The key to a successful journey of a CEO is constant innovation and passion for impacting lives by bringing diversity and inclusion to the organization. To achieve all this, a CEO should stay grounded and be accessible to everyone by listening, learning, and watching as much as he/she can.
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The 10 most innovative ce os revamping the future 2021_compressed
1. VOL 07 I ISSUE 12 I 2021
MAZIN AHMED
AL GHUNAIM
In the Process of Enabling Home Ownership for All
10
THE
MOST INNOVATIVE
Revamping the Future,
2021
Leadership
Redened
Enroute to Success
2.
3.
4. Keeping Spirits
always High
nowledge, Perception, and Understanding of
Kevery leader are unique. Some are talented in
technology, some in communication, and others
are just born leaders. While each leader has a specific skill
set, he/she is unique according to each job role and
company. Depending on their field and roles, some aim to
promote business, some to build strong client relationships,
some just for profits, and others to expand business
globally.
When it comes to the role of CEO, he or she has to wear
several hats. A CEO faces challenges each day right from
sales to managing clients, marketing operations, finance,
and handling the technological infrastructure. The key to a
successful journey of a CEO is constant innovation and
passion for impacting lives by bringing diversity and
inclusion to the organization. To achieve all this, a CEO
should stay grounded and be accessible to everyone by
listening, learning, and watching as much as he/she can.
This also reflects the understanding of the CEO with an
open mind to collaborate, with the industry experts,
regulators, and the understanding of the community. As a
CEO, embracing new ways of doing things is of the utmost
importance in personal and professional life.
Today, CEOs are not afraid to put themselves out there into
the industry, to find themselves, and to go beyond the reach
of the business dynamics. Finding a place in the industry
can navigate them to the right place at the right time. A
CEO is prepared to work harder as the competition is fierce.
Thus, learning from people and gather as much knowledge
as possible to stay prepared is an important quality for any
leader.
Ultimately, all the results speak for themselves. Many
industries are filled with such prototype CEOs doing
wonders in the organization for the team and the clients.
Editor’s Desk
5. sourabh@insightssuccess.com
Sourabh More
This is the reason the industry and the world need
more of such innovative CEOs to handle the business
decisions more accurately and smoothly, and thus,
impacting lives on a global level.
Insights Success values the contributions of such
innovative CEOs by featuring them in its upcoming
edition, The 10 Most Innovative CEOs Revamping
the Future 2021.
With many more of such exciting stories being
featured in this edition, the cover story represents
one such CEO - Mr. Mazin Ahmed Al Ghunaim.
His leadership capability is bringing more than 25
years of professional experience in financial services
to facilitate operations, maximize revenue and
productivity, and ensure strong future growth.
Moreover, Al Ghunaim comes with an excellent
record of achievements in building as well as
managing large business portfolios locally,
regionally, and internationally.
We feel proud to have these CEOs featured in this
magazine as their journeys will inspire many more
CEOs to follow in the industry. This will ignite the
fire and build a culture of visionary CEOs in the
coming times to bring a change in the lives of the
people. Let’s reveal more of their stories now.
Have a happy read!
6. ARTICLE
Mazin Ahmed
Al Ghunaim
In the Process of Enabling
Home Ownership for All
CxO
28
20
08
Leader’s Viewpoint
Franchise or Startup,
Which is Better?
Leadership Redefined
Enroute to Success
7. 16 JOHN CUSHING
Accelerating Decision Making
with Data and Technology
32 MIRNA SLEIMAN
Impacting Lives by
Bringing Financial Inclusion
contents
36
PAUL GUENTHER
Leading with Inventiveness
24
LEIGH RUST
Passionate About Personal
Development and Constant Learning
9. Brief
Company Name
Bidaya
bidaya.com.sa
Mazin Ahmed
Al Ghunaim
CEO
Bidaya Home Finance provides several housing finance plans
for citizens.
HTG Peer Groups
htgpeergroups.com
Arlin Sorensen
CEO
HTG Peer Groups' vision is to connect leaders by fostering
authentic relationships and opportunities for sharing.
Leigh Rust
CEO
Safetyline Jalousie
safetyline
jalousie.com.au
Safetyline Jalousie louvre windows are well known for
challenging and overcoming the design, safety and security
limitations of conventional louvre windows.
Jon Winsett
CEO
NPI
npifinancial.com
NPI is an IT procurement advisory services company that helps
enterprises identify and eliminate overspending on IT
purchases.
SpringTide
springtide
procurement.com
Mike Utting
CEO
SpringTide Procurement focuses on changing attitudes towards
procurement and go beyond cost savings to deliver enduring
value across whole organisations.
Mirna Sleiman
CEO
Fintech Galaxy
fintech-galaxy.com
Fintech Galaxy allows B2B connectivity between financial
institutions and innovators.
David Kelly
CEO
KPS
kpslife.com
KPS Life gives Sponsors the control they need to execute more
efficient, effective and successful clinical trials.
Daniel Wilson
CEO
PSL
yourpsl.com
Entegra Europe is a margin enhancement business supporting
the hospitality and catering industries across Europe.
Paul Guenther
CEO
Knowledge Hub Media
knowledge
hubmedia.com
Knowledge Hub Media helps business professionals by
providing useful insight and analysis on the most current topics
across the industry.
