Technology made simple - Bobby Umar [Interview]

About Bobby Umar

Bobby Umar is the leading Employee Engagement Consultant and a highly sought after TEDx speaker and leadership coach. He has been listed as one of the top most influential speakers and leadership by global organizations. He's the president of ‘Raeallan - Transformational Training and Speaking’ and the CEO of ‘DYPB: Discover Your President Grant’ known for his great capabilities to connect and build relationships.

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Aishwarya Jain

We have the pleasure of welcoming Bobby today to our interview series. I'm Aishwarya Jain from the peopleHum team before we begin just a quick introduction of peopleHum. peopleHum is an end-to-end one view integrated Human Capital Management Automation Platform. The winner of 2019 global Codie Awards for 2019 HCM that is specifically built for crafted employee experiences and the Future Of Work with Automation and AI technologies.

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We run the peopleHum blog and video channel, which receives upwards of 200,000 visitors a year and publish around two interviews with well-known names globally every month. 

Aishwarya

Welcome, Bobby. We are thrilled to have you.

Bobby

Thank you very much. I'm delighted to be here.

Aishwarya

So, Bobby, from the beginning, from an aerospace design engineer to a motivational speaker, I'm sure your journey has been interesting.

Can you take us through some moments and learnings along the way? 

Bobby

Wow, that's a big question. I mean, for the most part, yes. I've tried many different things. One of the base learnings of that is it's okay to keep trying to figure out what you want to do. And another big learning is, we often follow a path of success defined by other people, and we don't know anything about what we really want. So I originally went into engineering because my father said that engineering and physics and math were good things so you should do that for a good job. So that's why I did it. Well, I didn't think about whether I would enjoy it.

And then after I left engineering I went to Marketing, I did an MBA in marketing. Because I seemed to like people so, maybe I should try marketing. Marketing seemed to be about people. Let me do that and I did that but then again, after three years, I wasn't as into it as much, it wasn't the kind of environment I preferred.

And then I also dabbled in art because I like to be on stage, showcase my talents and sing and dance and act then I thought I can do that. But then, I think I wasn't as good as I could've been or I could have built that. And so finally I decided to dive with a personal brand and figure out what I really want to do.

And in doing so, I discovered several things about myself and also with several things that other people saw. And it came down to five things: 

1. I love people
2. I love to nurture- like my mother
3. I like to perform, even present
4. I like to persuade influence  I'd like to have diversity.

Because of that, it told me here’s a few dozen options I could do but I chose to become a professional speaker and that's been something that people tell me for years, ‘Hey, Bobbie, have you thought of being a speaker? Oh I don’t know and I had thought about being a teacher, and I taught a lot of people, but I never actually fully pursued it.

Once I did that whole process, it was very empowering to a personal brand process because what happens is, another big learning with the personal brand process is that when you get the feedback of other people and you get your own feedback and get the feedback of online assessments and all three of them, say the same thing, then it's probably a pretty good sign that that's what you are.

And so it is very empowering to me. So let me do this and go for it. And that was almost 15 years ago, and I haven't looked back. So for me, having been a speaker, it's been a lot of fun. Along the journey, things have changed. In the beginning, I was talking about leadership and soft skill development. But then I started to become known for different things, first I was known for being the networking guru, how to build relationships? How to connect with people at live events or at work?

And then, later on, I got known for branding. How to create a brand for yourself? How to create a promise that people remember you for? Then finally I became a social influencer having over half a million followers and I became someone who trains the digital community, digital marketing, and leverages their online presence to create many, many followers.  

Something that I've learned along the way is that you have to evolve, learn, and grow all the time. It doesn't just stop when you do one thing. So, one example of that is speaking. Because when I first launched my speaking, I had three main speeches, and then I started getting feedback from people, and pretty soon it evolved and changed to the network piece.

So I was always listening to change that, similarly, my mission and my vision along the way they've just evolved over the years because as I'm listening and getting feedback, changing and growing. And even now, during this current pandemic of Covid-19, I've had to completely be willing to change in and shift things because as a special speaker, my bread and butter is going to events, going to companies, live and deliver training and deliver keynotes.

