Issuu

1 E

MOST INNOVATIVE

BUSINESS

LEADERS TO FOLLOW IN

Beginning of Greatness Going Beyond Normal

2021

Robert R. Wilson A TRUE NATIONALIST PASSIONATE TO SUPPORT HIS COUNTRY AND PEOPLE

VOL 06 | ISSUE 03 | 2021

EDITOR’S NOTE Leading with Ingenuity

nventive ability is the hallmark of any innovative business leader. Today, to make a significant contribution to the business world, delivering inventive solutions to the market is of utmost importance for innovative business leaders. To be exceptionally innovative, you need to separate yourself from the rat race. That being said, innovative leaders never follow the crowd; they follow their conscience and intuition. They listen to the opinions of others but they don’t lose the voice that comes from their own conscience. The founder of Apple, Steve Jobs also advised in his famous Stanford speech, “Have the courage to follow your own heart and intuition.” Without having the courage to follow one’s own conscience and intuition it is not possible to come up with something exceptionally innovative. Everyone is unique in this world and everyone can put something wonderful in this world if they prefer to follow their own conscience and intuition. Certainly, innovative leaders are not trapped by the noise of other people’s opinions. They lead their lives by the forces of their creative imagination rather than adhering to public norms or any kind of dogma. They understand that the death of dogma is the birth of morality and something inventive. Innovative business leaders prefer to follow their will instead of conforming within the box of social expectations. They don’t want to be confined by any box. They are able to come up with innovative solutions because they think like there is no box, or they prefer to think outside the box. If you are imitating someone else, then you can never come up with something unique and inventive. Innovative leaders are neither envious of anyone and nor imitate anyone. They are confident in

their ability to innovate and therefore, they never feel insecure or envious by someone else’s innovations. They know that with their own unique innovativeness, they can come up with something more exceptional and innovative than everyone else. Innovative business leaders are able to stand out from the competition because of their own unique innovativeness. They believe in themselves, and they are not afraid to stand out when it comes to their thoughts and ideas. With their thoughtful and conscientious leadership, they are able to be most innovative in their approach and make their unique contribution to the world. Besides, they have logical, analytical, and rational approaches and have diligence in their actions. They use their forces of creative imagination to be the most innovative in pursuing their ambitions. They surprise people with their ingenuity because of their most creative and innovative talent. With their exceptionally ingenious approach, they are able to deliver an exceptional solution to the market and make their unique contribution to the business world with their inventiveness. In this edition of “The 10 Most Innovative Business Leaders to Follow in 2021”, we are presenting the most innovative business leaders who are making a signiﬁcant contribution to the business world with their unique innovativeness. Let’s have a look at their noteworthy contribution!

Sharad Chitalkar

CONTENTS 08

COVER STORY

Robert R. Wilson

A True Nationalist Passionate to Support His Country and People

CXO

Beginning of Greatness Going Beyond Normal

Article

Leader’s Viewpoint The New Payment Era

Marla Vanessa Bojorge Zúñiga

Greg Cruikshank

Making Science Accessible and Pioneering Virtual Events & Conferences

Helping People Find the Right Legal Solution for their Unique Circumstances

Stuart Torr

Patrick McCreesh

Delivering an Integrated Approach to Water, Energy, and Waste Management

Advising, Enabling and Developing Exceptional People

Trevor M. Saliba

Driving Successful Growth of Business by Leading With Innovativeness and Integrity

Hitesh Dhamani Editor-in-Chief CONTENT

Senior Editor Alan Swann Executive Editors Sharad Chitalkar Alex Spellman

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June, 2021

Featuring Person

Company Name

Brief

Alexander Müller-Gastell CEO

ND SATCOM ndsatcom.com

ND SATCOM oﬀers the technology of choice for satellite communication applications.

Labroots labroots.com

Labroots is the leading scientific social networking website, offering top scientific trending news and premier educational virtual events and webinars.

Lance Lau Head Of Sales (Hong Kong Team)

Payment Asia paymentasia.com

Payment Asia is a leading e-Payment technology and eCommerce management company.

Marla Vanessa Bojor Owner CEO

Bojorge & Associates Law Firm

Bojorge & Associates is an international corporate and immigration law ﬁrm specializes in ﬁnding the right legal solution.

Nicola Veratelli Chief Executive Oﬃcer

Octo Telematics octotelematics.com

Octo is the #1 global provider of telematics and data analytics solutions for the auto insurance industry.

Simatree simatree1.com

Simatree is an advisory practice that blends a unique mix of technical prowess with people-focused service to achieve datadriven change.

R2C Inc r2c-inc.com

R2C, Inc is an award winning ISO 9001;2015 Certiﬁed, Service Disabled-Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) full service Aerospace & Defense Company.

Stuart Torr President and CEO

Integrated Sustainability integratedsustainability.ca

Integrated Sustainability is an employee-owned infrastructure development and operations company.

Søren Kjærulﬀ Founder & Chief Executive Oﬃcer

Lactobio lactobio.com

Lactobio is a probiotic and microbiome company developing cosmeceuticals, dietary supplements and live biotherapeutic products.

Greg Cruikshank CEO

Patrick McCreesh Williams Managing Partner

Robert Wilson President and CEO

Trevor M. Saliba Managing Partner

NMS Consulting, Inc. nmsconsulting.com

NMS Consulting is a global management consulting and strategic advisory ﬁrm that specializes in delivering services to a global client base of private and public companies, government agencies, philanthropic organizations and the individuals who lead them.

