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Business

Sanjeev Desour, The UK’s No1 Business Mentor and CEO of The Entrepreneurs Academy.

Editor @ Global Man November 3, 2022 No Comments

Sanjeev founded The Entrepreneurs Academy with a vision to help entrepreneurs and business leaders to accelerate and maximise opportunities for growth and success by exploring opportunities, threats and solving challenges with mastermind groups, mentoring, training and accountability. This vision has proven itself to be a success, time and time again. The members of these mastermind groups and coaching clients have experienced more success and with mastermind members also benefitting from meaningful and lasting friendships and strategic business alliances with fellow Entrepreneurs Academy members.

In the early stages of Sanjeev’s entrepreneurial journey, he says he would have benefitted from more support, leadership, and positive role models. Despite the absence of this his entrepreneurial spirit won and inspired him to create an array of successful businesses and become a role model and figure of support for other business leaders and start-ups as a business coach, mentor and trainer.

Sanjeev is no stranger to the idea that the more problems you can solve the more you can succeed. He firmly believes in the unlimited power of a supportive, encouraging and experienced peer group to help you foster growth and success in business and life by sharing experience, expertise, opportunities and challenges with a safe group of like-minded winners who have no agenda other than that of support.

 

If I can keep making a difference, helping business owners grow their businesses, and in doing so grow our companies, that is a good overall win.

– Sanjeev Desour

You are a serial entrepreneur. How did you start this journey?

My entrepreneurial journey started at 15 which is when the flame to start a mobile disco company was born. At the time but I had seen the shortcomings of other mobile disco companies in the Asian wedding market and felt I could do things to a higher and more professional standard. These efforts paid off and went to reshape the industry as we know it today. Years later and the company I had started still embodies the same culture of high standards that was instilled back then.

I had various jobs to start saving. I saved my lunch money to start buying records and saved for equipment and also borrowed money from my brother and my mother too.

I landed my first club gig, and the promoter was impressed, as were the other DJ’s and this was where things started to take off, my next purchase was a phone so I can be contacted. I started advertising and my name was going around, and the bookings were coming in! Since then, I have started and exited a number of companies but have landed firmly within the spaces that I enjoy most. I have interests in live event production, broadcast media, marketing and of course training and mentoring. DJ’ing is my sport so that will always remain a part of who I am.

Do you remember the experience of getting your first job?

My first proper job was working after school. I would stack shelves and work in the cold rooms in a supermarket. I’d get paid a few pounds an hour, it made me feel grown-up.

What made you resign and start your own business?

While I was DJ’ing, I found that I had lots of time on weekdays as most gigs were at weekends.

I got a job with a reputable company but found that I was earning more money DJ’ing than the owner of the business…I found it hard to justify staying on and chose to focus on growing my DJ business to multiple teams.

The next phase was to start a fully-fledged event production company. This was the birth of IGNITE Events where we supply sound, lighting, set, staging, video display and technical support. IGNITE Events have become the go-to authority in that niche for personal development experts, influencers, and motivational speakers. We have produced and delivered events with Tony Robbins, Grant Cardone, Gary Vee, Les Brown, Steve Bartlet, Russell Brand and so many more.

You have been a leader in the events industry – how did covid impact your business?

When covid happened all the events we had in our diary were cancelled. The country went into lockdown but so many assumed it would be back to business-as-usual in a few months.

As time passed, we found that our clients had no way of engaging with their clients. Lacking a meaningful way to serve them and help them with what they needed in a live event like experience. I felt obligated to help.

They needed a way of doing what they do, and they needed a way to deliver events so that their businesses – and the businesses they serve – could and would continue to survive and even thrive during a very perplexed and worrying time.

They needed something more in line with a real event. Working within the restrictions imposed wasn’t easy but there had to be a way! This effort resulted in IGNITE Studios. A fully immersive, 360-degree virtual event studio, with the sound, light and stage of a real event, with screens surrounding the presenter. Hundreds of real, live delegates in real-time offered the opportunity for an engagement that paralleled our clients’ live events.

We didn’t only help our clients survive; we helped them, and their clients thrive during the pandemic. The positive knock-on effect was something I was and still am particularly proud of.

You have changed the direction of your business recently. Tell us more about it?

IGNITE Events and IGNITE Studios are two stolid businesses navigated by a great, inspired, and expert team in-place that ensures clients’ events are delivered to the highest standards. Whilst I still work on these companies, most of my time goes into coaching, mentoring, and consulting entrepreneurs and property investors.

I founded The Entrepreneurs Academy when, gathering six entrepreneurs from non-competing industries around a table to help one another grow and succeed, a decision was made to collectively help solve each other’s challenges, discuss, and explore opportunities too and the underlying theme was to help one another grow and expand our businesses but also improve our personal lives as well. I found that the members of this group made better decisions, achieved greater results, and outperformed their competition.

During Covid19 I offered free coaching services to various business owners and entrepreneurs who were going through tough times. They couldn’t afford our regular fees. It wasn’t about money to me. It was about helping others and there is no better feeling of fulfilment than in doing so.

What is your why?

I wish I had more support, leadership, and good examples as I marked my entrepreneurial journey. I also wish I had more access to real grass roots experience, education, and coaching; if I had, I truly believe I would have been able to achieve and contribute more back.

This is why I created The Entrepreneurs Academy and The Property Investors Academy. Our coaching, mentoring, mastermind groups and courses are world class!

How do you manage the balance between business and family or social life?

So many aspects of life are important but what we can give our attention to is very much dependant on seasons and cycles that we are going through at any given time. It’s a macroscopic ecology – they all affect one another to form one macro view.

How important is it for you to build relationships?

The more people you can build relations with, the more problems you can solve.

The quality of your relationships has a direct correlation to the success of your business and the quality of your life at large.

The more people you can build relations with, the more problems you can solve.

Also, a prospect is more likely to become a paying client if they are ‘recommended’ and recommendations come from those you have good relationships with.

What are the biggest mistakes you have made in business?

Not having a coach or mentor sooner in my career. Constant learning and improvement are accelerated when you have someone helping you, setting outcomes and an action plan; moreover, if this person is holding you accountable the results are massively accelerated.

How do you handle criticism and failure?

I am all for getting honest, meaningful, and unfiltered feedback from people who are credible enough to comment and in fact I welcome that. I always will and always have welcomed that.

I will always consider perspective and understand that these angles of feedback may stimulate growth, so we can become better.

When failure rears its head, we must learn as much as possible—from HINDSIGHT.

Learning from the situation to ensure you can mitigate or reduce the possibility of repeated/repeating failure.

What are some of the biggest obstacles people in business face today? What are some strategies to overcoming those obstacles?

There has been so much turbulence: Brexit, covid, Ukraine, energy to inflation – supply chain issues, food shortages and the countless other changes in UK government. All of this has proven with time to be the breeding ground and recipe for severe economic instability.

Instability limits progress: stagnation stops business leaders from making macro- to micro-decisions; decisions that would have otherwise helped them grow their businesses by injecting more cash flow into a demanding economic system chokes the now-neglected economy.

People and businesses are hesitating to take bold action, the economy desperately needs businesses to grow and expand but the very abovementioned factors are causing businesses to contract.

Get a coach or mentor! Get educated and join peer groups that will support and encourage you and also share their experiences and knowledge to help you achieve success and thrive.

What do you think about women who are running their own business?

This excites me! For years business and commerce have been heavily male oriented, and we need a better balance of perspective, approach, and leadership.

Women in business create a public dynamic that encourages more women to question their ability and perhaps go for it themselves! That can only be good.

The fact remains that women are very capable and social norms have come down to erase the false stigma that business is only for men. Women can and will do greatly.

What is your vision for your business and career? Where do you see yourself in 10 years’ time?

To answer this in a world where things are changing so fast would be naive. It’s okay to have a goal or an outcome based on today’s reality but considering the pace of technological and social advancement we must accept the likelihood of change.

If I can keep making a difference, helping business owners grow their businesses, and in doing so grow our companies, that is a good overall win.

I also have notable plans for The Entrepreneurs Academy, IGNITE and The Property Investors Academy and many individuals and businesses will benefit as will the UK economy.

Tre Lowe: When Success Wins Over Pain

Editor @ Global Man April 20, 2022 No Comments

 

We all know him as Tre, the successful artist, the inspirational mentor. But few know that behind this image stands a story almost like a fairy tale with a happy ending. This is the story of a man who refuses to give up no matter what challenge he faces, of an artist who is inspired by his strength and faith. With a successful career and a myriad of achievements behind him, Tre has created a legacy he is leaving for his family, but also his fans.

 

In your career, you have known only successes, at least in the eyes of the public. But for you, who have been on this journey, how would you describe it today?

I would definitely describe it as tough. I know it’s a cliché to state this, but people think success just happens, that it happens quickly, and that you’re lucky. But success is a long bumpy road. Especially when you grow up as poor as I did. The path to success should be tough, it’s the battle, the trials, and tribulations, the setbacks, the pain, the highs and the lows. These things allow you to savour the journey. In fact, without these tribulations, there would be no success – because these are the things that fuel you. Our biggest record, Body Groove, came about because one of the guys in the band, Kevin, who had a recording studio at his house, decided to leave my brother Ashley and me to go solo. That caused problems for us as we didn’t have our own studio, and it was expensive recording records in those days. The sheer frustration of that situation is what led to the writing and creation of Body Groove – our biggest track. I call that pain Juice. I always speak about the power of pain – there’s no better fuel. Looking back today, I would describe my success as simply beautiful. Not just because this little boy, with all his insecurities, achieved a childhood dream, but because that pain-fuelled dream allowed me to create a life of service, and there’s nothing more beautiful than that.

