VOL 08 | ISSUE 03 | 2020
THE
SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEUR
REVAMPING THE FUTURE Is it Possible to Control Threats Futuristic Insights
Qualities of Visionary Leadership The Art of Leading
Editor’s Desk
The Downfall of Entrepreneurial Barriers
E
very day we wake up to enormous regulatory and technological changes that affect the way organizations operate. Some entrepreneurs say that the future is certainly bright, but for others, these changes hinder their growth and business activity. Moreover, the empowerment and the acknowledgment of individuality that motivates people to start an entrepreneurial journey are becoming increasingly important. This is where the big question arises; what is the future of entrepreneurship? Just a few years ago, most new companies had employees for administration purposes. Nowadays, outsourcing and automation means that several growing companies can run on their own for a long time. This effect is becoming even more evident as artificial intelligence is expanding at an exponential rate. The future of entrepreneurship is bright, but it is also extremely competitive. We have reached a point where young professionals see a brighter future for themselves than working for others, which places a lot more pressure on new business owners in the ecosystem. Even employees are more flexible, on-demand, and yes, possess business-like mind. Currently, business owners are hiring candidates on a temporary basis rather than a full-time employee. The economy also puts pressure on the businessman who wants to hire a full-time employee, who may be happier
to pick up a part-time job and complete a day’s tasks without clocking in much time. The future of entrepreneurship is indeed very bright today. The opportunities offered to entrepreneurs are exponential as companies reshape themselves to compete in cutthroat markets. In addition, educational institutions recognize entrepreneurship as a discipline of study and community members understand that entrepreneurship is vital to the growth of economies, both of which help make entrepreneurship a viable and highly valued occupation. One might say, we are entering a new era of entrepreneurship. Centered on the developments of the above thoughts, Insights Success brings this exciting edition, “The 10 Successful Entrepreneurs Revamping the Future,” highlighting the best minds in the industry taking on the challenges of the future on their front foot and exhibiting the way it is done.
CONTENTS
08 42
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Futuristic Insights Is it Possible to Control Threats
The Art of Leading Qualities of Visionary Leadership
In-depth Vision
Leadership skills essential for organization growth
12
18
24
32
38
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Debra Griffin & Dean Harrison A Duo of Proficient Business Leaders in Healthcare
Diyaa Zebian
A Visionary IT Proficent with Proven Track Record
Jillian Hamilton
A Proficent in Risk Management
Lise Pape
Helping People With Parkinson’s Walk
Susanne Skov Diemer
Safeguarding Organizations with Optimal Security, Risk and Crisis Solutions
Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal Managing Editor Anish Miller
Executive Editor
Assistant Editors
Rohit Chaturvedi
Jenny Fernandes Rohit Chaturvedi
Visualizer
Art & Design Director
Associate Designer
David King
Amol Kamble
Iresh Mathapati
Co-designer Kushagra Gupts
Senior Sales Manager
Business Development Manager
Kshitij S
Andy Mitter
Marketing Manager
Sales Executives
John Matthew
David, Kevin, Vishnu
Technical Head
Business Development Executives
Jacob Smile
Steve, Joe, Alan, Anup
Technical Specialist Aditya
Digital Marketing Manager Marry D'Souza
SME-SMO Executive Amol Wadekar
Research Analyst Frank Adams
Database Management Stella Andrew
Circulation Manager Robert Brown
Technology Consultant David Stokes
sales@insightssuccess.com August, 2020
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e, as humans, are completely dependent on the internet. We live in a world where almost every facet of our lives is connected to the internet to some degree. Such is the situation that nowadays we cannot even carry out a simple task without using the internet. When we want to listen to a song, or even when we want to buy some stuffs for our household need, we often look towards the internet to fulfill our needs. Nowadays, Digital Identity has evolved to a point that was hardly imaginable even a decade back. Today’s world may have narrowed with the advent of the digital age, but it also seems to have become a place where the threats to our safety, security and privacy have expanded. Unfortunately, both individual devices and networks are vulnerable to attacks. These attacks often compromise not just personal and private information, but constantly results in losses that compromise far more than monetary possessions. The internet has become a valuable vehicle for criminals to anonymously prey on victims through cyber breaches and corporate espionage. The world even possesses the ability to store identification data including fingertips, iris scan and others. But thanks to attackers, nowadays, most of our data is up for sale, most definitely on the dark web. Shockingly our whole identity accounts and data from 11 different groups from online shopping to entertainment services, to personal finances accounts and data categorized as proof of identity.
