Latest / Authentic Living / Creating a Humanity-Centered Corporate Culture with Mohammad Anwar Part II

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Creating a Humanity-Centered Corporate Culture with Mohammad Anwar Part II · Authentic Living

• 0:01
  Welcome to authentic living with Roxanne, a place where we have as conversations about
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  things that really matter in our lives.
• 0:11
  And now here's your host, Roxanne Derhodge.
• 0:23
  Hi, everyone.
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  It's Roxanne Durgeshologic Living with Sam, and today I have a special guest, Mohammed Anwar.
• 0:30
  And, Mohammed has been in business for quite a while He's a young guy, but I think, you know,
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  did you start business in grade school there, mom and you started so young?
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  Yeah.
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  I started, my business when I was twenty years old, still pursuing my computer science degree,
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  at, University of Houston.
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  So I was in my a junior senior year when I started.
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  My goodness.
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  So you started right out the gate.
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  So let me tell you a little bit about Mohammed and, his bio will be you know, in the show
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  notes, but, he has a pretty fascinating story and we both, cross paths at the Forbes
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  executive business council.
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  But what he talks about, which is that I think it's, you know, when I think of the word love,
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  so I'm a, you know, my background is a psychotherapist Muhammad.
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  People cringe in business generally.
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  They go, well, what does what does love have to do with a boardroom?
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  And you know, so I'm I love, your new book and the title because it's love as a business
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  strategy.
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  So Mohammed Anwar was such an amazing guest that we decided to have him back yet again.
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  I've made this podcast into a two part series.
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  So glad you could hang out with us for the first part.
• 1:45
  If you didn't catch the first part, please please check it out.
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  It was an amazing podcast with Mohammed.
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  We believe behaviors is the foundation of building the right processes and procedures.
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  So if you have the wrong behaviors or wrong mindsets, you will see that reflected in your
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  processes, procedures, and system.
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  So that's kind of the the journey, and we we we say behaviors at the bottom line.
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  If culture eats strategies for breakfast like Peter Drucker says, then behaviors eat culture
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  for lunch.
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  That's our philosophy.
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  I like that.
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  Now let's talk about some of the practical things.
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  Right?
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  So you were, like you said, you have to make the ship.
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  But trust had to have been impaired at the time you were making that shift.
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  So I'm gonna be I can play devil's advocate in for a sec.
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  I'm saying, her miss his mister CEO, I don't know if I like you.
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  And now we have the CEO that's coming from a place of love.
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  I think people are gonna go, well, that's a nice thing there, Mohammed, but I don't know if
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  I'm gonna get on board.
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  What kind of deception did you deal with and how how did you approach that?
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  And I'm obviously this is what you do now with culture, but I I'm curious because I know I've
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  been in those situations over and over again where everybody's like, oh, yeah.
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  Yeah.
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  Sure.
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  Sure.
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  You want me to tell you what I really think?
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  And then where is that information gonna go?
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  Isn't gonna show up in my performance evaluation, or am I not gonna get that major
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  project?
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  So what kind of things did you deal with?
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  Sure.
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  So first of all, when I watched that football game that weekend, the following Friday, I had
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  a whole company stand up with 200 plus employees.
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  And I made an open declaration that I where I said, hey.
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  We need to love another and support one another because I want you know, I was so inspired that
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  I wanted to make that declaration.
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  And when I did that, people were like, this is what they told me afterwards when they were
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  comfortable to tell me this, they were apparently initially, they were like, okay.
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  That sounds interesting, but this looks like it's the flavor of the month and, you know,
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  we'll see what we see.
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  We'll see if you got you will really act on it.
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  And that was their skeptical approach because I had obviously not had a good track record up
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  until that point in time.
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  So they didn't wanna believe that this this change or this commitment to change was gonna
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  be real.
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  But after that, like, I I continued to stay steadfast on my commitment and took actionable
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  steps try to do whatever little things I could do to show my genuine effort in building a
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  culture of love by first working on myself I didn't hold anybody else accountable, but
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  myself.