John Cushing
CEO
mnAI aims to reduce the time it takes investors, companies and
individuals to identify, and then understand an industry,
business or directors and shareholders from months to minutes.
mnAI
mnai.tech
Featured Person
10
THE
MOST INNOVATIVE
Revamping the Future,
2021
11. Mazin Ahmed
Al Ghunaim
In the Process of Enabling Home Ownership for All
COVER
STORY
The 10 Most Innovative CEOs Revamping the Future, 2021
12. The thought, what makes leaders different from
others, often strikes in our mind. It is most certainly
their quality of making people feel invaluable, not
settling for mediocrity, isolating themselves from the herd,
challenging the status quo, and building team spirit. It is
their journey from inception of the idea to making it a
reality that defines them. And, when we talk about
innovative leaders, they like to deliver more than expected.
Innovative leaders are the ones who are well aware that
great results come from lot of strategic planning, sufficient
preparation, and diligent execution. They cast a shadow
over their weakness by playing with their strengths. They
diligently grab the opportunities, make them count, and
maximize the chances of success. They are conscious of
playing their role to the best of their capabilities and
making the most of the opportunities in their hand. Their
innovativeness helps them to revamp the future in a creative
way. They are conscious of serving their customers by
leveraging the potential of technology.
You can find all the above-mentioned traits in Mr. Mazin
Ahmed Al Ghunaim. Al Ghunaim is the renowned name in
With the customer at
the heart of
everything we do, we
will enable each-
other, our partners,
our shareholders and
the broader
community to support
us in promoting home
ownership for all.
“
“
13. the mortgage industry in Saudi Arabia. Currently, he is
serving as the CEO of Saudi-based Bidaya Home Finance.
His leadership capability is bringing more than 25 years of
professional experience in the financial services to facilitate
operations, maximize revenue and productivity, and ensure
strong future growth. He has worked in leading banks and
financial institutions such as Saudi Investment Bank, Arab
National Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank. He is a Retail
Banker with wide experience in products development,
process improvements, customer service and portfolio
management covering Personal Loans, Auto finance and
Mortgage. Moreover, Al Ghunaim comes with an excellent
record of achievements in building as well as managing
large business portfolios locally, regionally, and
internationally.
We at Insights Success, caught up with Al Ghunaim to shed
light on his entrepreneurial journey, his viewpoint towards
the finance industry, and his contribution to the same
through Bidaya.
Delivering Something Revolutionary to Mortgage
Market
The journey of Bidaya began in 2015. Bidaya was setup
with a vision to enabling home ownership for all. As a
startup, Al Ghunaim mentions the challenges were multi-
fold. Amongst the first things was finding the right team and
with that in place it was about building a strategy that could
be executed.
Al Ghunaim recalls the founders of Bidaya saying to him
that they need to have 50 branches across the kingdom to
get going, and he paused and questioned “How about
having no branches and we build a digital platform to serve
our customers leveraging technology.” That was the
starting point. Al Ghunaim was confident that with a young
dynamic team and given his retail experience in leading
banks across the region, they will be able to deliver
something revolutionary to the mortgage market.
With the customer at the heart of everything Bidaya does,
the company believes it will enable its partners, its
shareholders and the broader community to support Bidaya
in promoting home ownership for all.
Living by Values and Delivering to Society
Talking about work culture, Al Ghunaim says that a good
organization culture sits at the heart of any successful
business. Bidaya leadership team lives the values of Bidaya
every day. They keep the team engaged, empowered and
most importantly in a positive frame of mind. They love
what they do and what they deliver to society.
Responding Unprecedently to Unprecedented Times
Al Ghunaim mentions that what happened when COVID-19
14. pandemic hit, was a perfect disruption. The state of the
equilibrium is not in balance. In his opinion, only those who
got into risk management were able to reduce the impact on
their companies.
Financial markets witnessed unprecedented moves,
equities, securities one can name it. It was a big mess and
on top of that, everyone had to take care of themselves and
their loved ones.
In such critical times, Bidaya created a Corona Risk
Committee (CRC) with an operating framework that
continued to focus on five (5) aspects: Health and safety,
business continuity, cash and liquidity, communication and
disclosures, and strategy and recovery. With CRC in place,
the board of directors and Al Ghunaim had a new
navigating tool.
This tool has been Bidaya’s North Star in these challenging
times, as it has helped it to align on both short-term and
long-term business goals.
Being Competent and Delivering Expected Return on
Equity
According to Al Ghunaim, looking at the future and
developing technologies are empowering to the consumers
across markets to access more products and services on
demand. He says that businesses on the other hand will
need to manage both product volumes and customer
experiences in an efficient manner so they can continue to
be competitive and deliver expected return on equity.
Establishing an Advisory Service
Al Ghunaim is proud that Bidaya Home Finance has so far
financed more than 6,500 customers resulting in more than
24,000 Saudi Citizens being housed.
Given the huge market for the First-Home-Buyer segment,
Al Ghunaim states that he would like to establish an
advisory service as a contribution to this segment to help
and assist them to take the right call when buying their first
homes.