But that's not happening anymore so now a lot of it is virtual. And while virtual is great, I am looking for more virtual stuff. I'm also doing more coaching, training and consulting, because that's the way the world is shifting right now, and I'm not sure when it's gonna come back. If it does come back, it may be more virtual than normal that we are used to, and so I have to adjust that now as we're going on.

"So to me, that evolution piece is the key function of leadership. You have to continually learn, grow, and listen to people. Take feedback, take advice, take constructive criticism. No ones perfect."

Then other lessons that I learned on the way are time management and the balance of life. I am at a big point in parenting. I have two young children, they are 9 years and 11 years old and, I normally focus my time and energy on them. Actually, an example was when I went to India, so the first time I went overseas for a long trip was actually in England, and I had a five day training session that I was delivering and I decided to tack on time before and after just to do a trip to Europe.

And I was going for 11 days and I missed my kid terribly. And so I decided that no matter where I went, I would only go for a few days. When I went to India, I went to Mumbai for four days, and people were like 'Bobby if you want to go to India, go for two weeks' and I’d say 'You know what? I'm going to make the most of my Mumbai trip but I miss my kids.'

I want to spend as much time with them because when they grow up, they're gone. Then I can go to India for two months, similarly, kids, they don't care whether you make an extra 20,000 per year, they don't care whether you are the next to senior vice president and have to work for long hours. What they care about is, were you there for me? And that's the main thing, they care about actually.

And you know it's pretty similar, they'll be teenagers and maybe they won't want me around as much, but I’ll still try to be around, but then they will be gone, and then I have another 20-30 years of my life.

What are we gonna do then? Then I could go for that vice president, then I can work for long hours if I choose to do that, then I can go away for long periods of time because they won’t be around. So I'm huge with that being mindful of how we balance time.

"We all have dark days, bad weeks, or bad months. It is upto us to understand that we should embrace the fact that these things happened to make us human. We should look to people for support, and ask for help. That takes courage."

Even though this whole pandemic, I had a bad day last week cause I got a little worked up and I was just so distracted so overwhelmed, kids are distracting. You can't do anything but be frustrated. But then I said let me just take a breather tomorrow and let me just start again. And I think that's something that holds every single person out there. We need to understand it is normal, it is human, and there are ways to get around that.

It's been a great career and I've really enjoyed especially love being on-stage, inspiring people, thousands of people. I definitely love to see the impact I have on people finding more focus and clarity in their lives on their special journeys or taking the stuff that I'm using or saying and applying it to their lives. I mean, that's my ultimate goal. I mean, which again goes back to the other lesson of branding, which is, every single one of us wants to build a legacy. We want to have some sort of impact.

So how do we do that? Now my number one legacy is my children, so these two young boy and girl, my hope is that they'll grow up to be productive, global citizens who are happy and fulfilled and make an impact in the world. That's my personal legacy. The second legacy is people like you out there who I'm trying to inspire, encourage, nurture, support and help you learn and grow and involve as a leader, in a way and the fulfillment you want in your lives, and for me, that's something that drives me.

Aishwarya

Wow, that is amazing. It's so kind of you, to actually take on something which is so challenging. And yet you do it with all your heart and especially the way you've kind of adapted yourself over time, you have evolved. It's like being water. And I really appreciate that. And also, the way you put parenting in the center of all of this. I think that's amazing. Your kids are very lucky. It's amazing that you can do all of this and plus do parenting. Not a lot of people talk about that.

Bobby

You know parenting is one thing, other than parenting, family, and close friends, the other thing is health. So I've always struggled with my weight and I’m diabetic, and...

"I've also learned along the way that a healthy me and a better me is healthier and better than everything else. It affects everything, it affects my family, my friends, my business, my work because I have more energy."

I started doing it last year where I've lost 40 pounds trying to get healthier. The pandemic hasn't helped, I'm probably gaining a little weight, but, you know, be more mindful of things. And I think health is also another thing along with parenting that you have to realize.

Aishwarya

Absolutely. I think a lot of people kind of ignore health. I think you see two extremes. There are people who are so completely conscious of their health. And then there are those people who just ignore it because they're working so much and don't really see a balance. We've got to be mindful of that too.