 

Tell us a little about the days when you started creating, what inspired you? How did you create successful music for your audience?

Several things inspired me as a musician. Firstly, my upbringing. Growing up in a Nigerian household, my parents would have numerous parties. I think I became hooked on music whilst still in my mother’s womb. The fact that we grew up in the cultural melting pot of Notting Hill was also crucial to the sound my brother and I created. Back then, especially Notting Hill was one of the most vibrant, creative places in the whole of the country. It had such an eclectic mix of people; artists, designers, musicians, painters, actors, just so much creative energy, a real bohemian vibe. Also, a beautiful mix of ethnicities and cultures. A huge West Indian community, Portuguese, Spanish, Moroccan, and an increasingly white middle-class population as the area gentrified. It all created a crazy melting pot that drew every drop of creative juice out of you. This was cemented by the annual Notting Hill Carnival, Europe’s largest street festival. I loved the reggae sounds, the noise, the steel pans. It was impossible to not be creatively inspired! Musical influences were also key – I loved classical music. I’m a huge Beethoven fan, like me, he suffered from tinnitus – he’s one of my heroes. My brother Ashley had a love of salsa and music from South America. All of that added to that mixture of Nigerian, West-Indian, British pop sounds, fused with elements of American Hip Hop, R&B and house. You hear it all in Body Groove. It’s difficult to not have success with that much life poured into it!

 

In addition to career success, you have also encountered health difficulties. How do you remember those days?

Man, those days were tough at times. I always describe it as the best and worst of days. I had been in hospital as a young teenager for an appendectomy. The operation went well, but I was given a drug overdose during recovery. This caused me to become paralysed twice. When I emerged from the second paralysis, my whole world had changed. Everything looked strange. It felt like I was in a dream. I had a strange sensation at the back of my head, and a faint ringing in my ears. I didn’t know what it meant, I just knew I couldn’t live like this, and I was terrified. The doctors said it would fade, but it didn’t, it just got worse and worse over the years. By the time we did Body Groove, ten years later, in the year 2000, my health had really deteriorated. Life was often challenging, one day it was the high of appearing on top of the pops – a childhood dream, the next, it was having my 8th brain scan at some private MRI clinic. Then being told by the neurologist – “good news, there’s nothing wrong with you”. I was distraught when I heard that, as I knew there was, and no matter what I did, I couldn’t find answers. I saw so many medical professionals over many years, but no one could give me any answers. I would often wait for the royalty payments to come in, just so I could try another possible cure, remedy, or at the very least, find out what the hell was wrong with me!

 

 

When did you realise that you could handle it? How would you describe the healing process?

I guess I always knew I could handle it. I grew up with a profound sense of faith. I was raised Roman-Catholic and the stories of the bible were burned into my heart. Stories of triumph against all odds, stories of faith overcoming fear. Though I had dark days, I always had that flame burning in me. Faith in God, faith in self, and this innate knowledge that all this suffering was for a reason. So, no matter how dark things got, that little flame never went out. And so long as that flame remains unextinguished, there was hope. Where there is hope, there is faith, where there is faith, there is power, where there is power, there is the ability to handle anything life can throw at you. In addition, there’s the potential to alter the world with that power. So, I clung on, safe in the knowledge that I was strong enough to handle it.

The actual healing process began with my closest encounter with extinguishing that flame. I’d always lived with the thought that if my health got really bad, at least I could hop off a tall building. That thought gave me comfort. I know that sounds crazy, but it had merit. It gave me a sense of control. Of course, I never really thought that day would come, because I loved life, despite my horrific conditions. But eventually, that day arrived. I had to stand at the edge of giving up and succumbing to the darkness. That crunch moment came in 2008, following a DJ set at a crazy loud venue in Fulham, London. I knew that night it was foolish to DJ there, the sound system had broken, and they had a makeshift stack of massive speakers right behind the DJ spot. But, by this point, my health had deteriorated so much, I didn’t care! So, I got drunk and DJed. The next day I woke up deaf in both ears. My tinnitus, which was already horrifically unbearable, was ten times louder. I had no way to escape it as it was ALL I could hear. I was faced with two choices; find a tall building to jump off, or dig deeper into faith than I had ever dug before, and relentlessly search for answers.

Thankfully, I chose the latter – I always knew I would, I loved life too much, and I knew, deep down, my suffering had a purpose. I searched the internet furiously, like a man on a mission, determined not to give up until I found answers. I remember crying my eyes out when after hours of searching, with no sleep, deaf, with screaming painful tinnitus, I’d stumbled on someone called “Dream Child” or something like that. She had a blog describing her dream-like condition and her suffering. I was overjoyed at finally finding another individual like me!! I couldn’t believe it, after all these years, it turned out I wasn’t crazy! It had a name – the dream-like condition that had caused massive anxiety was called derealisation, it was a dissociative disorder.

Hours and hours of research into the brain led me to the conclusion that my head pressure, derealisation, and tinnitus were caused by my brain’s response to the trauma of being temporarily paralysed twice all those years ago. My brain had tried to protect me by disassociating me from the trauma. But that caused a type of PTSD. Even though my body regained movement, my brain would not let go of the fear of paralysis happening again. The tinnitus, derealisation, and head pressure were the results, and they became the new source of fear and trauma, and the vicious fear cycle continued. It’s crazy what our minds are capable of.

This insight and experience proved invaluable in my becoming a mindset coach and mentor. I’d finally discovered answers, it had cost me half a lifetime, but I didn’t care. I was now free. Free from fear of the unknown. I incorporated powerful mindful techniques into my daily routine, powerful deep breathing exercises, being centred, affirmations, and so much more. This reversed years of chronic head pressure felt like a miracle. The tinnitus and derealisation remained, but I learned to live powerfully with them. The healing process took years, with ups and downs, but the pain is power. That pain juice – as I termed it, made me unstoppable. It helped me create an incredibly powerful mindset, and I knew my job was to set others free. That’s how I became a tinnitus awareness campaigner, and then started my coaching company – Alpha Clique. I was determined to bring this knowledge to others. Help them discover their greatness despite their circumstances. This ability to impact others was the fuel that helped me finally heal. Looking back, I am so grateful for all those years of pain and anguish.

 

 

From artist to mentor, what does this leap mean to you?

This leap means EVERYTHING!! Today I am so blessed to live a life that impacts so many people. I have spoken on tinnitus awareness all over the British press and beyond, reaching an audience of millions. I coached for 5 years with one of the world’s foremost personal development companies, helping to alter the lives of thousands of people. Every Sunday, I run an Alpha Clique room on the app Clubhouse, where I host and moderate discussions around all aspects of men and their mindset. This is delivered to a mixed audience, where people learn and grow in a safe space with incredible speakers. We have spoken to over 10,000 people on that app – literally helped avert male suicides by giving men a chance to share and be heard and allowing them to heal the traumas in their lives, especially around relationships. I have spoken at schools, institutions, and numerous places.

Being a mindset mentor also helped me during an incredibly difficult time last year, when my brother Ashley, the other half of the band, died unexpectedly. I resolved to celebrate his passing by releasing a new version of Body Groove. The odds of success were slim, post-covid lockdowns, with no clubs open to fuel the hype. Even my own family told me to give up. They could see the pain, and the toll, working on his music and the politics around the track was causing. But I have this deeply embedded drive in me, thanks to years of pain. I never give up – especially in the service of others. Body Groove is a song for the people, especially after the horrors of lockdown. The success of that new version of Body Groove is a rallying cry for people. Never give up, fight for what you believe in, enjoy every second of life, and be all you can be. All we can do is dream, then we die. That track has currently been streamed over 10 million times… a whole new generation has heard my beautiful brother’s infectious voice urging them to “let the body groove”. I am so grateful and excited for all the new music to come.

 

What advice would you give to young people today who wish to have a successful career

Get yourself a coach or a mentor – they will push you beyond yourself. Life happens in your discomfort zone, not your comfort zone. Surround yourself with positive people that believe in you, believe in you so much they will tell you when you’re rubbish or when you’re full of yourself. People that are raw and honest with you.

Then study your craft – lock yourself away and just beat on your craft! Whatever it is that lights you up, do it, and do it well. Ditch any notions of entitlement – the world doesn’t owe you a damn thing. On the contrary, you owe the world EVERYTHING. You owe the world every ounce of your creativity, your passion, and your talent. It is not yours to keep, it is MEANT to flow through you, to impact, soothe, and heal others. So, stop being selfish, stop making excuses, no pity parties. Use every ounce of pain as juice. That PAIN JUICE is golden. Use it, use every drop of it. If you can’t fly, run!! But don’t you DARE give up!

 

A music career and a career as a well-known mentor – in your eyes, what are you most proud of?

I’m proud of being able to honour my parents – their suffering and their sacrifices. I’m standing on the shoulders of giants, warriors that came before me. I feel proud that I’m able to honour them by creating a legacy that I believe will reverberate through time. I am far from done!

 

 

 

Over 40 Shred Icon Funk Roberts Reveals Top 5 Mistakes Men Make When Trying To Lose Weight

Editor @ Global Man April 13, 2022 No Comments

Over 40 Shred Icon Funk Roberts Reveals Top 5 Mistakes Men Make When Trying To Lose Weight

Former professional athlete turned Certified MMA conditioning coach, master metabolic trainer and entrepreneur, Funk Roberts, is now helping thousands of men over 40 transform their bodies, health, and lives for good.

When Funk Roberts contracted a rare lung disease over 3 years ago, he never would have imagined being on a journey that led him to the revolutionary discovery that his fitness programs could help other men over 40 get into shape. 