Sharpening the Competencies
While Bidaya continues to sharpen its competencies around
risk-management, it has not lost focus on its aspirations of
being the largest mortgage provider in the country, both in
size and profitability. To that end, Bidaya Home Finance
Board has approved a 5-year strategic plan, the
implementation has already started.
Being an Islamic home finance company, Bidaya has won
four noteworthy and prestigious awards in Global Finance
magazine’s consumer digital banking categories – Best bill
payment and presentment, Best digital mortgage bank, Best
in social media and marketing services, and best Islamic
digital bank.
Influencing Factors Behind Growth
When we asked about what people, or books, or life factors
have influenced and impacted you Al Ghunaim says that he
has been blessed to have had the family who taught him to
serve others before self.
“I am grateful for all the challenges that life has thrown at
me and some inspiring leaders that I worked with. They all
consciously, unconsciously shaped the man I am today”, he
asserts.
Recognizing the way to Capture the Opportunities
The financial industry landscape is reforming itself as one
speaks. There will be many opportunities coming one’s
way. Al Ghunaim advises aspiring entrepreneurs that
venture private funds are the best way to group up and
devolve ideas. He believes that this is the ideal way to
capture the opportunities.
Our customers are
at the heart of
what we do.
“
“
17. kimberly Khoury
Paving her Way in Sustainability Development
&
&
The
20
BUSINESSWOMEN
to Watch, 2020
SUCCESSFUL
Most
18. 16 | July 2021 www.insightssuccess.com
John Cushing
CEO
mnAI
19. John Cushing
Technology has the power to make complicated
things more simplified and save the valuable time
of businesses. It is possible to gain valuable
insights using the statistical data and technology to make
calculated business decisions. Technology enthusiasts
utilize the data and technology to accelerate the speed of
decision making and thereby save their valuable time. John
Cushing is one such technology enthusiast who believes
that it is vital for businesses to be aligned with newer
technological developments to accelerate decision making.
John is CEO at mnAI, a growth stage data and technology
company. mnAI believes in a world where technology
accelerates decision making. John’s days at the company
are incredibly varied - from helping with sales through to
product development, his role is to ensure that the strategic
aims of the business are achieved.
Enabling Users Targeted Information More Rapidly
Like any start-up, the journey of mnAI from inception
hasn’t been without its challenges. A good example would
the size of the opportunity: it would have been very easy to
launch both a consumer and an enterprise product but,
given its resources, it needed to focus.
Today, mnAI is a platform for investors, advisors and
corporates that provides information, insight, research, and
due diligence on all unlisted companies in the UK. It holds
7.5bn+ data points on 7m+ UK companies, applying a wide
variety of machine learning algorithms and filters which
enable users to access targeted information far more rapidly
than is currently possible, often completing what used to
take months of work in minutes. As this award testifies,
building the enterprise product was definitely the right thing
to do!
Adapting to Newer Technology and Platforms
The impact of pandemic is generally positive as the
pandemic forced a change in people’s perception of how to
work. Companies and individuals had to adopt technologies
and platforms that enabled home working and gave both
easier access to information and better ways of sharing it.
John opines that many Information Technology and
Services rely on people to deliver, maintain, and upgrade
and he can imagine that for some their experience may have
been very different to that of companies like Teams or
Zoom, which saw user numbers swell as a consequence of
the need to be able to work collaboratively.
John believes that technology can enhance and support
operations for businesses and their customers through
innovation and digitization, improve their insight,
accelerate growth, and reduce costs through increased
efficiency.
Relentless Focus on Innovation and Excellent Customer
Service
mnAI provides a single source of unified data that makes
deal origination, due diligence, and customer search really
easy. It has more data points, a greater level of detail as well
as high speed, while its Gender Identification technology is
truly unique.
mnAI is a comprehensive, easy to use, and an efficient
product at a competitive price point which is backed by a
relentless focus on innovation and customer service. Every
detail matters, as the company puts its customers first and
aim to make them happy at all times.
The work culture at mnAI reflects this mantra – being
collegial, transparent, listening to each other and always
trying to do the right thing. Its customers expect
professionalism and integrity and so does the company.
The work is demanding but success is satisfying. mnAI
encourages personal and professional development and trust
its employees to do the right thing.
Actively Supporting Businesses Across the Country
On a personal level, John, and some of the senior team
mentor young entrepreneurs through 1-2-1 programs, or,
when asked, through visiting lecturer spots at their local
college to support Business Studies students. As a business,
they work with local Growth Hubs which are actively
supporting businesses across the country at a very difficult
time. In addition, mnAI’s technology has been adopted and
17
|
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The 10 Most Innova ve CEOs Revamping the Future, 2021
20. endorsed by a number of leading advocates for female
entrepreneurism and it helps all types of companies
measure progress against a number of female initiatives
including the Rose Review.
Starting any new company, whether in tech or otherwise, is
tough. John says that there is already a decent amount of
permanent government support through, for example, SEIS,
EIS and tech credits but there is no doubt that Covid
related support through various loan schemes has been
enormously helpful and any extension of those schemes
would be helpful.
A Valuable Note to Aspiring Entrepreneurs
John encourages aspiring entrepreneurs to venture into IT
industry. He advises them to be prepared to work harder
than they ever have before. He tells them to do their due
diligence on their chosen market and competitors to avoid
wasting money and time. He suggests them to take advice
from people more experienced than them and be prepared
for set-backs!