And tell me something, you like networking. You like people and you like to build relationships. So what's at the crux of this? What do you think is the main factor while networking and building relationships? And also, if somebody has to print off, build a relationship and go out and build a network, what are they supposed to do? 

Bobby

Yes. I mean, the reason I like it so much is because I'm a people person. I'm an extrovert. And people have had a profound impact on my life.

Now what we should all realize is that people will always have an impact on your life. No matter what. Because you're gonna have to work with people you're going to have to gain customers through people. You're going to have to build communities of people. You're gonna live in a community with people. You have to go grocery shopping with people.

"Whether you love people or not, you're shy, you are an introvert or extrovert, people matter, right? So you have to learn to navigate people in your life because they're going to empower you and support you along the way."

So, one of the things that has been important for us to invest in is to get better at relationship building and networking whether it's online or in person.

And part of it just comes from having a better mindset around, having a curiosity about people. Understand their story, and, if you want people to help you, then you should have someone who's willing to help others. So I think you know, one of my policies of networking is giving without expectations. I just go to events or I go online, I see if I can offer value to people as much as I can.

The second thing I always do is that every single person has a story, so when I talk to people I say ‘okay, well, I want to find out what their stories are, what's the background, where are they from, what do they care about’ I find that it really works well.

And the biggest thing that really works is asking the question, 'How can I help you make a difference? So a lot of people say, 'how can I help you?' That's one thing, but I'll say, 'how can I help you create that impact?'

Maybe I can help you with your event, but I like to see how I can help people make a difference and create an impact. And when you ask that question, mostly we're taken aback. 'What? Whoa! What? Oh, that's something I never thought about, what should I say? I don't know. Um wow, can I get back to you?' And that's probably the most popular response. 'Can I get back to you?' It's interesting most people don't get back to me, which is okay.  "I mean, at least I put it on the table that 'Hey, I'm happy to help' but most people don't realize how genuine this offer is, I'm willing to help."

"I mean, at least I put it on the table that 'Hey, I'm happy to help' but most people don't realize how genuine this offer is, I'm willing to help."

I mean, 1%' say, hey, can you connect me to somebody and I say sure. And I did and hey we are all busy people but, if I could do it, I wouldn't ask them to do it.

And if they ask me something that I can't do, I say well, no, I can't really do that, but maybe I can do this. So relationship building and networking are going to be part of our lives even while we're in social isolation, you can totally build good connections even more. So, take the time to book Skype calls and Zoom calls. Book people to chat, to Facetime them, have conversations as often as you can. 

Aishwarya

Well, that's wonderful, not just ask the question. How can I help you? But actually, ask them, how can I help you make a difference? That's quite insightful. Nobody has actually talked about it like that.

You talk a lot about stories and making a legacy and finding your purpose. What is your calling? And you also say that we all are lost in some way. And probably a lot of us are not even aware that we’re lost. Why do you think this is the main issue? Why are we so lost? And if we are, how do we fix that? 

Bobby

Well, yes my wise statement is something that drives me and it's called 'There are lost, stuck, or on foot leaders everywhere'. What I mean is, everywhere I go, I meet people who are lost in their career or stuck on their job or, unfulfilled in their relationships or their purpose and the reason this happens is for many things. One is, success is often defined by people other than ourselves. So it is defined by our parents, by corporations, by society that say, here's what success means. "But we have to create our own kind of definition of success. "

"But we have to create our own kind of definition of success."

The second thing that happens is most of us, don't take the time to dive into and understand our personal brands.

So, in doing so, we end up saying, I'm good at math or let me do engineering, or I love animals. I'm going to go to medical school, become a veterinarian. But that's not the reality, it's too broad. They don't look deep enough to think about, so they go into these things and the next thing, five years in, they are unfulfilled.

And so I think those are probably two biggest reasons that stop us. They fall apart or they don't take the time to really understand who they are, what drives them. And then later on, when they finally figure that out, okay, now let me go about.

And the other thing happens to us after you've done something for five years and you're not happy, then say let’s maybe try this one but again, they try a second thing without thinking about what are the values, interests, passions, skills, personality traits that drive who I am as a person.

If they just did that effort, it doesn't take that long, like 23 hours of time. But if you're willing to invest that in 23 hours, is that going to help you get 50 years of fulfillment and happiness? You know, I think it's a great investment to have what you have to invest that time and energy right. 

