack of networking opportunities or lack of confidence? Hard to say. However, I do think perceptions and mindset has a lot to do with it.

My Speaking Opportunity at Operation Come Home

Last week I was invited to speak to a group of young people, from ages 17-19, about entrepreneurship. I think it’s unfortunate that often young people feel that starting a business is something that is too out-of-reach. Because “starting a business” sounds hard, doesn’t it? How about “doing what you love”? Now, that actually sounds fun. I feel this resonated with the bright group of students I had the chance to chat with. The feedback I got was “It was cool to learn that it is doable at a young age”.

At Avacano, we get to do what we love everyday. We want to encourage you to do the same. Avacano is about customer-focus, confidence in our value proposition, hard-work, and contributing to the development of future advancements. We think challenges are fun. A few months ago, we were able to identify a problem in a specific market, brainstormed ideas, and just did it. We developed a unique, yet simple communications solutions, offering organizations with an efficient and effective option to build relationships with customers.

While growing this, it is not unlikely that we will come-up with other cool ideas at 1:00am while counting sheep or reciting positive self-talk. The next day, we will implement. Because the reality is, we can, and you can too.

“Attitude determines the altitude of life.” – Edwin Louis Cole.

Cheers, Esha

International Management, Marketing, Uncategorized

My Evening at the FITT Awards Ceremony

June 13, 2011 Esha Abrol Leave a comment

Last week I was invited to attend the 14th Annual FITT Conference and Awards Ceremony to receive my Certified International Trade Professional (CITP) designation among members of the Canadian trade community.

The Forum for International Trade Training (www.FITT.ca) is a non-profit organization that helps build international business capacity by providing the highest level of excellence to assist individuals develop skills and knowledge in the challenging space of international business.

I want to congratulate the folks I had the chance to share the stage with – I had the opportunity to chat with most of the other CITP recipients in attendance and was blown-away by the passion and appreciation they shared for global business. No words for the ambience and energy in the room. Honored to be a part of this group.

Also in attendance were, Canadian exporters from all industries, and industry experts, including Stephen Poloz, CITP and President of Export Development Canada and Peter McGovern, Canada’s Chief Trade Commissioner from DFAIT, who was given an Honorary CITP in recognition for his contributions to the Canadian trade economy.

For those considering the CITP Designation, I have written about the FITT program in the past, I would recommend it. Like any post-secondary educational program, it is demanding, but a worthy investment.
Upon completion of the program, I was equipped with a thorough understanding of how international business “works” and the success factors when considering foreign expansion. The program takes a hands-on approach, yet very comprehensive. If you’re considering taking the program and have questions, drop me a line.

I also want to take a moment to formally thank everyone for the nice messages of congratulations – it made the achievement that much more special.

: From left to right: Bruno Morin – Chairperson, FITT Board of Directors; Caroline Topkins, President, FITT; Esha Abrol; Peter McGovern, Canada’s Chief Trade Commissioner, DFAIT

(http://www.flickr.com/groups/fitt/pool/)

Jamie Schroeder, Photographer
www.jamieschroederphotos.blogspot.com

Cheers,

Esha