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Computer viruses, bugs-even the term “hack” suggests illness. With good reason: Cyberattacks are a new kind of plague for the 21stcentury. In 2018, data breaches are a pervasive and ever-present fact of life. Cunning criminals can infiltrate electronic files from across a room, or across the globe, with nothing more than a laptop or access to an IoT device, while barely raising their pulse. Government networks, specifically, are susceptible – not just from attackers, but also interconnectivity issues, hardware snafus, user error, and acts of God. Cybercriminals are increasingly turning towards highly-effective, advanced cyber security weapons such as ransomware, information stealers, IoT exploits and TLS/SSL encrypted attacks to target organizations of all sizes around the world. Cyber attacks have become one of the biggest nuisances and most potent threats that individuals, organizations, and governments have to contend with today. Therefore, Cybersecurity is more important than ever for every business. It is one of the most prominent issues and concerns for organizations of all sizes, and for their customers as well. As the world becomes more connected, Cybersecurity platforms will have to struggle with increasingly sophisticated attacks. Attackers have access to more computing power and have developed the ability to go after businesses of any size, but focus particularly on small and medium sized enterprises that are not well protected.
Cybersecurity professionals exist in an increasingly complex world. There are several application security techniques available today, but not all security vulnerabilities can be found by any one of them. For Cybersecurity solutions to be successful in these environments, it is important that the companies run in real-time and have the ability take immediate action to eliminate problems. Visualization, speed, and scalability are must-have characteristics of an effective system. The security services sector will continue to grow as more people understand and accept that conducting business in the internet age is fraught with Cybersecurity risks. To tackle cybercrimes at present and in future, the companies should create a real-time database, ensuring that the most up to date and accurate information is provided to its customers and clients. The cybersecurity service sector will continue its phenomenal growth, right now, there are hundreds or even thousands of cyber-security companies. However, down the line, unification will occur where only the big players will remain in the market. To avoid these challenges, one needs aware of knowledge of new security systems, solid plans, and comprehensive visibility. The more work Cybersecurity companies can do up front in the above mentioned areas the better the chances of success with lesser outages. So, with more skilled professionals and by filling the vacant positions, the cyber threats can be minimized to a great extent.
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Futuristic Insights
Is it Possible to
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Debra Grifn Dean Harrison A Duo of Proficient Business Leaders in Healthcare
A
dvancement in technology has brought a huge change to the healthcare industry. Patients now can check accurate medical information using their handheld devices, but they can also track their doctor's appointments, and get reminders to take their medications through mobile apps when integrated into your provider's software vendor. Remote consultations with doctors, required treatments, and the availability of comprehensive mobile apps have led to upgraded patient care and healthcare experience overall. Debra Griffin, founder and managing member of PPXTEC, a mobile data exchange bridge enterprise that has a personal health record that aggregates that data being exchanged between and beyond silos. “PPXTEC allows users to decide when and how to share their info. B2C, B2B, C2C exchanges. PPX-TEC is a COVID 19 mitigation solution” says Debra. Debra has extensive experience in healthcare which includes hospital administrator for 20 years and past managing member of physician Hospice Care, LLC since 2008. She also is a former member of the MS State Board and as a
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surveyor in Mississippi health facility. She also authored “Why Judas Was Born To Betray Jesus”. Dean Harrison is software developer technical lead at Patient Provider Exchange (PPX). He is also the also the Owner and Developer at HSoft Consulting, LLC. His area of expertise includes App Developer, Web Programmer, Database Designer, IT Specialist. In PPXTEC, Dean is responsible for design and development for iPhone, iPad, and Android phones and tablets. Griffin started this journey in 2011, and Harrison joined in 2013; both had proven fully committed engaged and as a result has brought this foundational product to market. Both Dean and Griffin bring a unique combination of expertise in both the health care field and innovative information technology. Each of them has committed an abundance of the time and prayers in bringing this development to market at this timely space. In spite of no access to capital and limited acknowledgement or encouragements for this product they have come to market developed and timely.
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Debra Griffin founder & managing member of PPXTEC
“
“Our objectives are simple, low cost integrations that install easily and are easy to use and prove value quickly”
Dean Harrison software developer technical lead at Patient Exchange (PPX)
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“
“We are aiming for even simpler = Less is more. Products that integrate easily play well with others and encourage others to play with them by developing a fully tested mobile bridge application to support healthcare consumerism, improving the patient experience with health IT, incorporating new and emerging data sources to better serve.”