Aishwarya

Right, so it's just about retrospection and introspection into asking questions. What is my passion? What drives me? Just spend time with yourself and ask those questions.

Bobby

Yeah, but I would say that most people have a more formalized way, like, I have a whole signature methodology of discovering your personal brand. So I take it with that kind of specific journey, but it's good to get a coach or get a course that's gonna help you figure that out because it's very hard to do it on your own. It really is, it's like if I want to lose 50 pounds, or I want to become super fit.

There's tons of information out there that I could look at. But what have you been successful at? Well, nine times out of ten that would not be a success. It's the same thing with academics saying with fitness, saying with a personal brand, saying with career, getting a course or program or coach or adviser or mentor, these are really important tools that you use that help you to focus that accountability and then get 10 times results you want.

Aishwarya

Right, because you need the right kind of guidance and you need to filter the noise from the music. So that would be important to have a coach there? 

Bobby

Absolutely.

Aishwarya

And, how effective do you think people are in connecting at this time of pandemic? If you can give us a few tips for effective collaboration and network building is given this current scenario?

Bobby

Yeah, I think this is a very difficult time for people because now that we're at say, three weeks and we're starting to get a bit squirrely and antsy. People are starting to have darker feelings or darker emotions about things. That's why it's so important to reach out to people. So the different things you could do one is, of course, is that have a routine around your social connections, right? So you can have this thing where every Saturday you wanna call three people every month. Every morning, I'm gonna call one person, and you set up a series of calls. 

So you keep yourself socially engaged with people that matter to you. That's one thing. The second thing is looking to find collaboration with people. I had three calls just yesterday, all about collaborating. So one was, we wanted to do like a Zoom meet up, with about 100 people in May so I’m working on that. Another one was a guy's ‘Hey let's do like a mastermind class of 10-20 people’ and ‘I said sure let's talk about what we're going through. That's great!’.

And then, actually, the other one is that I'm actually planning tonight for my daughter who is nine, a virtual sleepover pajama party, I'm reached out to all the parents and said, 'Look, the kids were gonna have a party and it didn't happen. Let's get them on Zoom, the five of them and they can put on their pajamas, they can tell stories, they can have dances or just have laughs. They can just talk to each other for like an hour just to be silly. I think that's great. Let's just do that and I think that's the important piece.

So one is to plan those social events, the other thing is, to be courageous in asking to make these things happen. 

A lot of people are, 'Oh, I don't want to bother people, people are stressed out' and then they go, 'I don't wanna disturb'. But you know all that to do is ask to say, ’Listen, I think it's great to connect, let's just talk’ have the courage to ask to do this because it's going to really drive home some really good impact.

The other thing that might help people too is networking and seeking out events to network because now a lot of people are doing a ton of webinars, online summits things like that sp it’s a chance for you to get up there and leverage social media. 

Social media has its good and bad points with the two best things about social media is an amplification of your message, and it's accessing anybody anywhere, anytime. And that's the huge, huge benefit around that process. So it's important to leverage that, and I think the last thing I would say in this time of social distancing to you is pretty content. 

"Take the time to create content and put it out there. Share your message, your thoughts, share what you're going through because sharing content can start conversations and starting conversations is also what's gonna make you feel socially connected and socially relevant."

"Take the time to create content and put it out there. Share your message, your thoughts, share what you're going through because sharing content can start conversations and starting conversations is also what's gonna make you feel socially connected and socially relevant."

Aishwarya

That's great advice, just reaching out to people even when you might be an introvert, but reaching out to people would kind of really help in staying connective. And I think, you know, technology is free. Mostly it is free so why not leverage? That would be great.

And what about leaders? How much should leaders connect with their employees at this point in time? 

Bobby

Well, I think the first thing they can do is let them know that they will support their employees as best they can. Be upfront, we are all going through this and I'm here to let you know that I'm here to support you anyway. So I had a team meeting with about 15 of us on a Zoom call. It was great, it was cool to have everyone call.

And I said, let me just start off by telling you that it's really hard what we're all going through, but I'm here for you. And whenever you wanna talk or anything, I'll make myself accessible because, hey I am home. So let's do it.