Robert R. Wilson President and Chief Execu ve Oﬃcer

R2C, Inc.

Cover Story

Robert R. Wilson A True Nationalist Passionate to Support His Country and People

‘‘

We seek out opportunities to serve our God, nation, and communities through the different roles of our personal and professional lives.

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Robert is known for his adept leadership skills. As President and Chief Executive Officer of R2C, Inc. he oversees all aspects of the business, formulates and determines values and goals of the company, and facilitates the integration of the company into the community. R2C came to fruition through the grace of God and relationships with customers that gave them the opportunity to truly understand the needs of the Warfighter and ability to develop a skilled workforce to meet those needs. R2C continues to flourish even beyond Robert’s expectations through the exemplary products and services they provide their customers. Offering Advancements in Aviation & Aerospace

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Our core focus is to support the warﬁghter by providing the highest quality services, products, and responsive solutions”

‘‘

ound leadership is about being empathetic and making yourself available and approachable for people. One of the significant undertakings of approachable leadership is that approachability doesn’t just improve one’s leadership, but also develops connections in all areas of life. When this approachability combines with the purpose to help others, it provides a sense of meaning and purpose to life. An epitome of such leadership is Robert R. Wilson, a disabled U.S. Army veteran with an excellent army track record, who firmly believes in approachable leadership and is extraordinarily passionate about supporting America’s warfighters who are the defense of American families, friends, community, nation, and allies. He converted this passion into action by forming R2C, an award-winning Service Disabled-Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) full-service Aerospace & Defense Company, headquartered in Huntsville, AL.

The United States Department of Defense (DoD) selected R2C to participate in a mentor-protégé program with a local large business. This program creates scenarios that directly benefit the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) and Army and Program Executive Office Aviation Critical priorities. Robert shared that “R2C’s mentor transfers technology that enables R2C to advance our quality program through AS9100 certification, while improving program control, task order execution and operational agility through proven processes and supporting tools. The result is the expansion of a very limited industrial base of

qualiﬁed companies specializing in reverse engineering and obsolescence mitigation.” This niche capability positions R2C as a reliable prime contractor increasing competition and quality of performance while potentially reducing costs and enabling AMCOM’s ability to deliver critical support to the Warﬁghter. R2C received the prestigious and coveted Nunn-Perry Award, the highest honor companies can receive in this program, for exceeding all goals and expectations two years ahead of schedule.

composite material and processing speciﬁcations, fabrication, and assembly processes. In addition to the science of engineering design and application in structures, systems, and subsystems market trends, public policy is monitored to determine their impact on industry. The company’s professionals take a systemsengineering approach that leverages interdisciplinary processes to ensure customer satisfaction throughout a system's entire life cycle. “We adhere to a simple strategy: innovative, on-time and on budget delivery; all the time, anywhere, every time” says Robert.

Impeccable Support Service Overcoming the Challenges through Getting Upgrade R2C personnel have signiﬁcant program and project management experience with a number of large, complex project management endeavors in challenging environments. As part of the company’s integrated team approach with clients, R2C adopted a valuedriven approach to deﬁning and articulating business and project objectives to identify the most effective means to deliver. R2C Support Services’ materials engineers apply principles of chemistry, physics, and material behavior to develop metallic, non-metallic, and

R2C implemented superior engineering and logistics practices and processes to ensure low risk, best value solutions seamlessly with a high degree of collaboration with government customers. Robert states “It is through those challenges in our initial days we began to identify risks and develop solutions to overcome them. We continue to upgrade hardware and software tools to better provide processes that drive more efﬁcient workﬂow.”

requirements and R2C providing an ever-evolving opportunity to provide the highest quality products and services to its clients to ensure Warfighters receive the most advanced, technologically superior tools to perform their mission. Technology rapidly changes and is critical in the field. The team at R2C understands that and walks alongside its customers to ensure the company goes above and beyond to meet this call to duty. Sharing Knowledge to Support Community Robert mentions that “R2C contributes greatly to the community by providing mentorship to other aviation companies, internships to high school and college students, resources to charitable causes, and partnerships to veteran, minority, individuals with disabilities, and women serving institutions. One of the company’s core values is service -We seek out opportunities to serve our God, nation, and communities through the different roles of our personal and professional lives. By working together, once the direction is set, there are few things that cannot be accomplished. This is true of all things, whether in the local community, state, country, or world.” A List of Acknowledgments for Being Exceptional Serving the Country in the Crisis Robert believes the pandemic certainly created requirements to think outside of the box. Vendors had challenges providing supplies timely due to the impact to their workforce and turnaround time of shipping materials. As the aviation industry is critical to the defense of the nation and support of the Warfighter, R2C is standing essential as are R2C’s employees and the jobs they do daily to support the defense of the nation. The company acted quickly through strategic business planning and sustained operations to continue meeting customer demands during the crisis. Uniting with Updated Techs R2C’s company offerings include but are not limited to engineering, logistics, manufacturing, and technical services. Company offerings have been shaped and continue to evolve over the years based on customer

Below is the list of awards and accolades that rightly exhibit R2C’s expertise and prominence: • AS9100 Rev D / ISO 9001:2015 Certiﬁcation • DoD Mentor / Protégé Program Nun-Perry Award Winner

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We are open and honest with ourselves and those we serve and always look to do what is Good, Right, and True.