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Compatible Solutions PPX-TEC built a unique mobile tool for seamless data exchanges to alleviate many pain points incurred by patients and providers while navigating healthcare experiences. PPX-TEC mobile bridge solution allow silos connectivity using smart devices' APIs, HL7, FHIR protocols and other proprietary standards. The company's solution integrates, search, send and receive data in numerous mobile exchange modalities out of one single mobile enterprise. America has a hybrid healthcare system partially private, public but ALL are data silos. The silo effect limits information flowing between entities. PPX-TEC's Unique Share function is developed with the end user in mind; seamless integration and giving user's control of share. Its iOS and Android apps are market ready with several integrations. PPX-TEC Mobile Enterprise seems to be 1stst in this new frontier market with the finalization of the 21st Century Cures Act March 2020. There is no current business model for interoperability and this is one of PPX-TEC's challenges. Connected data silos facilitate more accurate and faster holistic health data collection and interpretation. Our solution tool provides for interoperability, COVID 19, structural health disparities, and opioid crisis mitigations. PPX-TEC's solution is new technology that enables a new perspective on health self-management needed more now due to current paradigm shifts to various virtual care where holistic health histories are needed. Visioning to Get Extend According to Griffin, PPX –TEC's needs include access to capital to create a pipeline to customers. We are seeking
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Board Member's who can be advocates for PPX-TEC and grow with the company. She desires to witness population adoption of the company's solution and patients, and caregiver's empowerment by making PPX –TEC their own tool. “Acquisition or Partnership with a company that understand that embracing interoperability is the need of the hour and PPX TEC delivers” said Debra. A Fighting Spirit On overcoming challenges as a leader, Debra asserts “The last hospital that I worked in the Mississippi Delta literally tried to kill me. I was told that I was an uppity nigger and there the decline began. I swam in a pool of hatred. The details are lengthy and personal but 'In Spite' of I survived.” An Advice for Upcoming Entrepreneurs “Never Quit, Pivot if Necessary, Stay Focused, Take nothing personally even if it is meant to be, be Diligent,” says Debra.
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Diyaa Zebian A Visionary IT Proficient with Proven Track Record
T
he path to entrepreneurship is often a risky one filled with
unexpected changes, obstructions and dead ends. There are lots of
restless nights, ideas that don't work out, capital that doesn't come
through and customers that never materialize. Sometimes it seems
so challenging to launch a business that it may make anyone wonder
why someone willingly sets out on such a detour path. Despite all of these hardships, difficulties and pressure some entrepreneurs embark on this journey and resolute to bring their vision to fruition and fill a need they see in society. One such business leader is Diyaa Zebian, the Founder & CEO of Archinnova, has more than 25 years of experience in the Middle East market and is known for his visionary approach. He has pushed the right IT wave at the right time, and he is the person behind many successful waves like J2EE, SOA and, SaaS among others to the Middle Easter market. He is accomplished business leader, strategist, and sales executive with proven track record at conducting business with leading Fortune 100 companies of the Middle East.
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“Promise real value and deliver.”
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Archinnova was established in 2015 with a mission to “DevOpsify the Middle East market.” Archinnova, an innovative business technology consulting and implementation firm established in Dubai, UAE and serving the Middle East offers end to end Agile and DevOps solution. Advance and Integrated DevOps Solutions In today’s knowledge-hungry era, it has become crucial to bring together people, processes and technologies to enable more effective and dynamic use of information technology and communication. More value-based innovative solutions and services should be added to empower businesses and enable them to focus on what they are good at – their core business. Archinnova provides DevOps as a managed service to businesses who are currently running or wish to run their companies on applications in the cloud. It works in tandem with the client’s development team and in-house architects and assists them in making use of the benefits of the cloud and ensuring that their entire web application runs efficiently and effectively. The company’s “DevOps 360" model is supported by best practices driven methodologies and is powered by leading solutions. The model is implemented by highly skilled engineers who ensure tangible results through a partnership journey of collaboration, knowledge transfer and flexibility. The company offers the following services: Dev Ops Consultation: Helping organizations to transform through “Enterprise DevOps.” Cloud Automation: Enabling organizations to adopt the right “Cloud Strategy” CI/CD: Assisting organizations in building the best-fit "Development Pipeline." Continuous Testing: End-to-End Software Testing Services App Modernization: Refactoring or building applications using “Modern Engineering.” Containerization: Developing and implementing the right “Container Strategy.”