The second thing that a leader needs to do is assess the situation. Given what's going on, what can we do about this? How can we navigate this? So I think it's important again to let your team have a voice and say listen ‘We're in this together, let's figure out a way to get through this together and to formalize a plan of how we're going to navigate this right now'.

Well, short term and long term. I think that when you empower employees to have and be involved in decision making and are coming up with solutions. I think they're going to be more invested in trying to do the best thing. And then...  "I think the third thing that leaders need to do is, this is the hard one, which is to admit their own vulnerability, admit what is challenging for them, what they're struggling with, whether it's dealing with the family or being home or whatever they're dealing with."

"I think the third thing that leaders need to do is, this is the hard one, which is to admit their own vulnerability, admit what is challenging for them, what they're struggling with, whether it's dealing with the family or being home or whatever they're dealing with."

This is gonna have an emotional toll on everybody, including every leader that's out there? And so, they need to be mindful of the mental health aspect of this thing and just be open and authentic and vulnerable about what they're going through. 

A lot of leaders struggle to show that kind of what they call a weakness, but I call it strength. I was very upfront with my team about what I'm finding very difficult in the current situation. Here’s how I am going to adapt now and deal with this thing. And I think that works really well to create relatability. It makes you more human. And when you're little more human and more vulnerable then people are willing to depend on you and lift you up. I think that's really important for leaders and organizations right now.

Aishwarya

Absolutely. Even leaders are humans. If you show them your vulnerabilities, I think it creates a better connection, and it will deepen your relationship with your team because you know, the team does not view you as a robot. Just working all the time. There has to be a human touch.

Do you think that the way we work is going to change now after the coronavirus is going to end?

Bobby

There are people who are saying everything is going to change and some who say it is not going to change at all. There's really no way for us to know what's going to change, we can’t predict things. I mean, I think in the general sense because right now we're all still waiting to see more, we don't even know how this is going to play out the next couple of months or even for the next year. I mean, there are gonna be some trends that are going to happen obviously, we're going to learn how effective or ineffective we are at working from home. 

So one of these is just going to be, how many companies will allow their people to work from home. If employers are really good at it, then the company might say ‘Let's do more of this’. If they are really bad at this they’ll say ‘No, you need to come to work’. And so I think that there's gonna be a huge analysis of that.

The second thing that's going to happen is that when we look at gatherings, 'How good are we at that? How often do we need to go live?' Those who say that old public events and live workshops and conferences are going to be canceled completely, I don't buy that at all because, it's always better statistically to train, learn, and do that in a live session. So live training is better than online training, live events and conferences are better than online conferences. They're always better because in person it is far more impactful and we're engaging and therefore you learn. So there is still going to be a need for people to do that.  "The other thing I think that might happen is the idea of moving to crisis management. How do we handle the crisis as a government, as a nation, as companies? What do we have in store for this?"  

"The other thing I think that might happen is the idea of moving to crisis management. How do we handle the crisis as a government, as a nation, as companies? What do we have in store for this?"

So my first question that comes to my mind is if things are progressing worse and worse with different viruses, and diseases, When's the next one? Is there gonna be another one? That's 2 to 5 years or over six months again. Is this gonna be the new normal? That there's a virus that just mutates and comes up there and we have to deal with it. I'm like, What's the next one? So you know we have to look at all our systems, processes, and measures to deal with stuff.

The last piece is, as a business, what are we doing to take our business so that it is crisis-proof? I mean, as a speaker, my business is completely either decimated or completely shifted. So after I have to, and luckily for me, I've already built some online programs and some coaching.

But for my speaker friends who haven't done that, they got nothing for a year. I mean, at least I have some online programs that I can start pitching people, things like that but they have nothing. So, like, you know, you have to create a business that can handle things that are virtual and create a business model that works for you during times of crisis? 

Aishwarya

Yeah, I think a lot of organizations and businesses, they were just not ready for this, throwing themselves into a short pond and now you just have to swim and you have to survive. And it's getting difficult to take a breath. 