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  And through that journey, I think people started to see that, okay, this is not the
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  flavor of the month and that there is some real effort happening.
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  Like, little examples just to give you.
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  I vacated my executive office that was the largest office in her office space.
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  And then moved out into the bullpen area with the rest of the team.
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  Mhmm.
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  And initially, they thought I was there to monitor them and micromanaged them.
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  But ultimately, they realized I was there to serve them because I believe that I need to put
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  their needs for mine.
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  And this open door policy isn't really a real thing because if you're a leader, you should be
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  going where the team is not asking them to come make the walk to your office.
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  So I decide to be with them in the bullpen area.
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  I start to come to the office first before anybody else showed up, and I would be the last
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  person to leave the office.
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  I wouldn't go till the last and had left.
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  And many a times when people would stay late, for work, I'd make sure to go pick up dinner
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  for them.
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  They didn't have to go home and have to prepare a meal.
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  I started to write thank you notes to our team I had never done so in 12 to 13 years of
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  running my business.
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  And when I did that, I also included gift cards to the movies or dinner.
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  To show my token of appreciation, not just to the employees, but the family members and the
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  spouses and the loved ones because they too were sacrificing their time away from their
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  loved one for them to be at soft way.
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  So I wanted to show my token of appreciation there.
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  Then I started to, make sure I do there there was no task beneath me.
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  I started to do anything and everything.
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  I would generally delegate whether that meant, picking up trash or serving food to the team
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  when we had potlucks.
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  Down to even making sure that I would not ask anybody to do something I was unwilling to do
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  myself.
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  So I tried to play the roles of a project manager, salesperson, anything and everything I
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  could do to be beside my team in the trenches.
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  So I began to do a lot of those type of little things.
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  I also did some things that I didn't disclose at the time.
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  I sold my house that was fully paid out to put money back into the company to make payroll.
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  I sold, a fancy car that I should have never had to begin with and put the money back into
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  the company.
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  And I didn't take a paycheck.
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  For 8 months in all of 2016 because I wanted to make sure our team would receive paychecks
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  before mine.
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  But all of these things were done without disclosure because I didn't believe that I
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  needed to show it off at the time, but it was the that things had least impact.
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  On on our team.
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  Yes.
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  They did notice all of a sudden I was not driving a Porsche, and I was driving a minivan.
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  But at the same time, I I don't think those things mattered as much.
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  What mattered was the little things that I did.
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  The little things I took to write a thank you note, the things that I did to be there with
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  the team or help them on a project.
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  Those acts of servitude is what I think made the difference and and I think from there,
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  like, everybody who had doubted or had skeptical response to my initial declaration
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  saw that there was a genuine, effort.
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  But even then, I don't think I was able to get the past beyond me.
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  I made one trip to India in July of 2018, almost 2 years into this journey.
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  And I did a, a town hall meeting where I asked for a poll, and I said, hey.
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  I trust improved.
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  Between you and I and only two people out of a hundred plus people raised their hand.
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  Wow.
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  Yeah.
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  I was incredibly disappointed.
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  It was like a punch in my gut, and I remember being very disappointed.
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  And I just left that meeting abruptly the town haller, roughly.
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  A few days later, I had another meeting with the with the entire company, and I mastered the
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  curtain to go up there, and I apologize.
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  I apologize for all my past behaviors.
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  I apologize for all the policies.
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  And systems that I hadn't put in place that had hurt them.
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  And I remember seeking forgiveness, and I was crying at the time.
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  And so I became very emotional and I probably ended that meeting as well and left.
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  And, the last day of my trip arrived, and I was supposed to head back to Houston.
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  And that evening, they organized the farewell gathering for me.
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  And, they surprised me with a book that said, we love you, and we trust you more.
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  And they filled the book with messages of love and support, for me, each and every person had
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  sent a individual message and and, filled up the book.
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  And, I received that book, and I started crying again.
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  But I learned a very valuable lesson that day, which was as leaders, we can commit to change
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  and or change as much as we want.
