Full Transcript for Ashish Bisaria - Operator, Board Member & AI Strategist

00:04:57.519 It took me some hard lessons, it took me some years to figure that out. 00:04:57.519 --> 00:05:12.959 And fast forward, if I look at my last decade, I would see building a strong, robust team that can perform when I'm not in the room is far more important than demanding things out of people. 00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:13.920 Absolutely. 00:05:13.920 --> 00:05:18.879 I mean, I do always tell my CEOs, you don't want to be in the weeds. 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:22.160 You don't want them to come to you to solve the problem. 00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:30.160 You want them to come with options and solutions because sometimes you need to be involved, but you shouldn't be the master plan of the answers. 00:05:30.160 --> 00:05:33.600 And I do agree that that's an important component. 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:43.759 Now, when you're pulling a team together, I guess when you see that they're aligned, what is it that allows you to know that they actually are working on things that matter? 00:05:43.759 --> 00:05:44.160 Right? 00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:48.800 Because there are things that we can work on, and especially function leads of any executive team. 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:53.279 They have their team-related work under their function, right, where they have a whole team. 00:05:53.279 --> 00:05:56.959 And then they step into the leadership role and be an executive for the business. 00:05:56.959 --> 00:06:03.439 When do you know, or what do you do to help, that they're working on the right stuff as that leadership team? 00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:04.800 I think you said it. 00:06:04.800 --> 00:06:12.160 What goes up the chain to you reflects what kind of a leadership structure you've built. 00:06:12.160 --> 00:06:24.160 And if everything is going all the way up to you, you haven't delegated, you haven't given authority, accountabilities are unclear, nobody knows who's in charge. 00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:26.879 And that is a leadership failure. 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:41.839 So the symptom is what gets to your table every morning if I'm making a number up, if 60%, 70% of things that should, in theory, have been managed, then you definitely have failed the leadership structure. 00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:53.040 Conversely, what's reaching you is exactly what my role expects me to make a decision on, then you've got the right balance. 00:06:53.040 --> 00:07:06.160 Now, every once in a while Teshwi gets surprised by an individual who rather escalate than make the decision on their own, not because they didn't have authority, but they rather not have the monkey on the back. 00:07:06.160 --> 00:07:10.000 But that's an individual problem, not a leadership problem. 00:07:10.319 --> 00:07:11.920 Well, it could be a team problem too. 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:15.680 I have seen it in my work where there's a fear factor. 00:07:15.680 --> 00:07:30.240 You know, being wrong, or not to use the word fail, but to fail the the way to do it the correct way is would be so bad, so disastrous that they would not want to attempt to even put their toe in the water with an answer. 00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:34.720 And I do think that stifles a leadership team if they're afraid. 00:07:34.720 --> 00:07:36.800 I mean, not everyone's going to get it right. 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:44.240 And I do think you are allowed to get it wrong or fail once, just not twice on the same thing, because that's not a learning, right? 00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:46.560 Because failure is equal to learning. 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:53.199 When you step in and you see teams, where is it usually that you can see, okay, this is the biggest issue? 00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:58.399 Like in your, you know, you've worked with tons of industries and you've worked with all levels. 00:07:58.399 --> 00:08:01.519 You worked as an operator and also as a consultant. 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:12.319 But kind of when you walk in and see a team, even maybe the one you built yourself, what is that one thing that you see consistently has been a big problem for executive teams to perform? 00:08:12.800 --> 00:08:15.839 Accountability without authority. 00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:18.879 So who's taking the authority? 00:08:18.879 --> 00:08:28.560 Meaning they don't feel they have the authority, or leadership doesn't give anyone authority because everything has to be rung up the flagpole and leadership makes all the decisions? 00:08:29.120 --> 00:08:31.680 Depends upon that particular company. 00:08:31.680 --> 00:08:35.120 I'm gonna make a generic statement. 00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:40.159 Founder-led companies struggle giving authority. 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:44.559 A founder is really good at wearing multiple hats. 00:08:44.559 --> 00:08:47.279 They've been in the trenches building it. 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:52.480 And it's tough for founders to let go that authority. 00:08:52.480 --> 00:09:00.559 Second problem in that stereotypical is you're good from zero to one by wearing multiple hats. 00:09:00.559 --> 00:09:05.279 You can't go from one to infinity wearing multiple hats. 00:09:05.279 --> 00:09:09.600 That scale gets in the way of letting go. 00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:13.200 And founders hold on to, oh, I could do it over the weekend. 