‘‘

• American Business Awards as Aerospace & Defense Company of the Year (Three years) • American Business Awards Veteran Owned Company of the Year • Business Intelligence Group Small Business of the Year • Inc Magazine “Best Places to Work” (Four consecutive years) • Finalist for “Small Business of the Year 2018” by The Huntsville Madison County Chamber of Commerce • Won seat on SEAPORT NEXT GEN $50 Billion contract • Won Prototype Integration Facility BPA, ITECS BPA, and CITES BPA • Honored as VETS 50 and Inc. 5000 fastest Growing Companies in America (Five consecutive years) • Global Smart Leaders 20 Most Innovative Company of the Year 2020 • ACQ5 Global Awards 2019 • Entrepreneur 360 Best Company Paciﬁc Life 2019 • North Alabama’s Best in Business 2020 • 50 Best Companies to Watch 2020 • Electronic Equipment Repair Best of 2021 (Seven consecutive years) • 10 Most Admired Companies of the Year, CXO Fortune Always There for the Country R2C strives to keep pace with technological advances. Quality is R2C’s watchword. The company always

works to improve processes, procedures, and personnel. Robert opines “If we are so blessed by our creator to continue to support America’s Heroes, I have no doubt that R2C will continue to provide unparalleled solutions and support to America’s Warﬁghter around the world.” The Formula to Success In his advice to upcoming entrepreneurs aspiring to venture into aviation industry, Robert advises “Success is being able to provide on time delivery of high-quality products to our customers and Warﬁghters in support of defending our nation. The formula to success is humility and genuine care for our people. In that, all things are possible.”

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Greg Cruikshank CEO

Labroots

| June 2021 |

Greg Cruikshank

Making Science Accessible and Pioneering Virtual Events & Conferences

universities around the world sought out new event marketing strategies and many came to Labroots to make the pivot into the virtual space. The company’s expertise in the virtual and hybrid event space has aided companies, across a variety of industries, pivot from physical to virtual events during the coronavirus pandemic.

n the world of advanced technology, it is essential for business leaders to have good technological acumen to come up with innovative solutions according to the changing needs of the market. They need to be well-aware of the potential of latest technologies and be ﬂexible to incorporate latest technologies according to the changing times. For business leaders, leveraging professional and entrepreneurial skills is signiﬁcantly important to make a difference in the industry.

With over 20 years of sales and marketing experience at various Life Science and Biotech Companies, Greg Cruikshank leveraged his professional and entrepreneurial skills by starting Labroots in 2008. He is the CEO of Labroots. Labroots is the leading scientific social networking website, offering top scientific trending news and premier educational virtual events and webinars. The company provides virtual events, articles, and webcasts that go beyond the mundane and explore the latest discoveries in the world of science. Labroots users can stay atop their field by gaining continuing education credits from a wide range of topics through their participation in the webinars and virtual events.

Contributing to the advancement of science through virtual content sharing capabilities, Labroots is a powerful advocate in amplifying global networks and communities.

Pivoting from Physical to Virtual Events One of the biggest challenges that Labroots has faced this past year was the necessary growth with the exponential increase of business. Companies and

| June 2021 |

Making the Most Interactive Experience Possible The pandemic has really put into perspective the value those in-person interactions, that is why Labroots has made it a goal to make the virtual event experience one that mimics the feel of a physical conference. The company’s custom virtual events host Zoom rooms, live chats, live surveys and polls, photo booths, in addition to the standard lobby, auditorium, exhibit, and poster halls, to make for the most interactive experience possible.

Award Winning Performance 2021 Company of the Year Internet & New Media (Gold Stevie Winner) 2019 Consumer Service of the Year (Gold Best in Biz Winner) 2019 Company of the Year Media & Entertainment (Gold Stevie Winner)

Being Flexible with Business Strategies Greg says that it is 100% vital for businesses to align with sophisticated technologies in this current economic environment. He expresses that the coronavirus pandemic showed many business leaders how necessary it is to be ﬂexible in business strategies. Labroots has been leveraging cutting-edge technologies from the get-go, it is a part of its blueprint. It is a part of the Labroots mission to help other companies make the shift into the digital world.

2019 Collaboration/Social Networking Solution (Bronze Stevie Winner) 2018 Creative Department of the Year (Bronze Best in Biz Winner) 2018 Operations Department of the Year (Bronze Best in Biz Winner) 2018 Marketing Department of the Year (Silver Stevie Winner)

Delivering Free and Accessible Virtual Events Labroots offers registration to all its virtual events free of cost, as well as continuing educational (CE) credits at all its virtual events and for many of its webinars. The company believes that science should be free and accessible, emphasizing digital innovation in scientiﬁc collaboration and learning. In addition to this, its custom virtual events have been a staple for companies to market their latest research and products since physical events were not an option.

2018 Global Sales Team of the Year (Bronze Stevie Winner)

Being Up to Date with Latest Research Greg advises budding entrepreneurs to keep up with the latest technology and make sure they become an expert in their field. He says, that just like anyone seeking to become the best microbiologist or astrophysicist, it takes time, and one must be up to date on the latest research in one’s field. He says that same applies for business and advises them to be the best and to be the most updated on whatever field you are trying to make a name in.