Staff Augmentation: Deploying the right Dev Ops skills on premises An Accomplished Business Leader Diyaa Zebian, captain of the ship, is a true leader; he knows how to get the work done from his employees and still get the best result. He is a go-getter, and he knows the right way to push his fellow workers to their maximum capabilities making sure every task is aligned to his vision by giving them the freedom to work and think out of the box. Diyaa is a senior entrepreneurial executive with core competency in Business Development for either a new IT product penetrating the Middle East Market or an existing one with plans to aggressively scale. His expertise in the industry consists over 25 years of IT. He possess strong leadership and successful team building capabilities with excellent technical, communication, and presentation skills with a history of steering business fundamentals that stimulate revenue and client growth. He has experience in developing operations from ground zero to gaining market leadership in a given geography. DevOps behavior and transformation is a skill Diyaa has inculcated over the years, making it easier for him to pitch the right strategy at the right place. He manages costs and establishes strategic, mutually beneficial partnership and relationship with all stakeholders and is known as a resourceful problem solver with proven ability to bring quick resolution to challenging situations as well as build lasting relationship with vendors and customers. On Future Endeavors According to Diyaa, the R&D division of Archinnova is always looking for the new trends and mapped to the local market needs. The company is focused on expanding vertically by adding new product/services lines and horizontally by expanding to the whole Middle East market. Diyaa asserts “Going ahead, we will continue to provide end to end software development support along with consultation, training, system integration and after-sales support, ultimately delivering a solution designed around customer goals and agenda”.
DevOps Training: Full DevOps training covering conceptual & practical courses
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JILLIAN HAMILTON
A Proficient in Risk Management
F
or a leader, leadership is a process of constant learning which strengthens by an unwavering commitment to development and collaboration. One such leader is Jillian Hamilton, who believes good leadership is a lifetime work that requires continual learning, supporting others, and having a perspective to understand which things are really important. She is the Managing Director of Manage Damage, a risk management advisory firm that focuses on the true cost of risk, working with clients to provide their business with specialist advisors who can drive your efficiency, productivity and profitability.
Later on, they needed a Safety and Environment Officer and as I had an environmental background he appointed me and placed me on a WHS Officers course. This was my new found profession - I really never looked back after working on Australia's largest remediation project at the time then elevated to oversee a few more Remediation projects of as I learnt more and more;
Below are the highlights of the interview conducted between Insights Success and Jillian Hamilton:
I was then asked to work in Western Australia in the mining industry undertaking a State Safety Manager position for a then thriving blue chip mining and infrastructure company; a few years later I took a temporary assignment in a national rail position but found my greatest role in a large multi-state now multinational labour hire company.
Describe your background and what did you do before you started or came into this business? I started my career in Risk Management by chance - I had just come back from overseas and a friend needed me to help her with the accounts on a civil construction site. It wasn't long until the Project Manager suggested I took the Safety Committee Meeting Minutes, as he could see I had a good demeanour with all different people on the site.
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I then transferred to another company which was a Tier One Builder and completed some Australian Defence work buildings and then worked in demolition, safety in design, Greenstar building and high rise.
The dynamics were fast, furious and fantastic - I learnt so much from the entrepreneurial leaders and this paved my way to found Manage Damage an entity to assist business borrow the expertise they needed for just the time they
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JL Hamilton Managing Director Manage Damage
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needed; later we developed our first patent Risk Dollarisation® and delivered our book and process now worldwide to various levels of business and even government clients. What people, what books, what life factors have influenced and impacted you? My father is a farmer – he works from sun-up to sun-down to feed his cattle, plant his crops, check his fences, plan the shearing or use the horses to move the stock around and ensure the waters. I really watched, learned and even worked with my parents from a young age to learn the ethics of work, hard decent, honest and ethical work. I saw that if you work hard and keep doing it day in day out and prepare your ground and care for it and respect it, and help your neighbours that when there is a bushfire – they will help you. Every person I met gave me a piece of themselves – they helped me see the world through their glasses. Later I wanted to do this through my work, so we started to export Manage Damage services and found the application worked even better overseas than locally! So now my international clients and colleagues help mould the version of me. From a business perspective and risk approach I am on constant readiness to be inspired by another view and aspect that helps solve problems. I really found a love to eat elephants – if you had a problem; I wanted it to solve it for you and for me! What is the operating philosophy and cutting-edge solutions/services that the company has been built on? We create new descriptors, with additional and specific costs/values rather than the current values of safety – TRIFR, LTIFR and other malleable reporting values (nonfinancial). The Risk Dollarisation® method increases the importance and understanding of the current non-financial functions of a business. This is because they are now represented in financial terms. This approach allows the leaders of business who think in dollar terms and financials terms every day to know and understand the true cost of Damage Costs. This approach challenges the concept of assigning costs, people and damage in one conversation. Currently, businesses only become comfortable talking about the costs of risk when there is a catastrophe and everyone says, “We should never do that again!” Risk Dollarisation® allows a business to accept that Damage Costs can be identified, assessed and managed at all stages of a business, not just at catastrophic moments.