00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:15.360 I it took me two days to build that. 00:09:15.360 --> 00:09:17.039 I can pick up the phone and call it. 00:09:17.200 --> 00:09:22.000 And they probably can, funny enough, but um, you know, it's that founder syndrome. 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:33.679 There's a phrase that's been created for just that because founders are so bought into what they created that they they one, they probably can do everything, but that's not scalable, right? 00:09:33.679 --> 00:09:50.399 When they've raised capital or built a team, doing everything yourself is probably not going to produce the most outcomes and doesn't leave that founder room to be that that important being leading the business the way they want to. 00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:53.840 Instead, it

puts them back in the weeds on the day-to-day. 00:09:53.840 --> 00:09:58.320 And, you know, sometimes, as she's I have found that that's where a founder's best. 00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:05.200 And that's okay as long as it's addressed and they have that conversation that I love being in the day-to-day. 00:10:05.200 --> 00:10:12.159 I don't necessarily want, but you have to have that conversation and then choose someone to be that leader if it's not you. 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:21.600 But trying to really do both, like you had said, is going to produce a very not scalable or people will leave your business. 00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:32.159 I mean, no one wants to be in a business where they can't make decisions or have authority with responsibility because why would I want the responsibility if I can't own it? 00:10:32.480 --> 00:10:33.039 Exactly. 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:35.600 So you can see the failure on either side. 00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:40.960 It could be an organization failure where accountability is there but no authority. 00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:45.840 Or there is all the authority, but the individual does not want to be accountable, right? 00:10:45.840 --> 00:10:59.200 So we see both flavors, but the common denominator of a poor leadership structure, what gets in the way of explosive growth is everything gets concentrated into few individuals. 00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:05.519 Growing a company from 60 to 400 does not happen by my presence in every group. 00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:14.879 It's letting the leaders know their lanes, letting them understand what success looks like, letting them make those decisions at pace. 00:11:14.879 --> 00:11:41.840 I think we all can look at our weekly calendar and categorize it, and you can quickly sense how much time you're spending making decisions on behalf of your team based upon the meetings, versus what shows up on a calendar is more about statuses, approvals of authority that does not exist down there, or alignment meetings. 00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:46.720 Five people working, and again, we all get 24 hours in a day. 00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:53.200 That doesn't mean we work 24 hours, but my point is all of us have a finite minutes in the day. 00:11:53.200 --> 00:11:54.720 Nobody can change that. 00:11:54.720 --> 00:12:01.200 I'd rather have five people using 24 hours than me using 24 hours as an individual. 00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:02.240 No, of course. 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:20.720 And I and I look, I do think working with so many different stages of organizations, you know, there's a time where the founder can't delegate too much because there is the other side where they delegate everything out and they've lost sight of what's happening. 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:21.840 So that's one element. 00:12:21.840 --> 00:12:28.080 It's more rare than the founder syndrome, but you know, I just want to put it out there since we're gonna have listeners that are on both sides. 00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:39.360 There's a fine balance, like you said, of knowing how much involvement, where you're more of a teacher, not the teller or the oversider, but the teacher. 00:12:39.360 --> 00:12:41.840 And then the key is to pick the right people. 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:49.679 The only time I've watched founders or CEOs struggle where they had to get involved is they don't have the right people right seats. 00:12:49.679 --> 00:12:51.679 So now let's think about that for a minute. 00:12:51.679 --> 00:13:00.480 When you're in an organization, would you say right people write seats is the first thing you try to evaluate, or is there something before that? 00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:02.080 Yes. 00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:07.360 And to underscore what you said, I'm not painting broad brush on all founders. 00:13:07.360 --> 00:13:12.159 I've worked for three different founders in my career, and I've had both bookends. 00:13:12.159 --> 00:13:17.679 I have those who know how to trust, how to leverage an executive team and build. 00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:24.159 And I've also worked for founders that have to be in every minute detail underlining the leadership team. 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:25.360 So that's true. 00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:33.279 To your question, I think this is the part of leadership that is most uncomfortable, especially when you're coming from outside in. 00:13:33.279 --> 00:13:41.200 There is this halo statement that you do not know my business, my company, what I do. 