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  But if we're not gonna ask or seek forgiveness for our past behaviors, that trust is never
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  going to be built.
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  And so I know you asked the question about trust, And and so my biggest learning from that
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  lesson was forgiveness is so important in a workplace and it's barely spoken about.
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  But you can't heal cultures or move forward without that opportunity to forgive one another
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  because we hurt each other intentionally or unintentionally.
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  We're human, but also we need to have the courage to apologize.
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  Otherwise, trust, or any of those type of other attributes that are critical for organizations
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  will never be built no matter what you do.
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  One an one an amazing story, but it's so true because I often say that, when
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  disillusionment's, build up, it's like having a piece of food lodged in your throat, quite
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  literally.
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  You you can't do much because all you're trying to do is breathe.
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  And when you dislodge that, piece of food, which would be, you know, like you're asking
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  for forgiveness, people felt a lot in that room, but they probably had a lot of mixed
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  emotions well because they're trying to take in all the positives, but there was still the
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  negatives that was still pushing against it.
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  But you know, probably you asking for that allowed people that it's like, all of a sudden,
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  the dislodging of that food, but allowed people to to start to receive.
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  And that's very, very critical, you know, whether you're dealing with an employee, you
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  know, or a senior team.
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  If you've had that dissension between you, you have to really figure out what is keeping
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  people away from becoming vulnerable against, right?
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  Because with psychological safety to your point, if I feel like I'm gonna be reprimanded
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  or judged or somewhere along the line that this is gonna come back at me.
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  You know, why would I be, you know, open up again?
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  So you have to give people that place of that cushioning to say, look, I'm really, really
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  real.
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  I know I haven't acted real before, but, you know, give me the benefit of the doubt.
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  And that takes a lot of work with your senior leadership team, where there's some steps or
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  things that you do now in culture with your when you work with, companies and culture
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  because sometimes, see your teams tell the CEO what he or she wants to hear And, were there
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  with your senior team, were there people that had to go because they no longer fit the model
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  and the kind of the paradigm that you were trying to create?
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  Yes.
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  So I had quite a few departures from my senior leadership that, had to be executed for us to
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  move forward on this journey because if my senior leadership team wasn't going to, follow
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  this approach and this model, it wouldn't be successful.
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  Mhmm.
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  So, yeah, we had to part ways with quite a few of our senior leaders to make space for this
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  type of a culture and transformation.
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  Now there were quite a few, leaders specifically from the middle management that I
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  think, stepped up to the occasion and wanted because they were the ones who were taking the
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  brunt of this.
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  Right?
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  So they felt the They felt the need for it.
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  They desired this, and they wanted this, not just for themselves, but for everyone that
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  worked with them, because they had more empathy for the last seat last row and all the
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  struggles that we were going through.
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  So I was fortunate enough to have a good middle management layer that stepped up to the
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  occasion and filled the responsibilities, but also were completely bought in.
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  To this approach and, join me in this journey of transformation and belief and, Ultimately,
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  they went on their own journey, and we're all on our journeys.
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  Like, I wouldn't ever say we'll arrive.
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  We have arrived or we will arrive because this is a state of permanent transformation but,
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  yeah, you know, some had to go.
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  Some stayed back, and they were aligned to it.
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  You know, philosophically, but also from a purpose and desire purpose.
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  And they had to work hard to transform themselves and work towards the culture this
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  creating this culture is not easy.
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  It's definitely one that is very desirable for anyone, no matter which part of the world or
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  globe you're from.
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  But at the same time, it is hard work to build a culture of love.
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  It is hard to say, I'm gonna put the needs of others for my own.
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  It is hard to do things for others without expectations in return.
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  So it's it's not easy.
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  We're talking about unconditional love to some degree.
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  Right?
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  Which is why, you know, like, I I don't know if you have children, but, you know, Mohammed,
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  but, you know, naturally, we can we seem to be able to do that you know, in personal
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  relationships.
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  But, really, if you think about work relationships, you know, you spend sometimes
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  more time with the people on your senior team or at work than you do sometimes your family.