This life event changed the trajectory of his life forever.

At 52, Roberts is the powerhouse entrepreneur behind Funk Roberts Fitness and Funk Supplements. He is a best selling author, former professional volleyball coach, and the mind behind the effective workout program for men called The Over 40 Shred Nation.

Roberts has spent most of his career obliterating assumptions that your “glory days” are reserved only for the younger generation. 

Using his 20 plus years’ worth of knowledge and experience he has helped men lose weight, burn fat, build muscle, improve athleticism, increase energy and better their overall health and fitness levels to become elite.

The multi-talented King of Athleticism has shared his knowledge of hormones and health tips with thousands of people worldwide. His Shred app is the #1 workout app specialising in HIIT, and Metabolic training workouts, while Roberts’ books have even hit number one on Amazon’s must-reads. 

Roberts has created communities of people who support each other through their journey. “We have men all over the world, all religions, all shapes, sizes, everything everybody under the sun. We don’t talk about politics or pop culture. We focus on helping each other,” says Roberts.

But when it comes to helping his fan base of over 690,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel alone, there are a few things that Roberts feels his clients or future workout enthusiasts are glancing over when it comes to shredding that extra weight.

 

Here are his Top 5 Mistakes Men Over 40 Make When Trying to Lose Weight: 

1. Experimenting With Various Nutrition Plans 
“Not All Nutrition Plans Are Marketed To Men” 

Naturally, increasing your testosterone levels is essential for knowing where to start. One of the most prominent mistakes men over 40 make is choosing the right diet plan specifically to support their testosterone levels..

Genetically, men tend to have more muscle and less fat mass than women due to higher testosterone levels, so they need to eat more calories than women to maintain the same weight. But this also differs in age, especially when it comes to men.

People diet for all types of reasons as there is no shortage of reasons for wanting to live a healthier life. However, there are such a wide variety of options for selecting a diet that many people don’t often know where to start in today’s world. 

From Paleo to low-carb, Keto to Veganism, there is the general consensus that because there are so many different types of bodies, there is no one diet or one lifestyle that fits all. But Roberts believes that following what he calls ‘feminising diets’ is a no-go when choosing the right plan for older men.

Instead, he recommends following his Over 40 Shred program, where he discusses proven ways to increase your testosterone levels naturally. Alternatively, by visiting your local doctor, they can provide you with a class to work with.

Not all nutrition plans suit the older male body.

2. Following Standard BodyBuilding Workouts 

“Men Need To Remember That At Our Age We Are Built Different” 

A funny thing happens on the way to 50 and beyond; your body doesn’t respond to exercise as it did earlier in your life. Fatigue, muscle and joint aches, along with increased injuries seem to happen with greater frequency.

Men over 40 need to cater to their bodies and not follow everything they see. For example, instead of focusing on one muscle group at a time or doing ‘leg-day’ or ‘arm-day.’

Roberts’ solution is to do complete full-body workouts or have multi-range movements in your routine. “As we get older, our body doesn’t recover as fast,” he says. “We need to be metabolic and move from one exercise to another with little rest in between to help out our growth hormones and help us build muscle while we burn fat during and after sessions.” 

3. Exercising To The MAX.

“You Need Balance And Plenty Of Time To Let Your Muscles Rest”

On the other side of the spectrum is doing too much exercise. Doing too high-intensity circuits i.e. CrossFit could lead to severe injuries, which could, in return, direct you back to the beginning of your fitness goals. 

When we plan to start a workout or write down our targets for weight loss training, our minds can sometimes spiral into overdrive, thinking that we need to do everything we can to succeed. 

As many as 10% of high-performance runners, and possibly an equal number of bodybuilders, have an exercise addiction.

A set plan or routine with moderate physical activity is enough to help prevent things like diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. Too much exercise can lead to injuries, exhaustion and even depression. It can also cause lasting physical harm.

Following a healthy balanced exercise routine and then giving your body time to rest is the key to reaching your goal.

 

4. We Are Not Focusing Enough Time On How Much We Sleep.

“People Don’t Realise That Getting Enough Sleep Is Vital For Your Journey To Success”

If you’re trying to lose weight, the amount of sleep you get may be just as crucial as your diet and exercise. According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, about 35% of US adults sleep fewer than seven hours most nights, which is not enough. Experts say that between seven-eight hours of shut-eye per night is ideal.

Not many people connect the two, but sleep is associated with shedding weight. If you don’t get enough sleep, your body produces ghrelin, a hormone that boosts appetite. Your body also decreases the production of leptin, a hormone that tells you you’re full. 

Together, it could be a dangerous combo for late-night snacking. Not enough sleep could also lead you to be more stressed, which leads us to the final mistake – stress.

 

5. Not Dealing With Chronic Stress.

“We May Not Ever Be Stress, Free But Dealing With It Helps”

The fifth biggest mistake that men over 40 tend to forget is not dealing with stress.

We need to give ourselves time to take a break and work on our breathing, whether it’s meditation, yoga, or recovery, things that will keep our cortisol levels down and keep our chronic stress down. 

Whether it causes weight loss or weight gain can vary from person to person — and even from situation to situation.

Stress may lead to missed meals and poor food choices in some cases. For others, stress may cause them to lose the desire to eat altogether. Often, this change is only temporary.

By dealing with stress and ensuring that we live our healthiest versions of ourselves, our mindset shift will change to help us succeed at our goals faster.

Final Thoughts

By employing the five suggestions above, these mistakes and misconceptions on your weight journey can ultimately lead you to success when recognised. The power in these five suggestions is using them in combination with each other and having the discipline to operationalise these ideas in a meaningful way. 

“Your best body, health and LIFE is ahead of you!” – Funk Roberts

 

Kelmendi – Bringing You a Piece of Home

Editor @ Global Man February 11, 2022 No Comments

promotional feature

 

By Sujany Baleswaran

 

From the Balkans to the heart of your home – Kelmendi GmbH global products have become staple products in millions of households, from Kosovo to Finland. The name Kelmendi is stamped with the approval of customers, a guarantee of freshness, delectability, satiety, quality and a taste of home. Stepping back from the jars of delicacies lined on pantry shelves, Kelmendi is the intricate concoction of business and traditions.

Starting with a small single shop in Essen, Germany, Kelmendi products were born and has now developed into an international company and a market leader in Europe. Valdet Kelmendi, a German entrepreneur with Kosovar roots is the man behind the global brand. Born in the village of Ruhot, to a large family immersed in Albanian traditions, Valdet tasted the beauty of secret family recipes. He learnt the first steps of his business, from those very steps, watching his father manage a grocery store in the 1970s, expanding the business further out in the Municipality of Peja until the 1990s.

 

 

When struck with the aggravated political situation and the persecution of hundreds who worked for the good of the country, Valdet was forced to leave his roots behind, emigrating to Germany. Uprooting his life came with challenges, days questioning the future but the thought of surrendering to those obstacles never crossed Valdet’s mind.

As a persecuted refugee, he worked as a clerk cultivating vegetables but it was in 1992, when he was employed in an international factory engaged in wood processing, DERIX, Valdet’s path began to change. Although a world away from his Kosovar roots and the comfort of food, his skills, tireless work and leadership rewarded him with the position of Manager of the Sales department, a foundation for the future.

 

The team behind Kelmendi GmbH, Valdet, Blerim and Oliver

 

An entrepreneur’s journey is always filled with the ups and downs of failure and success, but with determination and perseverance to create this business in Germany, Valdet rose from all the obstacles he faced. After repeated success and great will, Valdet turned to his dreams that began in Kosovo, sealing the deal in 1998 with the success of the Kelmendi company, with products not only being sold in Germany, but all over Europe. Touching upon every sector of food products from dairy to meat, Kelmendi products circle back to one thing, the unique taste of traditional and modern family recipes.

From the launch of products inspired by Albanian recipes, the food empire has branched out to numerous other societies and culture, creating your taste of home. The Kelmendi network has expanded to Germans, Baltics, Turks, Arabs and African and many others who have formed the pillars of success.

 

 

‘Preserving the spirit of cooperation without distinctions.’

Supplying products for over a quarter of a century, Kelmendi has grown immensely as a business, maintaining a leading position in the overall European ethnic food market. With growth at the forefront of the company, Kelmendi has not stopped at KELMENDI products, they have continued launching a stream of success stories such as NAKJA, ALBINA, BOSNA, Öz GURBET, KRISTAL, FUNDAM and MARRAKESH. Kelmendi food products have become synonymous with quality and tradition, achieving a high level of international recognition. With success after success and the increasing demand for products, Kelmendi GmbH, established their new company in 2018, Kelmendi Lebensmittel Ratingen, a symbol of growth. ‘In the business world there is always a target and always room to grow,’ says Founder Valdet Kelmendi. In 10 years, this food empire hopes to bring products closer and closer to customers all over the world. With goals set high, Valdet leaves us with the secrets of success, ‘believe in yourself, have a desire to work, value precision, and try not to work for money, instead find a way to make money work for you.’

 

Re-Wired: A Life on the Circuit

Editor @ Global Man February 9, 2022 No Comments

It’s quite a leap to go from electric guitar to electric car, but then again, Adam Kelbie is no stranger to remaking his career to suit his positive drive for happiness, as Yassin El-Moudden finds out.

The innovative founder of marketing firm, A Hand Online, and KLB Global Solutions opens up – on challenges he’s faced, why young men need direction and how he found himself playing Jackson Maine in a stage show adaptation.