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:46.879 And when you come from outside, you're undermining everything that I've built or everything I've done. 00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:49.519 And I'm not talking from that talking about individual leaders. 00:13:49.519 --> 00:14:01.519 There are also people who come from the outside and then they bring an army of friends that they've always worked with, regardless of understanding the capability of the individuals already there. 00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:12.240 But I, in my personal experience, the first 90 days, I'm a student of the business, but I'm closely watching the leaders in the seat that they are. 00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:15.600 The questions I'm asking, do you know your business? 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:16.799 How do I know that? 00:14:16.799 --> 00:14:22.159 Can you tell me how work is done in your in your lane? 00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:26.879 And if you cannot recite every step, you are not into details. 00:14:26.879 --> 00:14:30.000 Can you recite your KPIs in your sleep? 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:31.679 I I joke about this. 00:14:31.679 --> 00:14:37.360 You wake me up in the middle of the night and ask me my company's performance. 00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:41.679 I will answer the numbers plus minus 5% accuracy. 00:14:42.080 --> 00:14:43.360 That's a tough act to follow. 00:14:43.360 --> 00:14:47.120 I'm not sure everyone is gonna have that skill, but it's nice to know you do. 00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:47.919 Yeah. 00:14:47.919 --> 00:14:50.720 So uh I'm looking for people to know their numbers.

00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:53.360 I really care about making sure that they know their numbers. 00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:55.200 Well, it's the commitment to the business, right? 00:14:55.200 --> 00:15:12.480 I mean, I think if they don't, that means they're not sharing it with their teams, which means we have a lot more than just one person who doesn't know what they're supposed to be doing or what our business does, which trickles from the top down because it is supposed to be led, vision led through the leadership. 00:15:12.480 --> 00:15:23.759 But if your leaders are not aware as clear on what is the vision, mission, what am I doing, what is my team responsible for, what am I supposed to get done, you know that whole team doesn't know. 00:15:24.080 --> 00:15:24.559 Agreed. 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:31.840 I say that what you said is complexity that no one was brave enough to simplify. 00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:34.159 Well, speak about simplify. 00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:36.159 You've worked a lot with AI. 00:15:36.159 --> 00:15:39.120 And I know it's on everybody's mind. 00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:49.919 I know organizations of every industry, every stage of their growth is really heavily concentrated on integrating and implementing AI throughout their business. 00:15:49.919 --> 00:15:56.720 And I think AI is, you know, a very important component of our evolution as a world, as companies and as individuals. 00:15:56.720 --> 00:15:59.120 I use it a lot from a content generator. 00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:09.200 I use it a lot to kind of give me a framework if I haven't been able to put all my ideas into a framework, but I don't have an answer or solve my problems. 00:16:09.200 --> 00:16:20.559 So give me your, you know, your thoughts a little bit on how you have a human first for performance, but yet you also help organizations implement AI. 00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:25.919 And some would say AI is decreasing the human element and not increasing it. 00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:34.000 So how have you balanced it so that there is a real, you know, joining of the human and the AI so we're not having to replace one or the other? 00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:40.080 I think you just said in your profession, you use AI to organize things. 00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:46.159 Said very simply, you're using AI as an operating capability, not as a software. 00:16:46.159 --> 00:16:47.440 And that's step one. 00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:51.759 When people start making AI a product or a software, you've missed the point. 00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:58.480 It is an operating capability that can be improved, enhanced, sped up using AI. 00:16:58.480 --> 00:17:08.160 Second question is what part of your operating model can be run using technology versus what requires human touch. 00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:11.440 We work with the disabled population. 00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:19.119 So a huge part of going through your disability journey is the human-to-human touch. 00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:26.799 It's the empathy, it's the discussion, it's telling that story that is very painful to our clients to talk about. 00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:30.079 I am not trying to break AI in that space. 00:17:30.079 --> 00:17:37.759 Now, at the same time, I want to be honest that there are engineered phrases that allows you to connect. 