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  So it's extending that space to others, right, the same that you might do with your two year
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  old you know, who is not taking their time out very well.
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  You're kind and gentle, but you don't say that's it.
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  No more.
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  You you continue to teach the lesson kind of thing.
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  Now for people listening, right?
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  This let's say, you know, everybody's been through a tough time in the last 2 years or so.
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  And, you know, I would say that some some leaders are are pretty good at being
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  authentically connected to their staff.
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  But, a lot of people have done a lot in the last 2 years to do the same, but I'm gonna say
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  go back into kind of as the economies are opening up us a little bit behind the US.
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  There's a lot of things that have built up.
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  So with the culture of love and kind of what you're talking about for the CEOs of the senior
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  leadership teams listening, What kind of timeline and what kind of plans should they be
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  making to kind of at least get the steps going to what's creating the the type of culture
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  you're talking about?
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  Number 1, it it's every every organization and leader is going to have their own journey.
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  Some slower, some faster.
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  Some will be ahead of others already.
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  Some will have to start from a earlier state.
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  So it all depends.
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  And I know that's not an answer.
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  I appreciate, but it is the reality when it comes to culture transformation.
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  Right?
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  There are a lot of variables, but it really start with leaders getting to a state of self
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  awareness.
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  Many leaders are, have lack of self awareness.
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  And, you know, and by self awareness, my definition of it is how I think I'm being
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  experienced by others versus how others are truly experiencing me.
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  And that gap, the larger it is, the less self aware you are.
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  Your goal should be to minimize that gap.
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  So how you think intrinsically you're being experienced is how people are externally truly
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  experiencing you.
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  And when you so first step would be for leaders to build that self awareness.
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  And that happens through introspection and and feedback.
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  And that would be the first step.
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  And when you're able to start that journey of self awareness, then you recognize the
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  behaviors that you may have that are causing harm.
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  And you can then begin to transform those behaviors.
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  As long as you're committed to it and take action on it.
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  So it all depends on the size of the organization, where they're starting from, the
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  self awareness of leaders and how open they are to do this, but I can tell you COVID has left
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  us in a very difficult predicament right now because the US oil economies are opening up.
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  We're also going through what is called the great resignation.
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  Face, we already are seeing exodus of resignations across different corporations.
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  And what I believe COVID has done is made people realize that, hey.
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  I can have a different way of working and life.
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  I can have a true work life integrated environment where sometimes my work is needed.
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  Sometimes my life is needed, and I can be integrated working from home and still be
• 18:33
  productive and still take care of my family and children.
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  And so more more of the workforce has realized I don't have to go to the office and put up
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  with a a boss who might be a jerk to me.
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  Or I don't have to put up with all of the toxic workplace environments.
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  I can choose to prioritize my family and still work and be proved through the experiment of
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  COVID that it's possible.
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  Right.
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  So organizations and managers that are wanting to people to say go back to work they were
• 19:03
  already at work number 1.
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  So I don't know what you mean by go back to work, but also these employees now have an
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  option.
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  They're like, you know what?
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  I don't have to go back to work and deal with my toxic workplace environments.
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  I'm just gonna quit.
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  I can go work anywhere.
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  I want I can work remotely.
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  I can still prioritize my family and still get work done.
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  And so things have changed.
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  So managers and leaders if their old styles of working is what you want to go back to, well, I
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  got a new slash for you.
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  People aren't willing to take it anymore.
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  They're willing to quit and go somewhere where they will feel trusted.
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  They don't want to be micromanaged.
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  They want to be valued.
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  They want to be respected.
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  They want to be included.
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  They want to be empowered, and COVID has just accelerated the workplace revolution.
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  So If you want a case for change, this is it.
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  Leaders have to take this as a true business case for change and a personal case for change.
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  Because if you don't adapt and change our behaviors as leaders to accommodate this new
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  world of the new norm, We're going to be left behind.
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  Our businesses have a short life ahead of us.
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  So that's my thought.
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  And to we have no choice We don't it's not even a choice of saying, hey.