Keeping Science Fun Labroots has become a primary source for trending scientiﬁc news, webinars, virtual conferences and more. It has recently launched a Leaderboard gamiﬁcation feature to the platform, allowing users to compete against others as they collect points based on their engagement on the site and event participation. In addition to the online portal, Labroots now has an online store, loaded with science-themed t-shirts for all science lovers. From topics like Genetics and Cell Biology, Labroots offers a large selection of t-shirts, mugs, and accessories for men and women. No matter what kind of science one enjoys, Labroots has apparel everyone will love.

Labroots really came to life over the past year, and it has big goals ahead. It aims to continue to invite the best and brightest speakers to its virtual events, but the company also has changes coming to how it hosts its virtual events as a whole and the features that come with them. Stay tuned!

| June 2021 |

Secondly, talent and temperament both play a huge role in becoming the successful leader. Talents are the innate abilities that you are born with and that talents can be enhanced with good upbringing, training and associating with talented people. Temperament is the ability to channel the emotions most appropriately. You should have control over your emotions but should not be controlled by your emotions. You should not take decisions whimsically, but by thinking deliberately and acting on the conclusion of most logical, thoughtful and rational thought. Temperament is very much synonymous with emotional intelligence and morality is the foundation of appropriate temperament. You hold the potential to become the successful leader if you have appropriate talents as well right temperament. By associating with right people, you can develop your talent as well as temperament. By reading appropriate books, by having successful business leaders as your mentor or guide, you can certainly develop your talent as well as temperament. Right talents and right temperament help leaders to achieve something remarkable and that help them to make signiﬁcant difference in their organization as well as to the clients and in the industry for a sustainable period of time.

reatness of a leader is established by his or her ability to thrive even in the most provocative or most challenging situations. The substance of the leaders is revealed in the toughest situations. If they are able to calm their nerves even in difﬁcult times and are able to deliver the good results even amidst challenges, they become the most valuable asset in the success of the organization. Their ability to thrive, no matter what the situation is, make them exceptional. Such leaders play a huge role in successful and sustained growth of the company. As it is believed courage is grace under pressure, substantial leaders never crumble even amidst the greatest pressure. They are not fazed by the external praise or criticism. They hold the ability to exhibit grace even in the situations of high pressure. This grace and calmness inside them helps them to deal with the challenges from inside-out approach and resolve the issues without creating a big havoc. Those who don’t have the guts to handle the pressure remain like a coal. But those who handle the pressure with grace are the people who one-day become like a diamond, just like coal under pressure transforms into diamond by undergoing through a tremendous pressure for many days. Therefore, ability to exhibit grace even in the times of pressure makes you a great leader.

| June 2021 |

Beginning of Greatness

Having exceptional attributes like determination, persistence, patience, hard work coupled with smart work, ability to lead the team in the right direction, planning, right strategy, being innovative, and being technically smart, makes the leader of the organization very valuable. Exceptional attributes of the leader of the organization create a ripple effect on the people in the organization and that is huge for the organization. This inspires everyone in the organization to perform to their best of abilities and make a significant difference. The contribution of everyone leads to glorious achievements for the organization.

Moreover, great business leaders build another set of great business leaders with their ripple eﬀect. This helps in the growth and expansion of the business of the organization tremendously. They promote the individual talents and cooperative behavior in their team members and lead with responsibility. They don’t hesitate in taking bold decisions. Business leaders who are thoughtfully decisive are able to do what needs to be done diligently. They address the needs that are needs to be addressed before it is too late. They act in the right interest of the organization based on the conclusion of logical and deliberated thought process. They act on the integrated thoughts. They are organized and precise in their approach. They utilize their intelligence, resources, talents, words and abilities in most constructive ways. They don’t act whimsically. But they act on their rational conclusions. The technical, ingenious and innovative smartness in them makes them most valuable. They destroy the prejudices by going beyond normal. They deliver more than needed. That makes them truly remarkable.

The high level of trust in the competence and capabilities of each other create a good culture in the organization. The cooperation between everyone in the organization leads organization to a heightened success, resulting in a win-win for everyone in the organization. Setting the right example in front of others is the one of the best ways of leadership. Great leaders lead exemplarily by doing justice to their roles, routine, relationships and responsibilities and in turn inspire everyone.

| June 2021 |

Helping People Find the Right Legal Solution for their Unique Circumstances

chieving success requires determination and focus. Once you decide to walk towards the goal, these traits make you committed to achieve it. Marla Vanessa Bojorge Zúñiga’s journey is the story of dedication to achieve her goals and reaching at the pinnacle of her career. Marla is the Owner of Bojorge & Associates Law Firm, an international corporate and immigration law ﬁrm located in Valencia (Spain). Her specialties stand in the areas of Immigration and Nationality Law, Corporate Law, and Consumer Rights.

I successfully completed my studies in Law in 1995 and I continued studying for 4 more years to become a Judge or Prosecutor in Spain as a public official in private studies. However, I saw that this would not give me full happiness, so I got an internship in a trial court in Switzerland. It is one of the best decisions I made since it helped me a lot in my current way of working. Once in Spain, I spent one more stage studying a Master in Business Consulting, once I finished it seemed to me that that was not my path either, so I applied for a selection to create my own company as a female entrepreneur presenting my own project of my own company a Law Firm. I was selected as one of the 3 representing projects by a Business School in Spain and by the Women's office in Valencia.