Bobby

I’ll give you a good example, I just got an email from Cineplex, which is basically the movie theatre chain in Canada. And they are all closed, that no one's going to movies, right? And so they said, well, we're going all closed, we're going to give you all these movies digital, digital downloads, which is fine. But the problem is that you know, they're competing with Netflix, Apple TV, and Google, which is so difficult for them. I don't know how they're going to be able to navigate that, but yeah, I mean it makes sense.

That's what they should be doing, what they have to do is find a way to just get people on board, because it finally is, luck. If you want the newest movie before it's even released on Netflix, here's what we'll do. They need to make offers we can't refuse it right now as everyone is struggling. 

Aishwarya

I know. It's just so sad you are looking at these organizations they are really, really struggling. 

Bobby

Apple, Cisco, Google, and Facebook, they are going to survive and will be fine. It's these mom and pop shops, the small business owners, the ones with employees of 10 or less than that. And of course, anyone who was not working or some employee or single parents. I care more about them, look they're the ones we need to support. I understand the need to inject some money and stuff into companies and businesses. But I think we also need to take care of people on the planet. 

So, you know, it's also shifting the minds of the people, in the US, for example, they're finally realizing that 'hey maybe free healthcare this is something that we should have' and in another country like Canada where you can already get it, so it's getting people to finally have a mindset shift, which I think is really important for us as a global community. 

Aishwarya

Yeah, it's said that you have to kind of face such a grey situation to realize that my god, we didn't have this and we should have had this long back. 

Bobby

I agree. I think that you know, we look at all the progressive things that change. For example, when women got the vote, they were going through a really tough time because the world was completely men-centric and they controlled everything.

Women were being repressed when you look at the rise of other people when it comes to people of color or LGBTQ. And they went through a lot of stuff. Historically, systemically and still do. 

But even back then when they finally rose up to try it, make it change. So these global shift takes some pretty stark situations for people to finally step up and rise up. The same happened with extreme climate change now you're seeing a huge uprise in climate change activism. I don't know how late it is, but it takes a lot for people that step up and do it.

Aishwarya

Absolutely, that's true and talking about women and inclusion at workplaces.

What kind of situations do you really see when it comes to inclusion in workplaces having the gig economy? Do you see that inclusion at workplaces? Are they treated with bias or are they treated with equality?

Bobby

Well, inclusion and representation is a big initiative on hand, and Canada is actually well known for their diversity initiatives. We are a very diverse society in Toronto, where I live, it's just incredibly diverse. So we're pretty good now, although there's still a lot of work to be done because-

• There's a lot of gaps for different types of people that we don't really think about.

• There are certain things that are systemically ingrained in our systems, business, and societal that we have to shake. 

• There are people out there who are still in complete denial about what's going on. They don't see the things that are out there.

So there's a lot of work to be done for sure. But I think in Canada we're doing a pretty good job of it. But it's an awesome opportunity because, especially even now during a pandemic, if you have an employee who would come to work and let's say if they’re deaf, how do you include them in Zoom calls because, on Zoom calls, it requires the audible thing.

So, are you able to have a translator, you have to make those accommodations. So when I'm training online I have a video call for some branding, I should add subtitles. I haven't thought about that from a social perspective because, at the time when we created the program, I was thinking of those things. But now we have to think of those things, more and more, and make it a part of our mindsets in terms of how we do things. 

I think that there are things that we could do better.

• Self-assessment of how we are working on diversity inclusion right now, given the current circumstances. 

• What kind of plan do we put in place to make it better? Part of it comes from talking to your audience, talking to your community, talking to your employees about what they see, and also certainly looking at diversity, including experts will give some insight. What companies and organizations could do better to be more inclusive?

Aishwarya

Right and what about Millennials? Now you know there would be growing ranks of millennial's going forward. A lot of them will also be unemployed because of the pandemic.

So are leaders supposed to cope with that situation and how are we supposed to treat millennials? 

Bobby

Well, whether you're a millennial or Gen X, Gen Z or baby boomers. I think that number one, we have to support all of them given the need. The difference, of course, is that millennials make up an incredibly large proportion of the workforce, and number two, they have their distinct values.  "So I think the first thing is to understand the impact of millennials in the workplace and how they need to be supported and then knowing what their values and how they are, we can support them in the manner that works for them."