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“
“
e Financial Approach to Non-Financial Risk”
The Risk Dollarisation® moral imperative is to drive activity of stakeholders in the business financially. If you understand this and realign the approach it will mean safety gets a seat at the table and is spoken in language that is understood. We are completely simplifying/demystifying safety & making it meaningful/practical. It's not magic – it's simple economics & measurement - marked measured & managed. What is your vision for the company for the next five years? Manage Damage will remain sharp on all edges – we are launching a new app which will have some useful practical tools for business to manage risk without specific one on one guidance... we are also working on a new Global Safety Governance Offering so standby for this one.
As a Managing Director, describe a challenge you overcame. I think if any Managing Director doesn't let you know that they overcome challenges daily; they are really having a lend! The greatest challenge at the moment is really staying abreast of the macro and micro economic forces at play in our global business environments – the speed of change is so great – but the CV19 environment adds a whole new level – still waiting for my Truman Show Contract. We are on a reality TV show right now - right? How do you sustain your entrepreneurial/leadership spirit in this changing technological era? What's to sustain? – this is the most exciting moment in our lifetimes for tech growth, changes, leaps and bounds – never has the speed of change had such a profound effect on the rate and output in development – there is so much happening – I am just crossing my fingers that holograms get so good that I can consult globally without a 42hr transit; or heck – when's this “teleportation” they speak of is actually going to work – if I was an airline or cruise ship company right now I'd consider a pivot to this work?!! What advice would you like to give to the emerging business leaders? I think you have to remember before you start; fill your pockets with as much cash as you can, clear your debt, plan your path, prepare your whole business before you start, get yourself a crash hat, get a mouth guard fitted and get ready to hussle harder than you ever have before. This is a tough ride where the wins are like gold and the losses make you be glad you bought a crash hat!
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Mark rees
Chief Operating Officer
Secucloud GmbH
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In-depth Vision
Leadership skills essential for
organizational growth Trust is the key for sustainable development of organizations
C
an one learn leadership? Every winter semester I pull my students through the whole spectrum of “Leadership Theory Parts I and II”: Taylorism; French & Raven; Blanchard; McGregor; Maslow et al. At the end of the semester I have them test their knowledge in a tricky exercise involving a climbing rope and blindfolds. They have to – whilst blindfolded – form, storm, norm and perform as a team and lay the rope (which they are not allowed to let go of) in a predetermined shape on the ground. And yes, they always achieve the objective – one way or another. In contrast I have experienced this exercise as a team member of highly paid and experienced managers and witnessed first-hand the utter failure to even manage a plan, let alone achieve even half of the objective. Although to be fair, what the managers did achieve (as opposed to the students), was a whopping great conflict of personal differences, with which the rest of the seminar was used to sort out. So what was the difference between these two groups? A business acquaintance of mine once introduced me to the “power of trust” as a basic concept of leadership. He argued that if there is no trust between the leader and the led, then the possibilities for sustainable leadership are extremely limited and indeed most probably restricted to a short period. Without trust in human relationships there is however a form of leadership and to reference French
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and Raven, it is the positional power of coerciveness and reward – the proverbial carrot and stick. That works for a while as long as the (micro) manager exclusively owns the processes and information as a means of control. I believe in the long run, this strategy fails. No (high performing) employee deliberately hangs around for very long in such a situation. I´ve seen this happen numerous times. Again considering the group of students and the experienced managers with their climbing ropes and blindfolds, what I perceived was extreme differences in levels of trust. The students – in their seventh semester – were close-nit. They were just entering their final thesis, they have common objectives and after 3 and half years spent on campus, an intrinsic trust to one another. In contrast the managers came from varying business units of a large company and were “thrown” together to improve their leadership skills and develop as a leadership group within the company. Each manager had his (the group was all male) own agenda and personal career objectives etc. Each was competing for power and influence before the board. Instead of collaborating to achieve the climbing rope objective, all the micropolitics came out in the exercise and trashed any trust that might have been there at the outset. The evening log fire at the beach was a flop.