And when the conversation turns to tech, the former All Together Now TV judge takes the chance to wax lyrical on his plans to bring the digital and social together: from cryptocurrencies and NFTs to tackling expensive fuel bills and building 8-minute homes!

All befitting for the Herts man who once set out on tours with his band, ready to “take on the world”!

 

“You just have to act and believe”

 

Take us back to a young Adam Kelbie in the early 2000’s music scene – what was the story behind you joining a band? Which groups influenced you and was there an element of you “finding yourself” through this musical journey?

 

Our music was a mixture of The Prodigy/Kasabian meets Madness. We were a very laddie band and I think that best describes this moment of my life.  I really learnt how to write good songs with the team and there was no bigger rush than being up on stage performing them. We were just 6 lads taking on the world and it felt amazing.

I definitely found parts of myself that I liked and also discovered areas that really needed work.  I learnt that you have to be persistent to achieve your goals.  There are a lot of promises made in the music world. A lot of hype that sometimes doesn’t live up to what you expect.  You could get down and disillusioned, or dust yourself off, believe in yourself and keep on battling.

 

Talk us through how you moved from travelling across the country on music tours to travelling across the world promoting the Formula E circuit. The last 2 years have seen any number of people switch and make radical career changes. How did you cope with adjusting and what advice would you give others?

 

For a couple of years after the music finished, I really did not know what to do with myself.  I was stuck in some dead-end promotional work – giving out free samples of products and the like – and I noticed I was starting to get very low.  I had NEVER actually thought about what I would do apart from music. In fact, I really did not know what I could do.  All I knew was that I’d begun to get frustrated with myself, feeling as if I was not amounting to my true potential.

During this period of my life, I struggled with some mental health issues – having no direction can do that to a person. Still, I refused to give up on myself and when I was offered the chance to join the Formula E PR team, it really brought me back to life!  All of a sudden, I had purpose. There were goals to achieve and I became part of a networking circle that you could only dream of being in.  This really kick-started my corporate career and encouraged belief in myself.

I have seen many people, including my own brother, restart their careers during the last couple of years. I believe the pandemic gave everyone a chance to reflect.  Are they happy doing what they are doing? Do they look forward to getting up and working on their own goals? Could they do something else?  The answer is YES.  You just have to act and believe. Then, you really can achieve what you want.

 

You moved into the world of business, with a focus on communication. You say that you helped CEOs out with improving their on-screen persona and networking at events. I note that you featured as a judge on a primetime BBC One talent show. To what extent would you describe yourself as an extrovert and does that stem from your touring days? Would you describe it as innate, or did you have to take steps to build your confidence?

 

Well, I am an entertainer at heart and I just can’t help but bring that into my social and business surroundings.  I like to know what’s going on in the room and I like to build a happy environment.  Does it make me stand out in a room because of my entertainment traits? Most certainly.

During lockdown, I asked myself “what is the best value that I can offer people?”.  I took for granted how nervous people can get in front of crowds, peers or in face-to-face business meetings.  For me, it’s always been a skill that I had to put aside or I would never have got up on stage or in front of the camera.  I had no choice if I wanted to succeed in this career.

In modern times, I believe that the CEO’s and top execs are the rockstars of the business world. This is something they might never have trained in and may find it very uncomfortable. A good CEO knows he has to break through his comfort zone, and so I help them to believe in that side of their persona. That may involve working a room at a networking event, standing up on stage and giving talks or doing a piece to camera.  It’s amazing how great these individuals are once they believe in that side of themselves.

 

“I’m an entertainer at heart and just can’t help but bring that into my surroundings”

 

At Global Man, we’ve recently been setting our sights on the future, from ecological sustainability to developments in new technology. As someone who has been involved in Formula E, the world of cryptocurrency and describes themselves as “a big campaigner for world energy solutions” (Hertfordshire Mercury), could you tell us some more about what draws you to this particular sphere, in addition to what you’re currently working on?

 

There are a lot of technologies out there that can really help the planet but unfortunately, they never see the light of day.  They get swallowed up by the big boys or ridiculed, as it goes against what the bigger companies’ plans are. However, I believe that the tide is turning and with the introduction of raising money through cryptocurrency, a lot more of these projects will soon come to fruition.

As for me, I’m now working on modular homes that can help with the UK’s housing crisis and reduce carbon footprint – and it’s amazing technology! They can literally put up a house in 8 minutes, I kid you not.

Another project that I’m currently spearheading and raising finance for, is an NFT project involving real estate. Now, real estate is quite a stable investment but you need to have a lot of money to get involved in it.  My project will ensure that anyone can invest in real estate and receive the gains, whilst also putting extra emphasis on building out social and affordable housing.

Banks don’t need to rebuild our nations and shouldn’t be the only ones to gain. We, the people, can both rebuild and reap those rewards.

In the past, I also raised money for waste-to-energy power plants. This is great technology and also should be paramount in helping to reduce the rising energy costs we’re all facing.

 

If I could pick up on your work and focus around affordable, social housing. Why did you decide to concentrate on the housing crisis as a matter to address? You’ve also used some profits to donate to the Red Cross. In light of post-pandemic developments, do you believe there needs to be a closer connection between business enterprises and social awareness, that they can’t be divorced from their surroundings?

 

Social and affordable housing is important to me because everybody needs and deserves a home. Home life is so important and there really is a shortfall of housing in the UK and across the world.

Raising money for the Red Cross is actually something I have been doing. I have been helping with an app along with some amazing guys over at a crypto currency platform. They are giving 10% of all proceeds to charity. Good on them.

There is definitely a responsibility that business leaders need to take on their shoulders in how we shape the world for the better.  That’s to say, it should always concentrate on what’s good for the collective and not just for personal gain, as I believe some huge greedy companies are doing.

 

Like nearly everyone, you were adversely affected by disruption brought about in the pandemic. You were cast in a stage show that was brought to an early end. How was time during lockdown for you? Was it a time of reflection and how difficult (or otherwise) was it?

 

Yes, the tour was brought to an abrupt end as the pandemic spread and shows were cancelled. So, I used lockdown to reflect on how being on stage made me feel, and why I had built up these stupid beliefs that I had to do one or the other.  Either be a performer or a businessman.  Rubbish! I can do both and I will do both.

 

Founder of A Hand Online, Adam Kelbie, puts his hand to acting in a new theatre adaptation

 

Looking to the future, your stage show “A Star is Born This Way” – a theatre adaptation of “A Star is Born” – is ready to hit the roads again and go back on tour. You’ve said that you no longer have to choose between business and music – now it looks like we can add acting to the list! Where do you hope this path will take you and what can say to those who feel that they have to choose?

 

Although I do like acting, the stage show I was involved in, playing Jackson Maine, only featured songs from the famous movie.  It was something I never expected to do again but when you are offered an arena tour and it’s a chance for your little nephews to see old Uncle Adam – you take it.

All we want in life is to be happy and I am happiest when helping others and being on stage myself.  Why I ever thought I had to choose, is only because I allowed other people’s opinions to influence mine.  Finally, I’ve realised that me being me – doing what makes me happy – is the only thing that brings the best Adam out in all walks of life.

Performance and Results Coach Alec Jiggins Explains Five Ways High Achievers and Leaders Can Overcome Self-Doubt

Editor @ Global Man February 3, 2022 No Comments

This “all in” coach helps clients become the fullest version of themselves, one conversation, one relationship at a time!

It is powerful when a human being steps into the work for which he was born and begins living his dream with authenticity and transparency.  At the core of almost every role since high school, Alec Jiggins was coaching others in some capacity. It was as natural as breathing to him. Although he was employed in various positions as a writer, journalist, teacher, principal, and school director, and his pursuits took him all over the world, coaching continued to call to him. After completing coursework and gaining certification as a coach in 2017, Jiggins established his own coaching business.

“As a coach, I can only take somebody through to the level of breakthrough that I’ve experienced myself,” he says. “I have been working with coaches on and off for the last 10 years. I hired a team of five coaches this year, each of them with a different speciality, each of whom takes a turn at digging into me. I have had some powerful breakthroughs! It is because I have been coached that I am able to show up for others with excellence as a coach.”

“For me, in coaching, it’s about the quality of relationships. I’m a believer in going slow. I want my clients to get the best out of me,” says Jiggins. His wife – an asset in his coaching business,  is a psychologist and counselor. Together they have created programs for relationships and teens. “I don’t aspire to do events for thousands of people,” he says. “That’s not where I see my business going. It’s about one conversation at a time, one relationship at a time. All of my clients have my cell phone number. When they are really, really, really stuck, they can pick up the phone.” Jiggins does have some small groups, but he tries to keep the size to 12 or less so that in a 90-minute call, each person gets individualized attention.

Jiggins has some helpful advice for overcoming self-doubt, which will be beneficial to everyone, especially high achievers and leaders.

 

 

No. 1 – Become aware of negative self-talk, and stop it!

“What we believe about ourselves and our capabilities, and the reality we live in, we created through language. Imposter syndrome comes from negative self-talk, which comes from feeling insecure. Insecurity stems from not being authentic. When we are truly ourselves, we don’t engage in CCJ: comparison, criticism, and judgment.”

No. 2 – Turn limiting beliefs into affirmations and goals.

“Negative self-talk is four to seven times more powerful than positive self-talk. That is why affirmations are so helpful and effective! Affirmations retrain the brain. If your self-talk is, “I’m not as good as that person; I can never achieve that; I’m too old; I’m too young – you are calling the negatives into reality, making them real and powerful. When you flip it around and turn your limiting beliefs into affirmations, you start to supercharge your reality. You have been telling yourself a story based on past beliefs about yourself, which is not the whole truth about you. Flip the story! Write the opposite. Describe how amazing your life is in the new reality. This is re-writing the script, creating a new reality based on the real truth about you, minus the limiting beliefs.”