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  We have to adapt the culture of love.
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  It's like you you must adapt to it.
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  Otherwise, the people are willing to quit and go elsewhere.
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  And the numbers and the data and everything is proving that right now.
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  So that's kind of my thought about this whole situation.
• 20:37
  Well, that's the and I, you know, so you know, I've just started to read a little bit more
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  about what's happening with people resigning.
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  So we're gonna see that companies are gonna have to step up.
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  And the basis, like you said, if, you know, if you're able to create that space for people to
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  realize, maybe in the past, you there were certain things that you remiss in doing.
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  But that you're prepared to make those changes so that people can feel appreciated, valued,
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  and respected, and that, you know, their voice is equally as important as your voice, the CEO,
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  How powerful is that?
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  You know?
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  And, you know, I've often, you know, in my kind of research for my book, which is the the new
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  metric is the ROR versus the ROI, which is return on relationship.
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  It talks.
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  I've spoken to so many authentic leaders that they walk the walk.
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  The so they're the ones that are, you know, moving from the, you know, the big executive
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  office going into the bullpen.
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  So it's picking up the phone.
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  One particular leader, here in Canada has picked up the phone and spoke to 200 employees.
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  And everybody that wasn't getting about to get his call thought, oh, no.
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  I'm about to be fired.
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  We'll need to be told, no.
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  I'm just calling to say, hi.
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  How are you?
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  Things are gonna be tough.
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  We may have to adjust, but you, you know, and I want you to know I'm here.
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  So you there's so many leaders out there that are fantastic role models and could really lend
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  that air to others that are wanting to learn that much more.
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  So, Mohammed, this has been a a fantastic conversation.
• 22:04
  Our synergies obviously yet again proves itself.
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  So for people that are thinking, that they're wanting to work, on cultural change, and to get
• 22:14
  a copy of the book.
• 22:15
  Why don't you tell them where they can get a hold of the book and reach out to yourself and
• 22:19
  your team?
• 22:20
  Sure.
• 22:21
  Not a, not a problem.
• 22:22
  I'd be happy to.
• 22:23
  So our book is called Love as a business strategy.
• 22:26
  It is available on Amazon worldwide.
• 22:29
  To purchase a copy if you desire.
• 22:32
  It's a great resource, but also we host every week a Seneca mini leader session, which is our
• 22:42
  3 hour experience for leaders to come and go through an introspective journey with us in
• 22:50
  those 3 hours.
• 22:51
  And so we host a session where we uncover the behaviors and introspection of her behaviors
• 22:59
  that lead to culture change.
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  So we do that, and that's available for free for you to come and experience with us and try
• 23:07
  out.
• 23:07
  And if that seems something that you resonate with, we'd be happy to work with you, your
• 23:13
  team, and the organizations.
• 23:15
  And if you wanna learn more about our services and our solutions for culture transformation,
• 23:21
  we do have a suite of digital products and facilitated experiences for you to do that for
• 23:26
  your organization, and you can learn about it at w ww.asoftway.com.
• 23:35
  Again, Mohammed, thanks so much for your time.
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  And so for everybody listening, you know, you know, love, I say that authenticity or 1 in the
• 23:43
  same.
• 23:44
  So just think what is it that you know as a leader, you can enhance in your own behavior to
• 23:51
  start the journey of being more authentically connected to yourself.
• 23:55
  With awareness brings change and which each step every time you're able to demonstrate
• 24:01
  something different the the ROI is so immense that like Mohammed demonstrated with his team,
• 24:09
  he was able to to yield the rewards in such a short period of time.
• 24:14
  Again, thanks for hanging in, and, we'll talk to you again next week.
• 24:18
  Thanks for tuning in to authentic living with Roxanne, creating the space for positive,
• 24:23
  healthy change.
• 24:25
  Roxanne is a keynote speaker psychotherapist, and coach to work with Roxanne, visit
• 24:31
  roxannedurhaj.com/blueprint.
• 24:35
  We'll see you next time.
• 24:37
  An authentic living with Roxanne.