Continuing Development of Technology and Scaling
Internationally
mnAI is constantly looking for ways to improve its
technology, sell its product and better serve its clients.
Those have been and continue to be its priorities. As a pure
tech business mnAI’s entire infrastructure is cloud based so,
despite Covid restrictions, it has been able to continue the
development of its technology. Recent examples include
Insight, which allows customers to generate their own
industry reports, and Gender Analysis – its entire dataset
can now be filtered by gender which has helped make
compliance with the Rose Review quick and easy. Looking
ahead, mnAI is almost at the point where the platform is
ready to scale internationally - a huge challenge but one that
John has no doubt the team is ready to meet.
With billions of data points,
mnAI’s award-winning
technology instantly
provides and filters uniquely
accessible insight and
analysis across sectors,
companies, geographies and
individuals.
‘‘
18 | www.insightssuccess.com
‘‘
July 2021
23. he greatness of a person or leader has to be
Testimated by his or her ability to thrive even in the
most provoking or challenging situations. It is in
the tough times that one’s mettle is tested. And it is at the
same time one has the opportunity to prove one’s mettle. It
is said that patience is bitter, but its fruits are sweet. The
more one is able to hold one’s nerves even in the
challenging times and continue to fight for success, the
more one will be able to crossover even the toughest
challenges. Life rewards those who put in sincere hard work
and strive for achievements. “As we sow, so shall we reap.”
Success is not the cakewalk, but it is about repeated efforts
day in and day out.
There is no free lunch in this business-minded world. One
has to be prepared to make the necessary sacrifices for
accomplishing something worthwhile in this world,
especially in the world of business. One has to accomplish
something in this world to earn the trust of people and
thereby to be the well-wisher of people. One can contribute
a lot to others when he or she has gained worthwhile
accomplishments to create his or her credibility. The
reliability of leaders increases in great proportion when they
deliver results more than expected by others. The reliability
or credibility of leaders is directly proportional to the
expansion of the businesses.
Morality is the Foundation for Victory
Great business leaders are aware that it is important to lead
with morality. They consider it is very important to keep the
morale of everyone in their organization very high. High
morale helps in taking the most courageous decisions. They
understand that it is essential to deliver what is expected by
clients or even beyond thinking well ahead of the clients.
This is where the innovativeness in leaders plays a big role.
That is the reason they keep it on high priority to be well
updated with the latest technologies and they are keen to
implement those technologies in their businesses.
Determination, Dedication, and Discipline
Determination, Dedication, and Discipline form a big part
of success. There is a huge significance of resolute
determination to succeed in the world of business. The
world is filled with cut-throat competition. To sustain one’s
competency in the business world, one has to keep on
improving oneself and everyone in the organization to
create massive success. The journey sometimes can be filled
with a lot of challenges, but if one has a determination to
persist then one can achieve one’s goals in due course of
time. Dedication gives life to one’s purpose and goals. It is
very much synonymous with leading with purposefulness.
The stronger the purpose the greater can be the dedication
to achieve it. And Discipline is the bridge between success
and failure. Without discipline, nothing substantial can ever
be accomplished in life. One has to pay the price of resolute
determination, absolute dedication, and high discipline to
be successful in the world of business.
What Not to Do?
As much as it is important to know what to do, it is also
equally important to know what not to do. Doing what is
favorable for success and avoiding what is harmful for
success should be avoided at any cost. For business leaders
to succeed in the business world, they should be well aware
not to waste their precious resources after bad money or bad
deals. They should not throw their good money behind bad
money via negative deals. They should be calculative and
should take calculative decisions related to where to invest
and where not to.
Having a Right Mentor is the Key
Having a good mentor goes a long way in making high-
value decisions. One should choose that person as one’s
mentor who has demonstrated one’s character and
competence in one’s chosen field. Great leaders are not just
interested in being great leader themselves only, but they
would like to create more great leaders. By choosing a
capable leader as one’s mentor, one will be able to attain
great heights in life in a short span of time. One good
mentor is worth more than all the books in the library.
Books also play a huge role in the lives of great leaders, but
the help of a mentor is priceless as one will be able to
develop oneself more quickly with the help of a good
mentor and avoid the mistakes that previous leaders have
done. Great leaders become great because they don’t shy at
accepting good mentors in life. They are open to learning
from all. They know that they don’t have all the time in the
world to commit all mistakes and then learn and then apply.
Therefore, they prefer to avoid mistakes on the journey by
having a good mentor in life.
It is a mark of great leaders to do justice to their roles,
routines, relationships, and responsibilities. They also build
such a type of culture in their fellow teammates and
employees and staff in the organization. This helps them to
achieve greatness in their business by building an
organization with responsible and competent people. They
lead by example and with resolute determination and with a
goal to deliver more than needed. They thrive on their
purpose and necessary actions. They do what needs to be
done with due diligence and they set the standards for
everyone else to follow and that is the reason they become
admirable.
Leadership Redened
21
|
www.insightssuccess.com July 2021
27. Leigh Rust
Passionate About Personal Development and Constant Learning
One thing that’s always been at the core of the company is a
commitment to manufacturing its products locally to keep
jobs onshore and help to stimulate the economy.