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About the Author Mark Rees is the Chief Operating recfO at Secucloud GmbH, Hamburg. In his last position Mark Rees was Managing Director of E-POST Development GmbH in Berlin, a subsidiary of Deutsche Post. There, he led an international team comprised of several hundred employees in agile DevOps development teams, and was
Trust as a subject is rationally difficult to grasp. It is one of those things we intuitively feel as being present (or not) in human relationships. To get a grip on the term, let us start with Peter Drucker´s definition of management “turning resources into production”. Now consider that what leadership does in a company is to apply strategies (resources) to achieve objectives (production). On the one hand the objectives should be such that they inspire people, bringing out their best qualities both in skills and collaboration. Secondly and as a rule, it is the leader who drives the strategy in order to achieve those objectives and this is the key area where trust within the team and across teams can emerge. It is the means utilized to achieve the ends that define so much about an enterprise. There are of course coercive means, non-compliant means, even illegal means etc., thus the old excuse for bad behavior “the ends justify the means”. In such an environment sub groups form, secrecy becomes endemic and there can only be mistrust and suspicion between people.
responsible for employee direction, as well as the entire budget in the areas of IT security, DevOps, quality assurance, operations and user experience. In his work as COO at Secucloud, Rees applies his expertise in agile leadership and his many years of experience in interdisciplinary IT organizations in the Media and IT security industries.
Approaching the skill of leadership whith consideration of social and ecological factors allows decisions to be made under the reflection for example, of waste reduction, for the good of the many, for sustainable growth etc. In utilizing social and ecological factors in decision-making processes, our unique human form of emotional intelligence is an influential force that significantly influences behavior both of oneself as a leader, and as a member of the collective (the business unit being led). Over time common values and understanding emerge in the group, which in turn develop (forms and storms) and fortifies the culture (the norms), thus producing the high performance unit that every person blessed with the opportunity to lead can aspire to. If you get there it’s the best job in the world! Trust is a human trait that is available to us all. You can´t simply buy it by attending a leadership seminar, doing an MBA or reading a book. Trust has to be earned and shared unconditionally as a gift. It can be rejected, withheld, it is breakable and can be destroyed in a second. Yet for all its non-tangibility and fragility, it has more power to achieve than anything else in the leadership toolbox.
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LISE PAPE
Helping People with Parkinson's Walk
A
fter seeing her father struggling to walk and do other tasks that many of us take for granted, the Founder and Managing Director of Walk With Path, Lise Pape decided to create simple solutions that have a positive impact on those, who are suffering from Parkinson's disease. It was important to her that, the solution should not have any side effects but rather only add positive benefit, which eventually laid the foundation stone for Walk With Path. According to Lise, bringing Path Finder LaserShoes to the market was a key achievement, which is changing the daily lives of its users for better.
College of Art (RCA) and Imperial College London, a course focused on enterprise, entrepreneurship, incubation and business support at the Royal College of Art in London, when I came up with the idea for the system. I worked closely on the idea with a partner from my RCA class, Florian Puech, who had an engineering background. Then the RCA's own incubator helped us get more structure to our idea and work through the business basics, such as getting a legal agreement in place. We joined the global startup accelerator Mass Challenge and obtained grants from the Dyson Foundation, Helen Hamlyn Trust and Nesta, among others.
In an interview with Insights Success, Lise Pape the Founder and Managing Director of Walk With Path has shared valuable insights about her company and its struggles.
What people, what books, what life factors have influenced and impacted you?
Below are the highlights of the interview between Lise and Insights Success;
My father suffers from Parkinson's and after seeing him struggle to walk and do other tasks that many of us take for granted, I set out on a mission to create a solution that could help him and other people living with Parkinson.
Describe your background and what did you do before you started or came into this business? With a background working and studying in human biology, finance, advertising and product development, I was studying Innovation Design Engineering at The Royal
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What is the operating philosophy and cutting-edge solutions/services that the company has been built on? It was important to me that the solution should not have any side effects (like drugs) but rather only add positive www.insightssuccess.com
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benefits. This was the beginning of Path Finder LaserShoes for people with Parkinson's and why I founded Walk With Path. What is your vision for the company for the next five years? We want to mobilise other groups of vulnerable individuals and help improve their quality of life. We are now developing Path Feel to help people with diabetes, stroke and multiple sclerosis. People who live with these chronic diseases are often struggling to walk because they have peripheral neuropathy (a loss of sensation in the soles of their feet). We wish to launch a product that will help, mobilise and provide confidence to millions of people worldwide. According to you, which upcoming/current technology is going to be a disruptive force in a near future? One of the main challenges in designing Path Feel is the lack of space fitting the battery into the insole. We are
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aiming to fit a battery that will last for at least a day of use with the current technology available (e.g. batteries) for the first version of the product we will put on the market. However, the rate of innovation allows us to predict that battery technology will significantly advance and batteries will become smaller and more compact with similar if not greater capacity. Solid-state batteries are meant to be widely available on the market in the next five years and can contain up to three times more energy per unit weight than conventional lithium-ion batteries so we are planning to monitor new battery technologies to use in our next version. As a CEO/leader, describe a challenge you overcame. Being a start-up in health-tech and in hardware gave us a lot of challenges. Trying to source first stage investment is not easy and it may take some time before you are able to make your first sale. Health-tech solutions are a type of products that have quite a long time to market. Health-tech is also heavily regulated and you need to adhere to the standards of regulation. Therefore, bringing Path Finder LaserShoes to the market was a key achievement, and it feels incredibly www.insightssuccess.com
Lise Pape Founder & Managing Director Walk With Path
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Walk With Path is a mobility company with a social mission to transform the lives of thousands of people.