The ﬁrm practices immigration law and assist with Spain visas and travel, but it is diverse in capacity. It assists in proceedings and representation services mainly in Spanish immigration law. It provides businesses, employees, foreign resident citizens and foreign non-resident citizens with legal and consulting services in the areas of visa, immigration and business resources for opportunity. It also help people in purchasing a property in Spain or investment projects.

To finish outlining my idea of the ideal job, I asked for and accepted a position in a law firm in Manhattan (USA) where I acquired the cosmopolitan skill that I considered I needed. It was ready. However, I considered that the world was not complete without including China and I submitted my candidacy in a tough selection obtaining a scholarship to study in Beijing by a Foundation of the Ministry of Economy of Spain. I flew directly from Manhattan to Beijing on a long flight. In China I acquired a totally different vision and experience than what I had known up to that moment and I obtained my last degree in Law.

Throughout her tenure, Marla has achieved many milestones. Let’s unveil different aspects of her journey through an interview conducted between her and CIOLook. Below are the highlights of the interview: Give us a brief overview of your position at your company, and your journey since inception.

Once in Spain, I was totally ready and despite the global economic crisis I created my own law ﬁrm. Following my business plan that I had written before, I put my last name BOJORGE and I put the following phrase "and associates", but I will never associate. It is just a signature name. In turn, I had already registered my

My legal vocation was born when I was 7 years old. Since my early age, I considered that the best profession for me was to be a lawyer/ juriste. It is as if a lamp has been placed in my heart to motivate me and guide me in my steps.

| June 2021 |

Marla Vanessa Bojorge Zúñiga Owner

Bojorge & Associates Law Firm 25

| June 2021 |

‘‘

Institute Pedagogical “ La Salle” in Managua, Nicaragua with my childhood friends, Pope Francis, in some cases Ursula von der Leyen. And as books, those that taught me to dream "LA ILIADA", "PLATERO and I", "The Manual of War" (China), "SIDARTHA",

We follow high ethical standard and have our own style of doing business and ideas.

What is your take on CSR activity and in what ways have you contributed to the community?

‘‘

In Corporate Social Responsibility, I follow the 2030 agenda of United Nations particularly human rights. I participated in the draft of guideline for Spain in the commission of small business with comments and ideas. My last idea was "take care of Human Rights”

name as a trademark in the international classiﬁcation at the Spanish Patent and Trademark Ofﬁce; Marla Bojorge Zúñiga Lawyer in a registered trademark. My business idea became a reality and since then I have acquired numerous international awards including myself on serious lists where my opinion is taken into account.

How do you envision on sustaining your company’s competency in a cutthroat and volatile world of business? Where do you see your company in the next ﬁve years? Using technology more and more and striving to make this use suitable for people, companies and society as a whole.

I am proud of my vision and now of my positioning. The road has been long, but I am happy. I have fulﬁlled my academic and now professional dreams.

What are your future aspirations? What strategies are you undertaking to achieve those goals?

What is your opinion on the necessity for businesses to align their offerings with newer technological developments, especially when it comes to Digital Transformation?

Have a more balanced and advanced lifestyle with quality of life standards. As an established business leader, what would be your advice to the budding entrepreneurs aspiring to venture into the Law industry?

It's crucial. The ethical use of technology in business allows speed, simplicity and in many cases generates conﬁdence in the consumer. And I repeat, I use ethical respecting the person himself. For example, the pandemic in 2020 highlighted the need to have a quick and effective option to continue working despite a situation that is global.

Choose your mentor carefully. On the contrary, if you are in your own guide, then this is my piece of advice: "do not be afraid and be patient."

What is your thought on the necessity of a positive work culture? In what ways do you implement it at your organization? It's basic. It helps the brain to work better and to its full capacity. People feel accepted, motivated and efficient. Anything that is a bonfire of vanities is disastrous. What people, what books, what life factors have influenced and impacted you? My Father (Moisés Bojorge), My Mother (Myriam Zúñiga), My Maternal Grandmother, my school

| June 2021 |

Patrick McCreesh Managing Partner,

Simatree

| June 2021 |

Patrick McCreesh Advising, Enabling and Developing Exceptional People

ndoubtedly, positivity inﬂuences the workplace culture to a great extent, but trust and transparency altogether are foundations for success of any company, believes an astute leader, Patrick McCreesh. He and his partners built Simatree with trust and transparency as the foundation. Simatree is a management consulting company that transforms businesses into modern leaders in strategy, data, technology and analytics. Patrick leads the company with the values of Empowering People, Inspiring Passion, Executing Excellence, Serving All, and Embracing Change.

and then they had a delay on a few contracts. During the pandemic, they decided to focus on a few anchor clients through their deep relationships. Wes and Patrick started to build strong delivery teams around Simatree’s core services. Simatree now has a strong consulting team that is focused on digital transformation, analytical products, and change management. Simatree is deep in the insurance industry and the public sector where it will focus going forward.

Playing to Individual Strengths in Beginning

Patrick grew up looking up to his father. When he was growing up, his father was an emerging manager in a large corporation. He watched him go from employee to leader running programs across a Fortune 500 company. The company went through massive evolutions in the 42 years his father worked there, but his father never changed his style or his core principles. Patrick’s father was a genuine and authentic leader who wanted to work hard and have a good work-life balance to be home with his children.