No. 3 – Create the time and space to ask yourself hard questions.

“When you catch yourself in stories from the past, believing something about yourself based on experiences that happened long ago, take a time out. Create the space to ask yourself questions like, ‘Why do I find it difficult to trust people?’ Or, ‘Why am I terrified of public speaking?’ Your answers are buried in the past. Perhaps someone betrayed your trust or someone laughed at you when you presented an assignment in grade school. I ask my clients to make a two-column list on paper. On one side, I have them write down all the objective facts about their accomplishments and proven capabilities. On the other, they list their limiting beliefs from the past. In my own case, my issue was comparing myself to others and thinking they were better than me. I didn’t believe I was living up to their expectations. The reality was that I was doing an amazing job. My results were outstanding. It was the language I was using about myself that shaped my reality, which led to my self-doubt.”

“Eighty percent of the population say they’ve experienced imposter syndrome at one time or another. If the other twenty percent could get past ego and allow themselves to be vulnerable, they would admit they’ve suffered with it too. It is part of being human. We all need to learn to speak to ourselves with self-compassion. A great starting place is awareness of the language we use in speaking to and about ourselves. Ask yourself why. Recall what happened in the past.  Make your list, and examine facts versus fiction to uncover what you have falsely believed about yourself.”

No. 4 –  Visualise the outcomes you desire.

“If you can picture what you want in your mind and see it clearly and vividly enough, you can make it happen. Top athletes and performers all talk about how they have already created a win in their minds. Personally, I create a vision board and review it throughout the day. I write visualisation affirmations on my vision board too. It’s on my mind 24/7!”

No. 5 – Become aware when you are not living in integrity, and start now!

“When I’m working with a client, I coach them to get into ‘integrity.’ Integrity in this context means that people are whole, complete, and responsible for everything that goes on in their lives. If they say they will run a 10k in three months, but they don’t have a pair of running shoes, they are not living in integrity.  When I am in integrity, I keep my word. If I say I’m going to do something, I do it. If I have a step goal, I keep going until I get all of my steps in. If you are living in integrity, you are being conscious in creating your life. At the same time, you are being vulnerable and authentic. As a coach, it is my job to call clients out when they are not being authentic.”

Alec Jiggins believes in his clients. He says, “They are whole and complete. They don’t need fixing. They are not broken. As a coach, it is my job to help them become the fullest expression and best version of themselves, and to help them get out there and live this amazing life!” To tap into more of his advice and find out more about his coaching services, visit Alec’s website.

Arif Anis: The Global Influence Magnate

Editor @ Global Man January 28, 2022 No Comments

 

Mr I’MPOSSIBLE to Exploring the Art of Possible

Arif Anis is an influence magnate. If you are in London, Dubai, New York or some other cosmopolitan European capital and moving in the circle of movers and shakers, then it is hard to escape the James Bondish charm of Arif Anis. You might notice him rubbing shoulders with the titans, royalty and newsmakers to Forbes richest alike; from the US president Bill Clinton to the British prime minister Boris Johnson and Pakistan’s premier Imran Khan, HRH the Prince of Wales to the Archbishop of Canterbury and Malala Yousafzai, Donald Trump to Richard Branson, Deepak Chopra to Tony Robbins, George Clooney to Angelina Jolie, Maria Sharapova to David Beckham and Amir Khan, Arif Anis might be visible everywhere uplifting people, businesses, organisations and inspiring lives for better. Heads turn when Forbes winner of the highest-earning woman in music and Time magazine’s “25 Most Influential People on the Internet” Katy Perry is found cooing along with him ‘I am Katy Perry, and I am possible.’ I’MPOSSIBLE is one of his ten mega-bestselling books that got translated into multiple languages.

Anis has been voted “Brain of the Year 2020” by the famous Brain Trust UK, a trophy previously awarded to the likes of Professor Stephen Hawking, astronaut and Senator John Glenn, former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov. The tale becomes further intriguing when we find how he started his life as a shepherd in Pakistan’s Soon Valley some four decades back and then became a success story by following and living his dreams. Anis’s tenth book and an anthology, “Habits of Success”, recently became a USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller. I should not forget mentioning Arif Anis won the ‘Global Man of the Year’ award in 2019 at the Global Woman Summit. Anis was also praised by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and Boris Johnson for founding the ‘One Million Meals’ campaign during the first lockdown in 2020. Anis is the president of Akhuway UK, part of the world’s largest interest-free microfinance loan provider Akhuwat with an over 1 billion dollars portfolio. Power100 placed him among the 100 most influential trailblazers in Europe in 2018. His initiatives have been featured by BBC, ITV, Sky, CNBC, The Telegraph, Yahoo, and many other global platforms.

 

Arif, what a fascinating story! How do you see all the dots connecting together when you look back?

It doesn’t interest me

how old you are

I want to know

if you will risk

looking like a fool

for love

for your dream

for the adventure of being alive.

“The Invitation,” by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

 

I was born in the small village Anga in Soon Valley, a craggy and mountainous valley in the North-West of Khushab District, Punjab, Pakistan. Soon Valley is beautiful, with many lakes, waterfalls, jungles, natural pools, and ponds. Since ancient times, the Valley has been settled, including by the Awan tribe, whose descendants still live in the Valley. I was raised in a family of five. My father was a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) who had served in the British and Pakistani army. My mother was a typical housewife who looked after her kids and nurtured them with love.

In Anga, the school was located miles away from home around a treacherous path. The roads were not paved, and the village did not have electricity. The environment was more conducive to games, hunting, and fighting. Nerds were looked down on as a bit feminine. I found a treasure of a library in a neighbour’s deserted house and fell in love with books. The fantasyland of One Thousand and One Nights and other stories helped me survive the otherwise tough terrain and hostile environment of my early years.

Books became my refuge while growing up. These books introduced me to a world of fantasy, magic, and surrealism where anything was possible. I dreamt of being a warrior leading a pack of knights. Sometimes I was the Aladdin on the flying carpet. At the same time, the stories of the great men and women who left their fingerprints on history inspired me. The conquerors, adventurers, dreamers, fighters inspired me to become more than my circumstances. Due to the prevalent misery around me, I imagined being someone who could inspire lives, uplift people, and change them for the better with some magical, healing touch. These ideas kept transforming from a warrior to a career in the armed forces, a teacher to a counsellor, and a civil servant to an international speaker.

 

 

Well, you seem to have come a long way from being a shepherd to being endorsed by Katy Perry, the most influential artist of our times. How do you make sense of your journey?

A burning quest to find my purpose aided me to weather the storms on the way. I used to question the meaning of existence. Gradually, I realised that even if there might be no divine purpose for ordinary lives, ordinary lives could still serve some divine purpose. Consistency and perseverance were the main keys. It was not easy, but it was very much worth it.

In my teens, I was merely a spectator to the events of my life. It felt like I was tossed in the giant whirlpool of life with no rudder or oars. I slowly worked out my tenacity muscle to get hold of myself, growing it daily by going a few extra feet out of my comfort zone. When I looked back, I had travelled hundreds of miles by doing it, living it every day.

In those early days, books were just an escape from reality. But when I stumbled upon books from Jim Rohn, Paulo Coelho, Napoleon Hill, and Tony Robbins, they introduced me to another kind of world where my intentions could invoke some law of attraction and that could create miracles. The idea of personal development that one can write one’s fate was a game-changer.

I have met many twists, turns, and surprises during my journey. In February 2020, after a meeting in London with His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, I was seated at the table with singer-songwriter Katy Perry, one of the greatest music icons alive, where I introduced her to my book I’MPOSSIBLE, and she was thrilled. “I am Katy Perry and I’MPOSSIBLE.” The “Firework” girl beamed at the camera while endorsing the message of possibilities. But she was not the only one. “I Am Possible and The Time Is Now” became a battle cry at thousands of places among the personal development junkies, at boot camps, seminars, and stadiums. Several heads of state and influencers endorsed this message. It is a One Thousand and One Nights tale for someone who was born a shepherd.

It was not smooth sailing. Every time I would fail and fall, I would hypnotise myself with the most powerful and inspirational quotations. I gradually found that obstacles led me to find my way; I must not resist the pain of discipline or struggle but rather find meaning in it.

 

One of your first books was ‘Follow Your Dreams’. How much of luck has to do with following and achieving one’s dreams?

Somehow, most of my craziest daydreams came true. They included a dinner with a US president, a toast with Ms World, and an official Buckingham Palace invite. I discovered that the harder you work, the luckier you get. You earn it by sweat and blood, by walking out of the comfort zone, by challenging yourself and shedding your old skin and habits. It is a GRIND, my friends. Luck can be a break or a chance, but that is it. Once, I conducted research and wrote an exclusive on the winners of the lottery. I discovered most of their lives got worse after the win. They became lost to addictions of various types and lived fractured lives. You will have your fair share of rising and falling, success and failure, applause and curses; no one is exempt. In my life, I have not come across anyone lucky enough not to be scarred by life. No one will come out alive, as they say. Higher awareness, compassion, and love are luck, and I have been lucky enough to receive them in abundance.

 

At the release of your ‘The New Psychology of Love’, we heard of how you found the love of your life. How did it happen, and how did it impact your life?