rewarding to hear from our users how it is changing their daily lives for the better.
What advice would you like to give to the emerging business leaders?
How do you sustain your entrepreneurial/leadership spirit in this changing technological era?
Try to find an investor that is a good match to you and make clear what you expect from them and if you are looking for an active partner or more passive support. Connect with likeminded people. It has been very valuable for me to be a part of many of the networks that Walk With Path is a part of, such as Mass Challenge, EIT, AARP, Social Innova, Cartier and SIT Alumni Network. It is also paramount that you stay persistent and not at least patient if you are in health-tech.
I listen to the end users of our product. On a daily basis we help hundreds of people live a free and independent life. One user told me how he was able to keep working instead of having to go on early retirement – simply because he was now able to walk to the train station and go to work. Stories like that keep me motivated and give me strength to overcome the challenges that we face every day.
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SUS ANNE SKOV DIEMER Safeguarding organizations with optimal security, risk and crisis solutions
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ecurity is rapidly becoming an ever-higher business priority to protect enterprises against potential attacks that threaten a business and its assets – its foundation and future. Current technology advancements are more susceptible to security breaches and phishing attempts, making it essential to reduce security threats by utilizing effective preventive measures to ensure the security and quality of a company's security program. Susanne Skov Diemer, founder & CEO of Praesidio Group, is a risk mitigation, crisis management, intelligence and security specialist and advisor. Her company Praesidio Group delivers prime security, intelligence and cyber solutions to organizations, NGOs, governments, high wealth families and public and private sectors around the world.
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“The security and intelligence industry is an integrated part of me and has been for over a decade. It is an industry where relations, expertise and trust are essential. And for the client discretion, loyalty and compassion are crucial”, says Susanne Skov Diemer. She does not consider her work as a job, she asserts “It is what I am and breath. It is my life now, the past decades and will continue to be in my lifetime” The core of her work is mastering intelligence, foresight and prevention. A lifetime dedicated to prevention and protection Susanne Skov Diemer is the founder and CEO; the heart of the company. She works very closely with a broad group of collaborators and clients on boards, cases and consortiums globally. She sees Praesidio Group as an integrated part of her. Praesidio is derived from the Latin word praesidium, meaning protection or defense, which is the purpose of her career and the reason for the creation of the company. Susanne has gained her extensive high-end consulting and management experience over 25+ years international career, working with permanent bases in Washington D.C. London and now Copenhagen. An important role in the company is her special expertise as a Risk Mitigation, Crisis Management, Intelligence and Security Specialist and Advisor. On this journey, Susanne has been honored to receive various U.S.
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government awards for her work during her time with the U.S. Department of State. She considers her clients as an important part of her daily life - a client base at the top level in the corporate, private and public sectors across the world, crossing borders and boundaries together. She also serves as an advisor for a global philanthropic charitable organization focusing on global virus and pandemic and as a security advisor on EU projects and as security expert on the Advisory Committee for PACTESUR (Protection Allied Cities against Terrorism in Securing Urban Areas) within EFUS (The European Forum for Urban Security). Taking Security as a Responsibility Susanne Skov Diemer opines “In my world of security and intelligence, the personal relationships, the life-death, the pressure and the high stakes, give new meaning to collaborations and relationships.” She has worked, and fortunately continues to work with people, who have influenced and impacted her both professionally and privately throughout her career. Her life and career have been marked by being a global citizen feeling; a global responsibility to keeping everyone safe under the radar and concurrently on the forefront of the news. Operating Philosophy Trust is taken to an entire different level and is the foundation of Susanne’s work and company. While cutting edge technology such as AI turns the industry around, the core basics remain the same and instinct based on years of experience and expertise. Combining it all is what gives Praesidio Group the real edge and advantage, hand-in-hand, complimenting each other and global synergies cross sectors, borders and threats. The company is serving
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more and more as senior advisors on short and long terms under the global radar at global occurrences as they unfold.