Safetyline Jalousie is also committed to pursuing greater
sustainability in the industry, and it believes that the long-
term, environmental impact of a product should always be
considered.
The company is currently in the process of establishing a
group - Suppliers Declare - to connect those in the
manufacturing industry and work towards shared
sustainability objectives.
Creating Culture and High Morale
Fostering a positive workplace culture is at the heart of
Safetyline’s organization, as Leigh thinks it should be for
all businesses. Some of Safetyline’s staff have been with it
the company since it was first established over 10 years ago,
which Leigh thinks is a great testament to the culture that’s
interwoven in the company.
Safetyline views its staff as family and friends, and when
they are bringing new people onto the team, Leigh believes
that attitude and work ethic trumps technical skills, as
working with people who are motivated and love what they
do is great for the morale of a company.
Operating on Schedule Without any Delays
Leigh mentions that the pandemic certainly reinforced the
importance of local manufacturing with flaws in
international supply chains showing and there being a
growing need to support the local economy.
It’s great to now see more companies moving their
manufacturing on-shore as a result of the pandemic and
Safetyline is proud to be a company that’s supported this
from the start. Manufacturing its products locally during the
pandemic also meant that Safetyline was able to operate on
Innovative leaders believe in constant learning. They
learn through a variety of ways. They are filled with
great insights that allow them to make smart business
decisions that count.
One such innovative leader is Leigh Rust, who is
passionate about constant learning and someone who likes
to take calculated decisions and make them count. Leigh is
the Co-founder and Director of Safetyline Jalousie - an
Australian louver window manufacturer. Leigh established
the company alongside his brother Nathan in 2010 after
they spent 10 years working at their father’s manufacturing
business Vergola.
Drawing Inspiration From Great People and Authors
Leigh has certainly drawn a lot of inspiration from his
father and uncle over the years. Growing up, having both of
these figures in his life be in business certainly had a big
impact on him and the path he chose.
Outside his immediate circle, Leigh is also inspired by
business leaders including Mark Bouris and Sir Richard
Branson. As someone who’s passionate about fitness and
mindset, Leigh also draws inspiration from David Goggins
and "Jocko'' Willink who are both US Navy SEAL veterans
and authors.
Leigh is passionate about personal development and
constant learning, so he loves to read. A couple of books he
has recently read which he highly recommends are The Art
of Resilience by Ross Edgley, The Alchemist by Paulo
Coelho, In Order to Live by Yeonmi Park and Man’s Search
for Meaning by Victor Frankl.
Working Towards Shared Objectives
In Leigh’s position at Safetyline Jalousie he is involved in
overseeing the day-to-day operations of the company,
including finding and pursuing new business opportunities
and working on new product launches.
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The 10 Most Innova ve CEOs Revamping the Future, 2021
July 2021
28. schedule without any delays, which was great for its
business and customers.
Covid also highlighted the importance of being adaptable in
business. As you never know what’s going to be thrown at
you in business, being able to pivot quickly is so important.
Safetyline was able to come out of last year in a period of
growth and expansion which has given it great confidence
moving forward.
Meeting and Exceeding Standards Consistently
One of the biggest technological advancements of louvre
windows has been the development of its SmartAir System.
These sophisticated systems allow buildings to breathe with
morning and night purge cycles, creating better indoor
environments - with not only better air quality but also the
inclusion of more natural light.
The standards Safetyline work within in Australia are some
of the highest in the world. Its systems not only meet these,
but they also transcend them in nearly every class. By
careful scrutinization of test data, carried out by third party
authorities, the benchmark for Safetyline is not just meeting
key performance metrics, but exceeding them by
continually looking to improve what it does.
The product’s incredible sealing capabilities, which remove
human interaction, and the efficiency in which it can be
installed are facets that add to the already great triple
bottom line benefits gained through using Safetyline
Jalousie.
Leigh is personally very proud seeing Safetyline’s louvre
windows being installed in places they haven’t previously,
namely because it has surpassed the criteria for these
buildings and infrastructures with such great conviction.
Providing Sustainable and Quality Air Solutions
Safetyline is passionate about supporting sustainability in
the manufacturing industry and is continually working
towards this in its business.
If Leigh was to make a change in the industry it would be to
have more people consider a product’s long-term
environmental impact when they make a purchase, rather
than making purchasing decisions based on cost alone.
As a company that’s committed to providing sustainable,
quality air solutions for the built environment, Safetyline
Jalousie has recently launched a new product which uses a
cleaner, low-carbon aluminium that reduces the carbon
footprint per kg of aluminium to 4.0 - less than a quarter of
the global average.
Choosing Inspiring People and Collaborating
Leigh’s advice for anyone looking to pursue a leadership
position in manufacturing is to establish a strong network of
connections in the industry - something that will allow you
to be on the lookout for any opportunities for collaboration.
He says, “When you’re entering a leadership position,
backing yourself and your skills is so important, as is
surrounding yourself with people who inspire you.
I’d also recommend that you consider what initiatives or
groups you can join, either as an individual, or on behalf of
the business, which are in line with your values. For
instance, we’ve recently joined the Living Future Institute
which connects people working in the built environment
industry across the country.”