Well, as a hopeless romantic, I wear my heart on my sleeves. In my early twenties, I fell in love head over heels. It was a breathtaking place full of colours, songs, and sunshine. It still is. That time I was utterly broke and just starting on the ladder of life. Naturally, her family demanded a settled life and a career that was non-existent for me at that time. Culturally speaking, I had to throw a big fat wedding that I could not afford. However, through a strange series of events, somehow similar to the movie A Slumdog Millionnaire, I managed to win a million rupees jackpot in a TV quiz show after competing with over 50,000 participants. The top reward enabled me to follow my heart. It is still one of my most significant breakthroughs. After becoming my life partner, my wife Uzma impacted my life profoundly. We are a happy family of four with our two sons Sarosh and Fariqleet. My family means the world to me. They are also the biggest reasons for whatever I achieved or accomplished in my life.

 

You seem to have met some incredible people along the way. Who really influenced you?

Jim Rohn, Jack Canfield, Brian Tracy, Chopra, Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi, Ashfaq Ahad, the legendary British writer and creator of Mind Mapping Tony Buzan, all mentored me. Buzan and I travelled together to many countries to speak to big audiences. Buzan was one of the most intelligent minds I came across. Armed with a sheet of white paper and a fistful of coloured pens, he would sit in his office overlooking the Thames at Marlow, Buckinghamshire, “mind mapping” his day. An affable figure who always looked crisp and dapper, he had a rockstar persona. I still remember a critical lesson from him explaining “contact” and “connection.” He said, “It is not important whether you are in contact with someone or not; the most important thing is having a connection. Without having a connection, contact is merely a waste of time, energy and emotions.” He used to define “attention” in the simplest form as “staying there where you are.”

 

 

As an author and a thought leader, in your view, when is the best time to take off and live the life we deserve to live?

A human’s success is determined by the number of uncomfortable conversations the person is willing to have. We may not know the outcome of a choice we fear. The unknown road to the known destination paralyses us. We are petrified to even think about the time and the effort it may take to get to our final point. Heck, we are not sure if we are going to reach the end or not. It is a necessary risk we have to take. Our future is wrapped up in uncertainty. There is no amount of insurance that could cover it. When you gotta do it, screw it – just do it!

As Kurt Hahn says, “There is more in us than we know if we could be made to see it; perhaps, for the rest of our lives, we will be unwilling to settle for less.” You can’t fathom yourself exactly, and there is much more in you than you think. You are stronger, faster, and abler than you think you are. So don’t be afraid to give your fullest and roar with your might.

The words of Sven-Göran Eriksson offer great insight pertaining to personal desire: “To wish you were someone else is to waste the person you are.” Indeed, comparing ourselves to others is rarely a positive or productive experience; most of us have a tendency to idealise other people while undercutting ourselves. Partly due to this negative bias, many individuals end up concluding that they are years behind where they “should be” in life. Remember, you will arrive at your destination in your own time. You don’t need to spoil your journey thinking of your speed because this journey is more important than the destination.

 

I have heard your mantra of ‘walk your own damn path’? Isn’t that a tough choice to make in life?

What I learnt in life is that it is essential to walk your own path. Make your own path. Walk your own darn path. Don’t toe the line because it’s easy. Don’t copy your parents or significant others for emotional reasons. It must spring from your own being. Also, you must not be deceived by the trap that you are walking your own path while you are trudging along with societal norms. However, there is no harm in conforming to the norms but not because you cannot walk out of your comfort zone. Unfortunately, you will never embrace the essence of your existence until you walk your own darn path.

Life is not a straight road. There are bends here and there. However, a bend in the road is not the end of the road. Sometimes you will try so hard to accomplish something. Sometimes you can be so prepared and still fail. You will sweat, toil, labour, bleed, and it will amount to nothing. And every time you fail, it’s painful. It breaks something within you. It is a dark and lonely place. However, this is the place most visited by all the champions. A man’s character is not judged after he celebrates a victory but by what he does when his back is against the wall. So, no matter how great the setback, how severe the failure, you never give up. You pick yourself up, you brush yourself off, you push forward, you move on, you adapt, you overcome. Just never give up. You only lose when you give up. You are not beaten until you give up. So, never, never give up!

 

How do you see fear impacting our lives, and how we can outrun it? How o do it and who can help us do it?

There are two ways to live. You continue running or ducking away from what scares you. This will make a small bugbear grow into a monster. Or you face your fears, eyeball to eyeball, and in one second you realise that it’s the most blissful experience of your life. There’s zero fear. You realise that the point of maximum danger is the point of minimum fear. It’s bliss. Why were you scared in your bed the night before? What do you need that fear for? It just ruins your day. The best things in life are on the other side of terror, on the other side of your maximum fear.

Most of us waste too much time frozen by the fear of failure, fear of being judged, fear of everything. All it takes is one first step forward. No matter how small. You’re the tallest wall to climb. The longest bridge to cross! Because of your mental stoppers, you fail to reach your full potential and you betray your dreams every day. You can overcome all this by finding your true self, and tuning into the positive, hopeful voice in your head that’s pointing towards the light. Follow the light.

The truth of the matter is that no one else can do pushups for you. It is you, yourself, who has to run that mile, stay up that night, smile at that fear, face those demons, and walk up that road to your heart’s calling. No one else, however close to your heart, may determine your route.

Follow your heart, and walk that road. Others can walk with you, but nobody can walk it for you.

 

 

Giving seems to be a big part of your life. Tell us more about your ‘One Million Meals’ campaign.

Giving is a substantial part of my existence. I have mentored thousands of leaders in various industries. My protégés include coaches who have inspired countless lives, world champions, Olympic athletes and ordinary people with extraordinary dreams. Around one-third of my time, efforts, and resources are dedicated to charitable campaigns.

On 13 May 2021, the British Cabinet Office announced that Prime Minister Boris Johnson had awarded the Points of Light award to the One Million Meals campaign, acknowledging the four of us (Arif, Suleman, Bilal & Momin). I had co-founded and named the campaign on the outset of the Coronavirus pandemic in April 2020. The campaign was initiated to feed the National Health Service doctors, paramedics, keyworkers, and vulnerable people during the lockdown. Through June 2020, we had supported 203 locations across the UK, including 47 NHS hospitals. The campaign was recognised by Her Majesty The Queen, HRH the Prince of Wales, David Beckham, Amir Khan, and many others. We were thrilled when I managed to get backing from the world-famous band, ‘The Proclaimers’ who are a Scottish rock duo formed in 1983 by twin brothers Craig and Charlie ReidI. They dedicated their world-famous song, “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” to the campaign to raise funds.

I am a trustee and lifelong supporter of Akhuwat, the world’s largest interest-free microfinance organisation with around a billion dollars turnover that has changed more than five million lives in Pakistan and abroad for the better.

 

You are among the top-notch coaches on the art of influence and impact building. You have helped prominent businesses and individuals in scaling up their impact. How could the readers benefit from your expertise in this area?

Noise is defining our current existence. Attention span has shrunk to a couple of seconds, with the world’s top corporations vying for their ‘nano seconds’ of the attention pie.

Power and influence are both used synonymously. However, these both are distinctive, and they work in widely different ways. Power is a zero-sum game as the more we give it, the less we have it. However, contrary to that, influence spreads and multiplies as it is distributed. Plato famously argued in The Republic that a tyrant, however powerful, ultimately suffers in the end by corrupting his own soul. Power is forced, while influence is voluntary. Power makes use of one-way dialogue while influence creates a conversation.

I help businesses and individuals to gain influence in their respective fields of choice through reputation management. Due to the shorter attention span, reputation management is the effort to influence what and how people think of a brand or person when viewed online. Put another way, a character is who you are, and reputation is who other people think you are. The world’s best brands use reputation to forge strong relationships between customers and communities. Through an extensive network of partnerships, collaborations and expertise and alliances, businesses and individuals are offered a one-stop-shop to position them in the respective markets, build their narrative and story, enhance their digital footprint and transform feedback from reviews, likes, listings, comments and clicks into their competitive advantage.

 

 

So what is next for a person of your dreams, calibre and ambition?

It is living to the fullest, creating more success stories, harnessing the fullest potential of individuals, institutions and organisations and enabling a world of influence where the hope is bigger than the fear. As an executive vice president of Tony Buzan Global, one ambition is to reach out to more than 500 million mind mappers, dreamers and practitioners globally to make this world a better place through mental literacy.

In my view, COVID-19 is not just a medical challenge, but a spiritual challenge too. To defeat COVID humanity need to follow the path of self-purification, compassion, nonviolence, God and Nature. This pandemic raises serious questions about the way this world has been run in the last hundred years, by using greed, power, lust and obnoxious use of privilege. This pandemic has laid bare what was already obvious, but we buried our heads in the sand like ostriches.

We have a chance to do something extraordinary. As we head out of this pandemic, we can change the world. Create a world of compassion. A world where we are kind to each other. A world where we are kind no matter what class, race, gender, creed or the job tag we have. A world we don’t judge those at the food bank because that may be us if things were just slightly different. Let love and kindness be our roadmap. If the world after coronavirus is not going to be a much more greener, much more environmentally friendly, much more vegetarian, much more just and equal, then human beings will deserve a much worse virus than coronavirus.

Throughout the centuries, an earthquake or a volcano or a pandemic or a tsunami shake the world. There is always a message in the shake-up. Wake up! I am sure we would get rid of coronavirus. Say, in a year, or two or three. But I fear what comes next. We go back to our routine stupidities, namely the wars, supporting the dictators, fueling divide through extremism, voting for politicians without integrity or character, destroying the forests, killing earth’s climate etc. This is worse than the pandemic itself. Let’s finally wake up.