Being Inspired by a Genuine and Authentic Leader

Simatree was started in 2018 to focus on strategy, analytics, and technology advisory services. The four original partners were co-equals building the ﬁrm with equal roles that coalesced around an advisory practice. All were building their own business, driving their own clients, and trying to manage their own book. They quickly started to specialize. Patrick’s partner, Wes Flores clearly had the aptitude for technology and people strategy, where Patrick gravitated toward organizational strategy and internal management. Simatree’s other partners demonstrated strengths in business development. So, they split their time and focused.

As an entrepreneur, Patrick has made different choices about work-life balance, but that’s who he is and he

Having a Strong Consulting Team Simatree’s partners made some bets and tried a few different approaches to get their message into the market. Some things worked and others failed. They were starting to get traction before the pandemic hit,

| June 2021 |

needs to stay true to that while also ﬁnding the right way to be there for his family. Most importantly, Patrick’s father taught him how to treat people with the simple idea that there is no one better than you, but you aren’t better than anyone either. Patrick tries to inspire this approachable conﬁdence in his team.

new product, it may be acquired and integrated, outdated, or replicated more effectively by a bigger player. The key is to understand the themes and needs of the industries where one operates and builds digital solutions against these thematic challenges. As advisors, Simatree operates within an ecosystem of technology providers and it grabs the providers that make sense for the solution they are developing. So, the company always wants to know why its clients are transforming and what technology is available, but it is less concerned with who is developing it, as it will ﬁnd the right version for its client. Simatree’s team is comprised of experts in a range of technical and management ﬁelds to combine the right resources for the solution. Simatree’s philosophy is to bring principal level leadership to engagements, no matter the size, to ensure one’s solution starts and ends with expertise.

Leveraging the Brain at Work and in Leadership The ﬁrst book that had an impact on Patrick is ‘A Sense of Where You Are’ by John McPhee about Bill Bradley. Another book Patrick ﬁnds himself re-reading is Bad Leadership by Barbara Kellerman because it has such a simple framework for thinking about why people misbehave in their leadership roles. Patrick also loves the social and organizational research/writing that is being done by Daniel Pink, Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant, Amy Edmondson, and many others. In particular, Dan Pink’s A Whole New Mind is one of his favorites because it covers how one needs to start leveraging one’s whole brain at work and in leadership.

Educating Executives and Leaders in Data Analytics Patrick believes corporations get beneﬁts from society and he thinks the recent PPP program is a perfect example. Therefore, there is a responsibility to contribute. However, Patrick also believes in alignment. Simatree is a people company. Therefore, the company tries to contribute to society through education and

Embracing Technology to Meet Transforming Needs of Clients Today, there is no way to stay completely aligned with new technology. By the time a leader understands a

| June 2021 |

opportunity. Simatree educates executives and leaders on data through round table sessions and the company focuses on building a more diverse workforce in the ﬁeld of data and analytics. Being a Global Leader in Data Analytics and Digital Transformation

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Simatree is still small, but it is focusing on candidates and hiring practices that lead it toward a data science team that is more diverse than the teams Patrick has worked with in the past. In ﬁve years, Patrick foresees Simatree as a global leader in data analytics and digital transformation in highly regulated sectors like ﬁnancial services and insurance, and working deeply in the public sector, mostly at the federal level.

Simatree enables true customercentric solutions with its strategic talent, industry leadership, and proven approaches.

Having a Solid Idea and Building on it Consistently

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Patrick loves to tell his team that it is not about having the next great idea – it is about having a solid idea and being willing to be dogged about that idea. In his advice to emerging entrepreneurs he says, “It is about whether you are willing to drive that same idea consistently for 8-10 years and build. Maybe things will come faster, but if you can’t see yourself building for at least that long, you shouldn’t make the leap.”

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Leader’s Viewpoint

The New

Payment

Era P

ayment environment in Hong Kong has changed continuously over the years. Currently, we are experiencing a stage of transformation – from cash transactions to traditional cashless payment such as credit and debit cards being replaced by eWallets, mobile payments, virtual banking and the future usage of cryptocurrencies. In Hong Kong, the pandemic has accelerated the development of the payment industry. Most merchants are searching ways to improve the purchase experience for their clients while also implementing the online/eCommerce elements to their business. Payment Asia has designed and self-developed a mobile payment application called PA Pay – speciﬁcally for merchants – which integrates multiple payment channels, including credit and debit cards and a variety of eWallets. The application can also be applied to POS or smartphone operating systems. We offer various online payment solutions including Visa, MasterCard, UnionPay, Alipay and WeChat Pay. Through API, it can be integrated with online stores, H5 web pages and applets. Besides, we can guide merchants and personal clients in the process of setting up international bank accounts (IBAN) for payment settlements and operate as an offshore virtual bank. Lance Lau, Head Of Sales (Hong Kong Team)

Payment Asia is now implementing blockchain technology to our payment platform and is actively

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NFT

developing an emerging cryptocurrency gateway. Although this can be seen as a baby step, it is still an efﬁcient and effective way to get merchants to be ready for the new payment era.

As transactions are made, we implement big data for our merchants, through our secure and robust business intelligence system. This data will be used to create inbound and outbound digital marketing strategies for merchants, so as to increase their conversion rates.

We deliver value by providing merchants with a familiar payment gateway experience while bridging the gap between digital and ﬁat currencies. Customers will be able to use this new payment option while merchants will be protected on the ﬂuctuation of cryptocurrency.