As one last point of advice, he asserts that, “You should
make sure you are on the right side of sustainability.”
Safetyline Jalousie
Louvre Windows are well
known for challenging
and overcoming the
design, safety and
security limitations of
conventional louvre
windows.
26 | www.insightssuccess.com
July 2021
29.
30. Franchise or Startup,
Which is Better?
I
f you’re wondering if investing in
a franchise is a better option than
starting a business from scratch,
there really is no clear-cut answer. It
really depends on who you are and
what you want.
In a way, comparing a franchise to a
startup is like comparing oranges to
apples. Yes, they both involve business
ownership, but that’s where the similar-
ities end. There are a lot of factors that
could make either option a more attrac-
tive choice for the right type of person.
Two of the major differences include
the time and effort it takes to open for
business and the amount of control
you’ll have once you’re up and running.
So, how will you know which one is for
you? Here, we ask some questions to
help you decide.
One of the main reasons people seek
franchise ownership is because it’s less
risky than starting a business from
scratch. A franchised business has
HOW MUCH RISK ARE
YOU WILLING TO TAKE?
Don Daszkowski is the founder of the
International Franchise Professionals
Group (IFPG), a membership-based
organization with more than 1,000
Franchisors, Franchise Consultants and
Vendor members.
28 | www.insightssuccess.com
July 2021
31. already been proven in other mar-
kets. As a prospective franchisee,
you can do your due diligence to
find out what you’re getting into.
You can read the financials, talk to
other franchise owners and weigh
the pros and cons before you ever
get started. And depending on the
brand, you can talk to customers
or even visit a few locations and
experience the business first-hand.
You can taste the food, workout
at the gym or use the service. Of
course, there is still risk with any
franchise investment, but it’s much
less. A startup is a new business that
no one has ever heard of, been to, or
has been proven successful. You can
only take an educated guess on how
the business might perform. Excit-
ing for sure, but more risky.
With a startup business, there are
many more unknowns and things
to do before you even open your
doors. You will have to start every
-
thing from ground zero including
the market research, branding,
creating the business model, stra-
tegic planning, and so much more.
These aren’t negatives necessarily,
but they do require a focused effort
and lots of resources. Some people
prefer to put in that extra work to
have a business that’s truly unique
and in line with their own vision.
But others don’t necessarily have
a vision, and simply want to run a
solid business.
With franchising, all that work has
already been done for you by the
franchisor. You walk right into a
turnkey business. Of course you
have to pay for it with a franchise
fee, which can be quite expensive—
upwards of $35k or more. But many,
many people see the value in that
one-time payment.
HOW MUCH WORK ARE YOU WILLING TO PUT IN?
“With franchising,
all that work has
already been done
for you by the
franchisor. You walk
right into a turnkey
business.”
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Leader’s Viewpoint
July 2021
32. Following the franchisor’s
system is an essential part
of franchise ownership. Non-
compliance is the reason many
franchisees fail. If you can’t com-
ply, then franchising is simply
not for you. Think about it, the
franchisor already went through
all the hard work, made the
mistakes and refined the system.
All you have to do is follow that
proven system, so why wouldn’t
you? Not only is it foolish to
disregard a franchisor’s model,
but it could also get you kicked
out of the system. Imagine, for
example, if a McDonald’s fran-
chisee decided to change the
iconic Golden Arches to green
or changed the name of the
Happy Meal? It simply doesn’t
work. Consistency is the key to
branding and a franchise sys-
tem’s success.
Of course, franchisees can make
suggestions to franchisors, and
often, many of those suggestions
come to fruition. But any change
has to happen at the franchisor
level or the brand is compro-
mised.
Being part of a community is
one of the best parts of joining
a franchise. Franchisees in the
same system can call on each
other to share best practices and
ask for advice. It’s a truly unique
relationship. And, all good
franchisors offer ongoing sup-
port. With a franchise, you get a
corporate team behind you who
is constantly looking for ways
to improve the business model
with investments in technology,
ongoing training, and support.
During COVID, franchisors
helped their franchisees in many
ways, including navigating the
government’s funding programs
and altering their business
model to accommodate the new
normal. While independent
business owners had to go it
alone through the pandemic,
franchisees had support and
guidance from their franchisor’s
corporate team.
Everyone is different. To some,
the thought of starting a busi-
ness from scratch is terrifying,
while others wouldn’t have it
any other way. Some folks wel-
come the support and structure
of a franchise system, and others
find it limiting. It all depends on
who you are. There is no right
answer. For some, investing in
a franchise is a better option,
for others, starting a business
from scratch is the best way to
go. But one thing is for sure for
everyone considering business
ownership: it’s a big move either
way. Make sure you do your due
diligence. If you want to know
more about franchise owner-
ship, you can seek the help of a
Certified Franchise Consultant
who can help you determine
which path is best for you. You
can also do internet reserch, vis-
it trade shows and keep updated
with franchise news platforms
like www.franchisewire.com
where you can read franchisee
success stories, learn about fran-
chise brands and get the latest
franchise industry news.
CAN YOU FOLLOW A
SYSTEM?
DO YOU WANT TO
BE PART OF A
COMMUNITY OR
GO SOLO?
IFPG Franchise Consultants help people determine if franchise
ownership is the right path.