Organic and personal business growth is the way forward, being in this business and in business relationships for the long haul and doing our utmost together.
World of New Challenges “Technologies have an impact, but depending on humanity and how we decide and allow disruptiveness,” says Susanne Skov Diemer. She further adds “As we become more global in our perspective, businesses and travel pattern, the world has become smaller. Our work pattern changes with satellites, AI and other new technologies. It strengthens the need for our capabilities as we look at, not only general security and intelligence threats, but also risks arising from other forces, such as natural disasters and pandemics.” As a global security and intelligence company in an everchanging world, Praesidio Group is constantly facing new risks, new technologies, new threats, and new realities on behalf of their clients. As a CEO, Susanne believes it’s her duty to prevent and foresee, constantly overcome these new arising challenges and be ahead of the game. Advising from expertise and experience According to Susanne, being a founding business leader and owner is a motivational factor beyond any turnover. “Clients’ interests are my interests, their challenges are my concerns and I keep clients and collaborators close and confidential, securing and optimizing close operational relationships and results.” Entrepreneurial leadership is the core of who she is, and having a very close yet broad network of essential collaborators, feeds her leadership and entrepreneurial spirit daily. She further adds “Technology is a tool to keep us closer and share more; meanwhile the personal interactions remain fundamental.” On advising emerging business leaders, Susanne says, “Don’t listen to any advice – unless it really resonates with you. Surround yourself with people, who are not afraid to challenge you with their expertise and with whom you share fundamental values.” She adds “and enjoy what you do – do what you enjoy.”
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Qualities
of Visionary
Leadership
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The Art of Leading
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eaders at every stage demands qualities like optimism, vision, and being motivational to the people. It is these qualities that make a leader believe in him. Even a Sportsperson, Doctor, Teacher is a leader because of these qualities. As being a sportsperson, require few specific skill sets of understanding each player, the strengths and weakness of him. Same goes for a doctor, he needs to be an optimistic person and of course teacher is the one who moulds the students. Just like them, in the business there are leaders whom we know and some of them are Elon Musk, Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos, etc. They navigate through all the challenges and with their dedication they strive in their respective fields. Through this article we will see the qualities that make a leader great. Communication: It has to be the primary quality of any leader. Effective communication with all the levels of the management is essential. Listening to employees, understanding their requirements is really important for the foundation of leadership. Empathy: Empathy is having an openmindedness to understand the problems of the people. This develops a deep connection between the people. Some of the examples can be identifying needs, make people feel comfortable, and finding the creativity out of the employees. Vision: Good business leaders own the vision and works towards it turn into reality. Decision-making sets the organizational direction ensuring team members with goals and mission in front of them. True leaders share their vision and remind everyone of the big picture with enthusiasm and commitment. Optimism: A good leader leads by example at all times. Leaders inspire their team with their attitude in any given situation. This comes
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down to positivity. It is important how leaders react in certain stressful times with a positive outlook. Confidence: If you lack leadership the company will not be able to achieve growth. The more leaders believe in themselves more they can bring best out of the team members. As they say about confidence “Make it, “till you make it,” is 100% true. Commitment and Passion: If leaders are not fully committed it would be a difficult task to motivate the employees to achieve the goal. Commitment and Passion gains respect of the team members and bring new energy in the team. Creativity and Innovation: How is a leader different from a follower? “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”- says Steve Jobs. Creative thinking and constant innovation is what today’s fast paced world needs. Thinking out of the box and coming up with unique ideas answers the questions to turn ideas and goals into reality. Lastly, innovation and creative thinking, as well as futuristic vision that make up a great leader. Self-Confidence: Leadership grows from self-confidence. Any company can move forward towards the desired goal only when the leader is confident. It is the bridge between the leader and its goal. It is the fundamental basis and all about having confidence to make decisions. These leadership skills can be developed from an early age and are impacted by natural talents and by personal experiences. Indeed, everyone must be a leader of his own life. In conclusion a leader is a person with high values, believes in him, highlighting on the vision. It is integral part of human life. These characteristics should be adopted in a consistent way. It is not easy to be a successful leader; one must have all the qualities to be a good leader. These leadership skills are much needed skill in any field, whether it is an organization or an institution. As a whole leadership plays a vital role in the success and development of an organization.
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