In addition, we have also developed a chatbot platform that uses artiﬁcial intelligence to realise real-time conversations to reinforce the interaction between brands and consumers.

Features of Payment Asia’s Crypto Gateway: With Payment Asia’s extensive experience in the market, moving forward into the post-COVID world, we aim to redeﬁne the benchmark of online/ofﬂine and mobile payments – not just in Hong Kong but on a global scale.

Acceptance of major digital currencies (e.g., Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, BCH, Stellar, USDT etc.) for online and ofﬂine payments. Ÿ Instant locking of rate to minimize merchants’ risk. Ÿ Withdrawal of funds in less than a business day. Ÿ Payment to merchant’s suppliers in 200+ countries with digital currencies. Ÿ

Introduction of Payment Asia Payment Asia, established in 1999 in Hong Kong, has over 20 years’ experience in providing customised all-around payment strategies to more than 10,000 Asian and multinational companies. Taking the lead in the ePayment technology and eCommerce management market in Asia, the company helps merchants to continue to grow in the wave of technological development.

On top of payment processing solutions, Payment Asia’s services also cover online and offline eCommerce payment strategies, payment gateways integration, eCommerce management, artificial intelligence, big data and more. Our strength is based on creating a landscape for merchants and businesses in order to generate traffic and convert this into sales through our payment technology.

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Stuart Torr President and CEO

Integrated Sustainability

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Stuart Torr

Delivering an Integrated Approach to Water, Energy, and Waste Management

ith a purpose to bring a unique blend of engineering and science to front-end project delivery, an innovator, Stuart Torr founded Integrated Sustainability in 2010. The goal was to help clients effectively plan projects by establishing technology selection, but also better understand social and environmental trade-offs as they realized opportunities in an integrated approach to water, energy, and waste management. Stuart believed that industries needed a specialized group of consultants with a blend of business management, technical expertise, and environmental awareness to challenge conventional solutions provided by multinational consultancies.

strive to be on the frontlines of leading innovation and technology. We do this by investing in research and development and working with companies that are developing leading-edge technologies that have the potential to be transformational. We have also used advanced technology to improve efficiencies in project delivery.” An example of this would be the use of realtime survey data in the company’s construction performance. The team uses technology to drive accountability and provide greater client transparency. They also continuously bring new ideas to the table that directly impact the environment and the communities where the projects are implemented. Integrated Sustainability has incubated software and hardware development in a company called Random Acronym. The company has built data platforms to make faster decisions and found solutions to transform methodology in data collection. Data collection, data cleansing, and dashboard interpretation has become a significant differentiator in being able to move fast and efficiently ahead of competition.

Integrated Sustainability has seen some transformational change since 2010. In the ﬁrst 5 years, the company grew to 80 specialists in Calgary. Since 2015, this growth has continued with ofﬁces in Vancouver, Houston, and the Caribbean, providing services to a broad group of customers including government, municipalities, oil and gas, mining, pulp and paper, and agriculture clients. The company has become especially known as sustainable infrastructure specialists with a reputation for innovative and courageous solutions. These are the values that drive Integrated Sustainability today as it helps customers manage risks effectively by building more resilient and sustainable infrastructure for the future.

A Progress Focused Work Environment When it comes to creating a positive work environment, Stuart believes that a corporate culture sets the drive, ambition, and heartbeat of every organization. At Integrated Sustainability, the management deliberately created a culture of people that would have the drive, inquisitiveness, vulnerability, and commitment that would set the company’s quality of product and performance apart. Stuart wanted Integrated Sustainability to be recognized as a group of determined ﬁrst movers who challenge the status quo

Aligning with Modern Tech Advancements Integrated Sustainability is consistently looking for different and innovative methods to provide better service and solutions. Stuart says, “As entrepreneurs, we

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and look for new ways to solve problems, all while caring about the environment, its people, and the relationships that it has built throughout the years. Employee empowerment has been key to Integrated Sustainability’s culture, but the company has also created a family culture focused on vulnerability, diversity, inclusion, and listening to different perspectives.

A bold vision requires tenacity and endless perseverance.

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Stuart mentions, “Our team is encouraged to pull together, speak out, and most importantly, be respectful of each other. Everyone is encouraged to be a leader, and in that fashion, we care for our people, their engagement, and their success. As we continue to grow, we are committed to providing a welcoming work environment that embraces vulnerability, diversity of thought, and expertise.” Lead with Humility and Tenacity Stuart thinks of two distinct characteristics that are particularly important to the early stages of building a company: humility and tenacity. Both characteristics

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are critical in business leadership. One needs an abundance of humility and patience to gain insight into critical decisions. He or she also requires selfawareness and patience to respectfully listen to his/her mentors, clients, and staff. Every decision has consequences and requires leadership. Leaders also need an abundance of tenacity and passion to help lead and inspire their team through every challenge. He opines, “At the start of any company, you are required to be engaged in every part of the business.” He further adds, “It is necessary to lead from the front, and at other times, one needs to jump in and has to lead from the trenches with unwavering commitment.” He believes that a bold vision requires tenacity and endless perseverance.