30 | www.insightssuccess.com
July 2021
33.
34. Mirna Sleiman
Impacting Lives by Bringing Financial Inclusion
G
reat business leaders have to adapt to different
styles and attributes of leadership based on the
different circumstances they face. However, the
one aspect of leadership that never changes is the ability to
lead from the front by taking responsibility. Today, leaders
are driven by innovation and passion to create positive
impact through their talents, skills, and abilities. One such
innovative and passionate leader is Mirna Sleiman. Mirna
is the Founder and CEO of Fintech Galaxy, the MENA
region's open finance and innovation platform. She is
advising governments and financial institutions on digital
transformation programs. She has more than 15 years of
experience in innovation programs, government affairs,
investor relations, journalism, strategic digital
communications, and global partnerships.
Delivering Inclusive Financial Services
Fintech Galaxy was founded in the United Arab Emirates in
2018 as a regional platform. From day one Mirna’s focus
was to use the Fintech Galaxy brand as an enabler of
innovation, so she had the dual responsibility of creating a
platform and a space for the industry to come together, and
the everyday job of building its own brand and developing a
scalable business. It was clear to Mirna before she founded
Fintech Galaxy that moving the needle on financial
inclusion was critical for Arab world. There was also a need
to connect global fintechs with a regional open finance
platform that includes an API sandbox, a fintech
marketplace, and enables cross-border open innovation.
These important objectives, which ultimately are all about
creating a future that delivers inclusive financial services,
serve as a long-term guide and they underpin much of what
Mirna does day-to-day.
Facilitating Integration of Financial Institutions and
Fintech Companies
Fintech Galaxy fuels innovation in financial services, drives
ecosystem collaboration and facilitates integration between
financial institutions and fintech companies. From scouting
to deployment, Fintech Galaxy aims to build future of
financial services across the 22 Arab countries. The Fintech
Galaxy Open Banking API sandbox enables development,
testing and deployment of fintech solutions, offers a
marketplace that connects institutions to thousands of
fintechs from across the globe, and delivers matchmaking
and crowdsourcing capabilities that solve customer pain
points, ultimately spurring disruptive and transformative
innovation across the financial services industry.
Fintech Galaxy is a regional
platform that fuels innovation in
financial services, drives
ecosystem collaboration and
facilitates integration between
financial institutions and fintech
companies.
‘‘
‘‘
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The 10 Most Innova ve CEOs Revamping the Future, 2021
July 2021
36. colleagues. When Mirna hires somebody, she looks for the
personality and the attitude, the right skills, and the right
outlook: a can-do, passionate, and ambitious individual. She
then wants to provide them with the most positive, can-do,
enabling environment within which to succeed. She
believes in having an open-door policy and a fearless
culture that says, ‘never be afraid to ask, to question, or do’.
Embracing New ways of Doing Things
According to Mirna, the key to sustainability is innovation
and passion. She never loses sight of why she founded
Fintech Galaxy: to impact lives and bring financial
inclusion to the Arab World. To achieve this, she stays
grounded and accessible by listening, learning, and
watching as much as she talks and does. This reflects
having an open mind to collaborate with industry partners,
work with regulators, and understand the needs of the
startup community. Embracing new ways of doing things is
what Mirna preaches, and as leaders it is of utmost
importance that we practice it too.
Being Open to Learn
In her advice to emerging CEOs, she says, “Don’t be afraid
to put yourself out there. Find your voice, build your niche,
and get noticed. This is not about ego, but about finding
your place within the industry so that you can navigate
towards the right people and ideas. In ‘normal’times, I
would work hard to attend panel discussions, speak at
forums, and share ideas and experiences with my peers.
That’s incredibly useful because there is always somebody
else out there with a new perspective to learn from. The
beauty of the digital economy is we can now do all of this –
and more frequently – through webinars and other online
forums.”
Accelerating Move to Cloud-based Innovation
Mirna opines that the pandemic has clearly contributed to
the acceleration of digital transformation across every
conceivable industry, and the way that organizations
interact with consumers. The move to Cloud, which was
already well on its way, is expedited, thanks to the
emergence of myriad new AI-powered solutions and
services. AI is now better understood by more people,
thanks to the behavior shifts we have witnessed as a result
of the pandemic.
Whereas before Covid-19, many people were aware of AI
and its connection to 4IR possibilities, but now market is in
a place where businesses – particularly service providers –
have been forced through circumstance to understand what
it delivers, and in some ways forced to sharply focus on
what these technologies are and how they improve what
they do.
The reality is that cloud-based platforms are a no-brainer in
a post pandemic environment. Open finance platforms, in
particular, offer a level of connectivity and immediacy that
was impossible a few years ago. Businesses can pick up
innovations, adapt them, trial new approaches, and launch
new products and services faster and with more precision
than ever before. Businesses have a duty to engage with
new cloud-based innovation platforms fully and
competently to futureproof what they do and serve their
customers well.
Providing the Enabling Work Environment
About work culture, Mirna believes that if businesses don’t
have a positive work culture they don’t have positive
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July 2021
37.