"So I think the first thing is to understand the impact of millennials in the workplace and how they need to be supported and then knowing what their values and how they are, we can support them in the manner that works for them."

Now the good news is the millennials are digitally needed. 

So I think that they actually could be people that we can rely on to be at the forefront of innovative visual solutions around getting through what we're going through. And so I think the best step is to reach out to them right away. Say listen, how could we implement your knowledge and your sophistication with technology and trends and creativity that we could leverage for a company in our workplace?

And I think that whether you're a boomer, Gen X or managers, be open to that conversation. Listen, you could help them because I do it even in my team.

I have absolutely amazing people that do some great work that are young like just yesterday, actually, two of my team members, Well, they're on the cusp of millennials and Gen Zs, they made some really cool videos to promote a company, and they sent me the link I was like, Wow, this is amazing.

But, they recently did it because I was going to empower them. I was going to give them autonomy. I was saying you know what, just go on board and try stuff, experiment. It's okay to fail. I create a culture where failure is acceptable as long as you learn and grow from it. And I think that if you can create that environment for young people in Millennials and Gen Zs, I think that's going to really empower them, to do far more than you realize. 

Aishwarya

Absolutely, I think there has to be a quality in that sense to click something beautiful something you know beyond you can even imagine. I think all the generations to come together and collaborate, especially at this point in time, we really need it.

Bobby

Yeah, I agree and I think that at this point, I mean now the oldest millennials are now 40. So, I think this is their time to take over and really demonstrate leadership to take a stand really make things out because they're at a point now where they're probably at senior levels, they probably have some income, they probably have the business, they now have an opportunity to create some impact.

Aishwarya

Absolutely and on that note my final question to you.

If you have any other important sound bites that probably you would like to leave for our viewers. 

Bobby

Wow, soundbite. I was a forever lover of soundbites. It's hard to think of one or two specific ones. I mean that the general thing I will say is that at this time...  "Right now is a perfect time for us to address our values"

"Right now is a perfect time for us to address our values"

...and so values and what we care about. And so I actually encourage everyone, you have some time at your home? It's a perfect time for you to work on yourself. 

So that means, I'm gonna take that shelf back there and organize those books because I haven't done that. I should do that. I'm gonna work on my health and fitness and try to eat better, live better, try to be more healthy, actually exercise, 20-30 minutes a day and see if I can create an impact. It's a chance for you to look at your personal brand and figure out 'what are my values, what are my personality traits, and what are my interests and passions.'

Maybe I can revamp my LinkedIn profile because once this thing ends there is going to be a huge recruiting going on. You need to get your personal brand up, your online presence better, and work on your personal brand. Get started at content writing blogs. I think that's so important for people to start doing that.

Learn as much as you can to build up the systems and processes to really hit the ground running when things start because when things start to get back to normal, there's going to be people that are going to take a while to get there and other people could be ahead of the curve.

The second thing I'll say is to be mindful of your mental health, we have never experienced this before. We don't even know how this would affect us mentally. So I think it's important for us to do a mental check. Maybe check out some apps that are good out there. There’s this app I use all Mazilli and one called Calm, these are things that help us.

And then number three just call people. You know what? My wife was just telling me that I'm worried about my sister and my sister-in-law. I'm like, just call them, like what are you waiting for? And if they're there, great. If they're not, leave a message and but people are so cautious about doing that. 

Aishwarya

Absolutely, technology has made that so simple for us.

Bobby

What we're doing? We're talking across the world doing this.

Aishwarya

Thank you for those tips. It is very important to keep yourself engaged at this point in time to keep a good sanity level to keep yourself engrossed in different kinds of things and from the heart and perspective. You're right.

Candidates now should be well versed with what they're doing, increase their knowledge base because I think a lot of recruiters that just are going to ask this question that, what was it that you were doing while coronavirus was striking out? 

Bobby

What did you learn?

Aishwarya

Absolutely. Thank you so much for your time, Bobby. I had a wonderful time conversing with you, and I really appreciate you sharing your views with us. And I'm sure it’ll be enriching for a lot of viewers and for me personally. So thank you so much. 

Bobby

No, thank you. Delighted. And I love doing it and I'm happy to be here. And if you have questions, you could turn to me at any time.