Expanding while Exploring more Opportunities Integrated Sustainability is built with an inspired and talented group that wanted to push the envelope while making a difference. Stuart states, “We see tremendous opportunity in the growth of our business model through geographical expansion and future acquisition and continue to build on our entrepreneurial foundation by adding transformational opportunities to our portfolio.” While the company continues to offer the consulting and engineering services that it is well known for, it has expanded its portfolio offering to include lump-sum, full turnkey infrastructure development. This shift extends to both front-end ﬁnancing and post commissioning operations of infrastructure projects.

Engaging in Community Services As per Stuart, Integrated Sustainability has built an exceptional team with both technical and commercial experience to deliver projects from concept development through to execution and operations. The company has also explored project execution models by partnering with its customers through ﬁxed price, turnkey delivery, and own-operate commercial models. He asserts, “This innovative approach allows for integrated savings and project efﬁciencies throughout the entire supply chain, enabling customers to realize substantial value. Growing the team with our own construction specialists, construction equipment, and operating crews was the missing piece to round out our “Concept to Completion” delivery model.”

From the start, management at Integrated Sustainability believed it was essential to be engaged in community projects, not only for the company’s benefit, but for the benefit of its people as they grow in their careers. For this reason, the company supported the incubation of a not-for-profit group called ‘Energy for All’ that operated international projects from Integrated Sustainability’s offices in Calgary. Stuart thinks the synergistic relationship has allowed the staff to engage in projects to provide technical support for community development projects all over the world. Many of the staff have travelled to support these projects, allowing them to experience different cultures while using their skills to help make a difference in the communities that the company has worked in.

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Trevor M. Saliba Managing Partner Global Head of Private Equity, M&A and Strategy

NMS Consul ng LLC.

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Trevor M. Saliba Driving Successful Growth of Business by Leading With Innovativeness and Integrity

inning the game of life requires maintaining integrity. Integrity is all about walking the talk, living by values, and leaving a legacy behind. Successful leaders recognize the value of maintaining integrity. They understand that integrity is essential pillar of trustworthy leadership.

does think that not being digital in this era is a disadvantage. Technology can make processes so much easier, but as they have just experienced through the COVID 19 pandemic, it was a true test of which company was truly digital and able to operate and scale and who needed to adopt being digital.

One such successful business leader who recognizes integrity as a most important component of success is Trevor M. Saliba. With his novel approach and shrewd ﬁnancial acumen, Trevor has been at the helm of the growth of many successful companies.

Valuing Everyone’s Opinion While putting the importance of positive work culture Trevor says “From my perspective in a way that yields productivity and teamwork, I think sometimes organizations get lost on making the work environment less like work, when work is and should be work. If you are fortunate enough to love what you do for work, then it’s easy.”

Currently, Trevor is serving as Managing Partner, Global Head of Private Equity, M&A and Strategy at NMS Consulting LLC. a global management consulting and strategic advisory ﬁrm. NMS Consulting’s mission is simple; being dedicated to an uncompromising principle of placing needs and goals of its clients above all others. It is a solution driven organization and is relentless in its constant pursuit to challenge established thinking, inspire innovation, and drive results.

NMS Consulting tries to create a very casual horizontal hierarchy with an open-door policy where everyone’s opinion matters. Trevor has often been surprised when junior staffers are asked their opinion about a topic in meetings; they are usually surprised that the senior staff would care what they have to say. He believes that sometimes one can get the best feedback or perspective from someone’s new and fresh perspective.

Growing Signiﬁcantly Over a Period of Time

Recognizing Integrity As a Key Component for Success

In Trevor’s role as Managing Partner, he directly oversees the private equity, M&A and strategy practice groups for the firm where he works with a global client base comprised of private equity funds, public and private corporations on acquisitions, due diligence, divestitures, sales as well as general strategy which can cover market entry, sales growth and marketing. NMS Consulting has grown significantly over the past three years to an organization of over 250 professionals across 15 offices.

When asked about people, books, or life factors that have inﬂuenced and impacted him, Trevor admires Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan, stating that he is

Utilizing Technology to Make Processes Easier While it can be quite overwhelming for clients to undertake the initiative to “go digital”, Trevor really

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More than just a consulting firm, NMS Consulting is a dedicated catalyst for the growth and success of business of its clients on many levels.

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an excellent example of a leader who has built an amazing organization without overextending or putting strain on their ﬁnances. He just ﬁnished his biography, Last Man Standing, and mentions that many would be surprised at how he arrived as CEO of what has become arguably the world’s best run bank.

NMS Consulting has created a structure that is built on being entrepreneurial so that any company can afford professional consulting. The company is able to do this based on the way it operates its own ﬁrm, but also because its team has a general underlying desire to truly help clients ﬁrst.

Another great book Trevor is inspired by is Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. He states that it’s a fantastic overview of humankind starting from the stone age until now.

Engaging in Multiple Sector or Services Group

Making Professional Consulting Affordable

According to Trevor, the consulting industry is incredible because it literally touches every sector. Some would argue so does law, but consulting allows an ability to engage in multiple levels.

In the opinion of Trevor, consulting industry is a unique value proposition; it usually is sought after by ﬁrms that can afford it. It’s deemed as a corporate luxury, but many smaller ﬁrms who often avoid hiring consultants do so solely because of the expense, unless there is some event that requires it.

Trevor advice to anyone starting out is to take on as many different types of assignments as one can. “Try to avoid being placed into a particular practice group. Ask to change sector or services group and make sure to advise your supervisor that you are doing it to be a better consultant,” he asserts.

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