38. Paul Guenther
LEADING WITH INVENTIVENESS
The great entrepreneurs are driven by core
confidence and competence. They are not fearful of
pressure. They actually crave pressure and thrive
under it. They exhibit courage and grace even under
pressure. They understand the importance of fairness and
always maintain a level playing field. They demonstrate
logical and efficient decision making. They think
deliberately and act on conclusion of logical thought. They
don’t let emotions cloud their judgement or drive their
decisions. They are rational and practical in their decisions.
The great leaders demonstrate total accountability and
possess an unwillingness to make excuses for their
shortcomings. They know how to get job done. They seize
opportunities and make them count. They don’t recognize
failure. They know there are other ways to achieve their
intended result. They find one of those ways with their
inventiveness. One such practical and inventive
entrepreneur is Paul Guenther. He is the CEO of
Knowledge Hub Media, a company that helps business
professionals by providing useful insight and analysis on
the most current topics within their industry, and across
multiple job functions, including IT, marketing, finance,
human resources, mobility, operations, sales and more.
Minimizing Mistakes and Maximizing Efficiencies
The most of what has always driven Paul comes from a few
different things. First, complete financial independence for
himself and those who work for him. Second, total
accountability. Third, an unwillingness to make or accept
excuses.
Paul holds himself and everyone else to the same standard.
He recognizes that nobody is perfect and everyone is going
to make mistakes, but the idea is to minimize mistakes and
increase overall efficiencies. A lot of this happens naturally
when everyone understands a culture of accountability.
When a question needs to be answered or a problem needs
to be fixed. It doesn’t really matter “why.” What matters is
to attend it, and that Paul believes in doing that efficiently
and effectively.
Delivering Engagement Opportunities for Clients
The offerings of Knowledge Hub Media are diverse by their
very nature. Its core competencies fall in the areas or
demand generation and content syndication. It offers
multiple engagement opportunities for its clients to
effectively reach their target audience(s) through high
impact online advertising, content syndication and demand
generation programs. It promotes its clients’ white papers
and webinars to generate and deliver highly targeted, highly
qualified B2B sales leads. As each of its clients have
different products, solutions, and services, they target
different segments of people (and companies). Its offerings
are customized, fully tailored to target folks within the right
job roles – at the right companies – who are typically
already in the buying cycle for its clients’ solutions.
Generally speaking, the leads that Knowledge Hub Media
generates originate from companies that are, at the very
least, currently researching the solutions offered by its
clients. In most cases, though, they are in the process of
evaluating vendors and getting ready to make a purchase
decision. This is where it comes in, where it really shines.
By promoting to very targeted groups of people, it lines its
clients up with the perfect buyers, at the perfect time. That
is, companies that not only have a need and budget for the
products and services that its clients offer, but that are also
ready to pull the trigger and make a purchase decision.
Leading from Front
Paul mentions that clients of Knowledge Hub Media are all
very unique – even if they do generally reside in the B2B
technology sector. Each client has a specific solution, or
36 | www.insightssuccess.com
The 10 Most Innovative CEOs Revamping the Future, 2021
July 2021
40. group of products, that is targeted to a very specific
audience. For example, enterprise software solutions used
by IT people, marketers, sales teams, HR professionals or
finance professionals. The targeting gets a lot more granular
than that, and then not only are the job roles unique, but the
types of companies targeted are also unique to each client.
Some might be looking for SMB’s, while others might
promote to mid-market companies, or enterprise sized
organizations with 5,000+ employees.
Being at the helm is always interesting for Paul as he faces
with a new challenge almost every day. Those challenges
are not just from a standpoint of sales (managing clients),
but also involves marketing (to its userbase), operations,
finance and handling its technology infrastructure. There is
truly never a dull moment for Paul and the Knowledge Hub
Media.
Besides, the readers of Knowledge Hub Media values and
trust the suggestions offered by its expert bloggers, trending
news articles, and extensive research library to facilitate
strategic development, project management and to make
intelligent purchasing decisions.
Staying Ahead of the Curve
Media industry is inherently based in technology, and as
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July 2021
41. such, it is always changing. For this reason Knowledge Hub
Media is changing and innovating. It has experienced
annual revenue growth year over year in 11 of its 12 years
running, but Paul’s vision of the future is never revenue or
sales based. He likes to think that in five years, company
will be at least “five years more advanced” than it is now as
a company – just as technology advances each and every
year. Optimally, though, Paul likes to think that it’ll be
closer to 10 years more advanced in five years; staying
ahead of the curve, just as it has been since its inception.
Being Realistic
Knowledge Hub Media is very proactive about never
“overpromising and underdelivering.” It forecasts for lead
output and delivery as well as anyone in the industry, and it
is usually dead on. Even so, it is typically conservative with
the projections that it gives clients. This provides another
layer of protection that helps to ensure things go smoothly
and it keep its promises in terms of goals.
Not being Affected by Externals
Paul sustains his leadership just the way that he has always
done things. His leadership approach rarely changes based
on wavering circumstances or external forces – including
this current era of ever changing, ever improving
technology. To be clear, though, external forces or changes
can have an impact on company’s strategy, for example, or
the products and services that it currently offers. But
external forces have very little – if any – effect on Paul’s
leadership spirit.
“Make money. That’s the
name of the game. If you are
making money, and your
employees are making
money, and your clients and
vendors are making money
as a result of your business
process, you are doing a
damn nice job."
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