 

Corey Berrier: From Knocking on Doors in College to Becoming The Sales CEO

Editor @ Global Man October 26, 2021 No Comments

 

Tired of seeing businesses struggling to make sales, Corey Berrier entered the business coaching world in 2009. After creating the foundation for his sales career, knocking on doors in his college days, Corey built the ability to sell anything. As well as working with business owners, coaches and sales professionals helping them create 7 figure sales teams, ‘The Sales CEO’ began the ‘Successful Life Podcast’ with the mission to inspire.

 

Let’s go back to the beginning – who was Corey before sales?

The truth is I’ve always been a salesperson. Before I launched my personal training business in 2009, I had a bit of a rocky start. I was a heavy drinker and was heading nowhere fast. So I decided to quit drinking over 12 years ago because I knew I wouldn’t be able to achieve the success I wanted while drinking. To be transparent, it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.

 

When did you realise you wanted to take it one step further, transitioning from sales to business coaching?

My sales career began selling door to door in college, and it was brutal, but it gave me a solid foundation to sell anything. It also gave me the motivation to step into a more rewarding role. It gave me the experience I needed to excel in the future. 

 

In the sales industry, you’re working with customers who are most likely thinking ‘snake oil’ when they answer the phone. How does someone get past that barrier?

After selling my personal training company and buying a medical spa, I realized that my heart was in sales. I sold my medical practice and began working with business owners, coaches and sales professionals helping them create 7 figure sales teams with unbreakable confidence. 

I always label what the other person may be thinking. For example, “Hi, this is Corey Berrier, The Sales CEO, now you might be thinking I’m just another guy trying to sell you snake oil, you also may be thinking I’m just calling because I want money, you also may be thinking I’m just like the rest of the salespeople online, you also may be thinking I’m not trustworthy or that I’m going to take advantage of you?” The reason I label what you may be thinking is so you can relax and not feel threatened.

Autumn Harrison Photography

 

What are three key traits someone should work on if they want to be successful in sales?

The three key things you want to in a great salesperson is empathy, the ability to communicate from your customers’ point of view. The second thing is showing the customer you are different from everyone else. The way you show up online and in-person should be the same. Finally, every salesperson should have is the ability to read body language and micro-expressions. Why? Because you can have a poker face, but you can’t have a poker body. 

 

 

I always see salespeople as confident people who excel at public speaking. How much of your pitch is prepared beforehand, and how much is an in-the-moment speech?

Preparation always wins. The reason preparation always wins is because it gives me the confidence going into the sale that I need to be effective and not waste anyone’s time. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes some unknowns come up, and it’s your job as a sales expert to pivot like it’s part of the plan. 

 

 

You began the ‘Successful Life Podcast’ at the end of 2019, and since then, you have hosted numerous successful entrepreneurs. What inspired you to create your podcast, and what does the future hold for Successful Life Podcast?

I started my podcast so I could share important stories from people that have truly changed peoples lives, and have a positive impact on the world. I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the biggest names in their industry, and selfishly, it’s also given me first-hand experience through the lens of these amazing people. I’ve learned so much by interviewing over 100 business owners, influencers and thought leaders over the past two years. I have just started another podcast called The Market Disrupters Podcast, where we discuss industries that are disrupting the current market. As for the Successful Life Podcast, I’m going to continue helping others through impactful stories. 

 

Global Woman Summit: 6 Speakers That Will Guide You to Success!

Editor @ Global Man February 26, 2021 No Comments

Aluat Deng

A room full of women and one theme. Success. The Global Woman Summit; an event that targets women and aims to show them the steps and motivation to achieving their goals. The summit which will occur between the 5th and 8th of March usually hosts an in person lavish event which sees women from all over the globe attend. Although it’s had to move online this year that hasn’t stopped the C.E.O, Mirela Sula from hosting a virtual event that is sure to create the next round of successful entrepreneurs and business owners. The event which will feature a colorful panel of speakers all with the experience and knowledge to provide the steps to a successful lifestyle is not one to be missed.

Mirela Sula
CEO & Founder of Global Woman

Think Big & Go Global:

With more than 20 years of experience in the field, Mirela Sula is a woman that embodies the phrase ‘Go big or Go home’ while being the CEO of her own company (Global Woman) as well as an author and public speaker; she has managed to expand her brand to over 26 cities around the world, and she now offers you the opportunity to learn and gain knowledge on how to achieve this for yourself.

Jack Canfield
New York Times Best-selling Author

The Success Principles

With over 2.5 Million subscribers Jack Canfield is an empowering speaker (inducted into the Speaker’s Hall of Fame) who uses his personal life experiences to teach others how to   achieve their goals. The Harvard graduate has spent over 50 years teaching his success principles which has helped millions of people and now he brings his expertise to the Global Woman Summit this March.

Veronica Tan
Co-Founder of Success Resources

Find the Key to Your Success:

Veronica Tan is an entrepreneur who although born into the lifestyle of business knew it was not an easy road. Working with her husband, Tan has used her personal experiences to create Success Resources which provides a way of life with the aim of bringing the best out of people. With over 10 million people from over 30 countries impacted by her hard work. Veronica Tan now brings her knowledge and skills to the lucky ladies of the Summit.

Dr. Fab Mancini
#1 Healthy Living Media Expert & World Renowned Chiropractor

How to Create a Fabulous Life

Dr. Fab Mancini is a healthy living expert that uses his knowledge of health and the human body to promote a way of living that is both beneficial for the body and mind. The Harvard graduate is a renowned success with a

best-selling book (Power of Self-Healing) and a popular radio show

(Self-Healing with Dr. Fab). He has also shared his knowledge on multiple media platforms. The Dr’s work has been so inspirational he was honoured with a library named after him by the President of Mexico. The highly sought after public speaker is coming to the Summit and it’s an experience you won’t want to miss.

Kim Kiyosaki
Internationally Acclaimed Keynote Speaker & Author

The Rise of Women Entrepreneurs:

Author and renowned speaker, Kim Kiyosaki of the ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’  and ‘Rich Woman’ books, brings her educational and motivating views to the Summit this March. A previous speaker at the event, she has used her platform to encourage women to learn more about their money. Not only has she found success herself but is now using her platform to teach other women how to step foot in the entrepreneurial game and find their own wealth.

Rob Moore
Founder of the Rob Moore Foundation

The Power of Your Podcast:

With 6 Amazon and Audible Bestsellers under his belt Rob Moore is using his platform to create a much needed conversation around entrepreneurship. The prolific podcaster (The Disruptive Podcast & The Money Podcast) is using his platform to change the way people think about business. The self-made multimillionaire and public speaking record holder is on his way to the Summit this March and is ready to share his tips on how to achieve your own success in the business world.

With all these speakers joining us this spring at the Summit, it’s sure to be an impactful, eye-opening event. With many Global Woman members excited to attend it’s due to be an event that will change the way many women view themselves and will open the door to many skills and opportunities they never thought possible. All that’s missing is you.

Sign up here to attend this amazing event: https://www.globalwomansummit.com/home25794403

The Harder You Work the Luckier You Get

Editor @ Global Man August 25, 2020 No Comments

Arif Anis Malik: Crises in the past have inspired great leadership icons. If we as humanity have been waiting for a sign, then THIS IS IT!

    By Srishti Kapoor

Introduction

The 2018 edition of the Power 100 British Parliamentary Review listed Arif Anis among the 100 most influential trailblazers in Europe. Author of I’MPOSSIBLE,  ‘Follow Your Dreams’, and ‘Made In Crises‘, keynote speaker and executive coach Arif Anis has 20 years of experience in delivering transformational results, uplifting lives, and impacting people, policies, and narratives. He has spoken as a contributor/ keynote at several global universities including the University of Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, Hong Kong University, SOAS, London School of Economics, and many others. As an international human capital expert, Anis has coached top coaches, corporate leaders, heads of states, movie stars, and CEOs.

As an international keynote speaker, Anis has shared the stage with global icons in the field of leadership and influence industry including President Donald Trump, President Bill Clinton, Prime Minister Imran Khan, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Prime Minister Theresa May, Prime Minister Tony Abbott, President Musharraf,  President Nasheed, Tony Robbins, Tony Buzan, Daniel Goleman, Richard Bandler, Jack Canfield, Richard Branson, Robert Kiyosaki, Paul McKenna, Brendon Burchard, James Caan, and many others.

Anis also served as an Economic Senator at the European Economic Senate. Anis strongly believes in supporting social causes. Anis supports HRH Prince of Wales’s British Asian Trust. Arif has recently co-founded One Million Meals campaign to serve the NHS staff and vulnerable people facing the food crisis during the lockdown that received global recognition. He is a trustee of the world’s largest microfinance loan provider Akhuwat that has disbursed around 4 million interest-free loans (more 800 million U$D).  Anis’s initiatives have been featured at BBC, ITV, Sky, CNBC, The Telegraph, Yahoo, and many other global platforms.

How did you feel when you were announced as a winner for the Global Man Award, 2019?

The announcement came as a huge surprise. Particularly for an immigrant in the UK who started his journey three decades back as a shepherd. Also, the nominations were awesome. The likes of Andy Harrington were nominated from the UK, and I thought I did not have much of a chance. I knew Mirela and was appreciative of her amazing work for Global Woman. However, I am also aware that sometimes awards and recognition are more about your public profile and presence. So, the nomination itself came as a surprise. When I heard of getting shortlisted among finalists, I said: “Huh, you gotta be kidding“. Winning the Global Man award in a star-studded event at Hilton was the moment of a lifetime. It was kept confidential till the last minute, so I was pretty much out of breath when my name was announced. At the same time, it was a fulfilling moment. You know when you feel acknowledged on a global stage after serving for two decades, speaking to more than a million people in 42 countries, writing books, doing charitable work – and then you get this pat on the back. It all seems worth it with a huge expression of gratitude. I won Brian Tracy ward of excellence in 2017 but being the Global Man of the year was the icing on the cake.