00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:44.000 Knowing when to say the right thing at the right time can deepen the human bond. 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:54.400 And we are careful of representing those engineered phrases to our team members just to build better trust and connection. 00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:56.079 So that's my starting point. 00:17:56.079 --> 00:17:58.079 I'm not looking at AI towards everything. 00:17:58.079 --> 00:18:05.759 But on the flip side, there are hundreds of things we do in our business model day in, day out, that I can optimize. 00:18:05.759 --> 00:18:12.480 Let's take almost every business today uses social media to go find clients. 00:18:12.480 --> 00:18:20.559 Gone are the days when I can I need three weeks to create one ad using a team of five people to launch. 00:18:20.559 --> 00:18:30.079 I can create 10 different lead magnets overnight using AI and let clients find me in different, different forums. 00:18:30.079 --> 00:18:46.799 I can take the whole onboarding intake of a client and manage both the compliance aspect, because there are certain businesses where you cannot do certain things for certain clients based upon the business unit, or enhancing and making it frictionless. 00:18:46.799 --> 00:18:53.200 So, yes, um the summary is use AI as an operating capability. 00:18:53.200 --> 00:18:56.880 Second, don't deploy it on broken pro uh processes. 00:18:56.880 --> 00:19:10.319 The good time to pause and ask what would be the ideal way if I had a blank canvas, and then let the machine serve the mission, not define it. 00:19:10.640 --> 00:19:10.960 Right. 00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:15.119 Listen, I I I love that you use it as an operating model. 00:19:15.119 --> 00:19:18.799 I don't know if everyone has that same mindset. 00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:23.519 I think sometimes people think it's an actual performance metrics. 00:19:23.519 --> 00:19:24.240 Yeah. 00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:30.480 And I do think an operating model is a nice way to talk about AI, and I'm going to start to use that. 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:31.839 Thank you very much. 00:19:31.839 --> 00:19:42.079 Because I do think it allows still the human-first mentality, because humans will use an operating model, just like a business wants operating models. 00:19:42.079 --> 00:19:46.000 And if it's broken, don't assume that AI is the fix. 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:49.440 If it's broken, why don't we uncover the root cause of why it's broken? 00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:50.880 One, maybe it's not necessary. 00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:52.319 Two, we have the wrong data. 00:19:52.319 --> 00:19:54.240 Three, the wrong person's managing it. 00:19:54.240 --> 00:19:56.640 I mean, there's so many things that we can look at. 00:19:56.640 --> 00:20:03.680 And I do like that the use of it is to complement growth, not diminish growth, right? 00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:16.240 I mean, I do think we get lost sometimes because I work with also young professionals, and many of them are scared that their jobs will become obsolete or like even to integrate it into their business. 00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:19.359 They're afraid it means they're just basically getting themselves out of a job. 00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:23.680 And I constantly tell them that is not the case, but I'm not leadership of those companies. 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:25.839 So I'm not sure if that is their idea, right? 00:20:25.839 --> 00:20:44.640 So I do think the education or communication from leadership to their teams about using it as an operating model is a much safer and more effective way to get people to embrace the use of the operating model like any other model we would have had before, any framework. 00:20:44.640 --> 00:20:51.680 This one just happens to be, you know, more accessible and easier to have a lot of information than some others, right? 00:20:51.680 --> 00:20:54.319 It's not as limited, but it doesn't replace. 00:20:54.319 --> 00:20:55.839 And so I do appreciate that. 00:20:55.839 --> 00:21:08.000 That's an important element that I think our audiences will really take note on how to integrate it, because I think the biggest issue I'm seeing across my clients is how are they talking about AI? 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:12.480 How are they showing that they want AI to integrate into the organization? 00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:14.720 And then what is the roadmap to get there? 00:21:14.720 --> 00:21:17.599 You gave a good roadmap of how it could get into that. 00:21:17.599 --> 00:21:19.200 So that much I appreciate. 00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:23.920 And as you know, our time is up, so I do think today was extremely knowledgeable. 00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:27.440 Ashish, Ashish Basaria, you have been terrific. 00:21:27.440 --> 00:21:31.119 I am very interested in learning more about some of the things you've done. 00:21:31.119 --> 00:21:32.960 We didn't just have enough time today. 00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:41.759 Everyone else, uh, if you have questions or you want to learn some more, we can always put you in touch with our speakers because they're fabulous and our and our folks coming on board with us. 00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:42.960 Thank you so much. 00:21:42.960 --> 00:21:47.200 And I look forward to hearing more great things about what you're doing across the board. 00:21:47.519 --> 00:21:48.240 Thank you, Dish.