As a leader and successful influencer, how do you face one of the biggest challenges of the century, which is coronavirus?

Unfortunately, you are right. Coronavirus is for our century what Spanish Flu, World War I and II have been for the 20th century. Its ramifications are huge, and, in many ways, it seems, our world may not remain the same as it was when the clock struck 2020. The global Corona conflict has rammed people into trenches. Invisible, lethal, viral weapons have replaced visible whistling bullets and thunderous bombs. As we don’t know who is calling the shots, it is difficult to tell how we can call a truce with imperceptible enemies.

In my view, COVID-19 is not just a medical challenge, but a spiritual challenge too. To defeat COVID humanity need to follow the path of self-purification, compassion, nonviolence, God and Nature. This pandemic raises serious questions about the way this world has been run in the last 5-7 decades, by using greed, power, lust and obnoxious use of the privilege. This pandemic has laid bare what was already obvious, but we buried our heads in the sand like ostriches.

We have a chance to do something extraordinary. As we head out of this pandemic, we can change the world. Create a world of compassion. A world where we are kind to each other. A world where we are kind no matter what class, race, gender, what creed or the job tag we have. A world we don’t judge those at the food bank because that maybe us if things were just slightly different. Let love and kindness be our roadmap. If the world after coronavirus is not going to be a much more greener, much more environmentally friendly and much more vegetarian, much more just and equal, then human beings will deserve a much worse virus than coronavirus.

Throughout the centuries, an earthquake or a volcano or a pandemic or a tsunami shake the world. There is always a message in the shake-up. Wake up! I am sure we would get rid of coronavirus. Say, in a year, or two or three. But I fear what comes next. We go back to our routine stupidities, namely the wars, supporting the dictators, fuelling divide through extremism, voting for politicians without integrity or character, destroying the forests, killing earth’s climate etc. This is worse than the pandemic itself. I pray that we don’t resort to what life was when the clock struck 12 am on the 31st of December 1999. Let’s finally wake-up.

In my upcoming book, ‘The Big Reset‘, I have discussed these aspects in detail. The book will be released worldwide in August 2020.  I also co-authored a book “Leading in Crisis” with Qaiser Abbas that is coming out in July, focused on similar insights.

There are several types of a leader, so which one do you reckon you are? And what are the key principles that you stick to?

I must say that in the last two decades, my idea of leadership has undergone a huge transformation.  I started following charismatic leaders, but I have concluded that servant leaders are the best. A servant leader, as the name might otherwise suggest, is far from being someone who follows along blindly. In fact, some of the greatest leaders of our time embody the true definition of leaders that serve first. A servant leader is an incredibly strong figure head who focuses on serving and empowering others and leads with their team in mind.

There are principles we can stick to being a servant leader. A servant leader is one who values the views and contributions of others. They actively solicit feedback and weigh any possible decisions carefully before concluding. A servant leader believes that everyone is valuable and is deserving of trust and respect.A servant leader cares about the well-being of others and finds ways to lift their teammates up, not bring them down.Servant leaders are willing to share wisdom freely and understand that their knowledge can help others improve both personally and professionally.

They are passionate about growing other leaders others and like to think of their team or organization as a community, rather than a workplace. A servant leader can focus on more than tomorrow’s goals. They care about the future success of the organization and will adopt choices representative of that fact. Servant leaders are also tenacious. They don’t give up easily and believe that the mission of the organization is too big to let go of. Servant leaders lead with a sense of purpose that drives them to make everyone around them better. Empathy, listening, persuasion, humility, commitment, foresight and awareness – all the key principles of a servant leader.

Most people have goals and aims in their life, as you have mentioned in the previous interview with Jim Hotaling that you had seven things that you wanted to achieve by the age of 35, and you did it. What are your next ambitions and “impossible” goals to concur both for yourself, as an influencer and a leader?

I think I was more like a kid in the candy shop while I was growing up. Perhaps, we all go through those phases when having a dinner with Miss World or becoming a best selling author or speaking to a crowd of 20,000 or rubbing shoulders with presidents or other ‘hot’ goals, that I shared with Jim, I had while I was in my 20s. However, the big question is ‘what is next?’ These milestones don’t attract me that much when I look back and reflect. It seems I am more invested in the ‘impossible‘ goals now. Somehow, I have woken up to the darker side of our existence, and it pains me seeing that much of hunger, inequality, and injustice. I lose my sleep on seeing the likes of George Floyd under the knees of the oppressors, losing their breath, in various parts of the world in the name of race, creed and other divisive elements.  I must make it clear that I have not given up in the human capacity of doing good, rather I am more convinced than ever that we all can make a huge difference through a concerted effort. Mentoring more than a million masterminds is also one of the crazy goals I plan to accomplish in the next ten years.

So, in the list of my ‘impossible‘ goals, now are the goals to combat hunger and provision of the level playing field. I have dedicated a good chunk of my time to Prince of Wales’s British Asian Trust, Akhuwat and One Million Meals. I am chief executive of Akhuwat Trust UK, that represents Akhuwat which is the world’s largest interest-free microfinance provider with more than 750 million U$D disbursed among more than four million people. One Million Meal is a not-for-profit, volunteer-led initiative, which was set up by me, famous food preneur Suleman Raza and Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Bilal Bin Saqib at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. It aimed to serve the NHS hospital staff, keyworkers and vulnerable people impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, through fundraising, collaborations, and partnerships by involving sociopreneurs, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, charities, food industry, corporate enterprises, and local communities. The main focus of the campaign was to serve food to people in crisis beyond any division of colour, creed, race, gender or orientation. Live demand from hospitals was passed to Italian, Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, and continental restaurants in the area with good hygiene rating for delivery. In three months,  One Million Meals managed to support 203 locations (NHS trusts, hospitals, agencies, schools, food banks) across the UK, by serving 47 NHS hospitals by delivering more than 100,000 meals and nutritious drinks to doctors, nurses, paramedics, key workers on the frontline risking their lives along with homeless and vulnerable people suffering at the hands of the pandemic. As the lockdown has been lifted, now we aim to serve millions of meals through the charity in the long run. We received acknowledgements from David Beckham, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office and the Royalty – but the real honour has been to be able to serve itself.

Do you believe possibilities come to you just by luck or do you reckon you need to earn it? And if it is by earnings, what would your advice be on how to earn that possibility?

Well, coming from a small village Angahin Pakistan from a Godforsaken part of the world to the centre of our civilization has been a long journey. However, after coming across and working with the most influential people in the world, I discovered that the harder you work, the luckier you get. You earn it by sweat and blood, by walking out of the comfort zone, by challenging yourself and shedding your old skin and habits. It is a GRIND, my friend. Luck can be a break or a chance, but that is it. Once I conducted research and wrote an exclusive on the winners of the lottery. Found out most of them got worse in life, lost to addictions of various types and lived with fractured lives, even after winning millions of pounds or dollars. You would have your fair share of rise and fall, success and failure, applause, and curses, and no one is exempted. In my life, I have not come across anyone lucky enough not to be scarred by life. No one will come out alive, as they say. Yes, higher awareness, compassion and love are luck, and I have been lucky enough to receive them in abundance.

In your book, you have said,”Change yourself before you change the world”. Nowadays, what change the world is seeking right now, in your opinion? And what should an individual do in order to make an influence on that change?

That is a great question, and it is the heart of the matter. Somehow this pandemic, the ongoing protests of Black Lives Matter and the systemic failure of leadership all over the world make one thing clear. We gotta change. We need to acquire better habits, routines, drills, and practice. We may be comfortably living in our apartments or houses. We may not be getting affected by hunger during this time of despair. But there are so many people out there who may not have eaten a proper meal in the last few days. The turmoil caused by the COVID 19 pandemic is playing havoc in the lives of millions of people from all around the world. We are all in this together. We all can do our bit. Let’s feed the hungry and help the less fortunate among us. Together we can make this world a better place.

Recently, I have co-authored another book with my friend and best selling author Qaiser Abbas. It is titled as ‘Made in Crises‘. It should be out by September 2020. In Chinese, the character for the word crisis is made up of two symbols, danger and opportunity. A crisis is the ultimate test a leader can endure. A crisis can swiftly reveal a leader’s capabilities and strengths, but it can also expose the underlying weaknesses. The unpredictable, dramatic, and highly charged events surrounding a crisis profoundly affect the people in an organization and threaten its very existence. A crisis is a condition of instability in social, economic, political, or international affairs, leading to a decisive change. Most of us are ordinary people until a crisis finds us and gets extraordinary out of us. It is an interesting study of how various crises inspired great leadership icons and how these symbols of prominence stirred a distinct set of events. While crises do upset us and hand our existing world upside down, they do us one favour, and that is they urge us to change.

The change is obvious. We can not shut our eyes to the call now. It ‘too shall pass’ but to me matters more what remains when it passes or what comes next. We found out we don’t need guns, bombs and missiles and weapons of mass destructions. We need hospitals, doctors, nurses, ventilators, and access to immunity and healthy diet for all of us. We don’t need demagogues and jerks as leaders but humane people in the position of power. We need less of Donald Trumps but more of Jacinda Arden. We need leaders who flex compassion as a muscle instead of bullying the less fortunate. And the biggest of all, we need to change ourselves to share our meals, our fortune, our luck, our success, our stardom with the less fortunate around us. We can not build islands of arrogance and ignorance of misery. We are all in it, together! If this pandemic does not change us, nothing will. If we have been waiting for a sign. THIS IS IT!