Champions of Change 2021

Volatility Demystiﬁed
Why Timely Changes are
Necessary in Business?
Adaptation Requisites
How to Adapt as
a Business Leader?
Santosh Sunar
Founder and Director
BeTheGuide
September 2021

Editor's Note
THE LEADERSHIP MINDSET
It's not about the title when it comes to leadership. It's
not about the size of your office when it comes to
leadership. It is not about having official power to be a
leader. Leadership is a way of life that you live every day.
Leadership is about how you interact with people and
with the world. Leadership is a way of being. Leadership
is a mindset!
Mindset is a critical factor in dictating how one operates
in the world. It drives every opinion you have, every
decision you make, and every action you take. For
leaders, mindset influences the culture they foster and
sets the tone of your team. It shapes how you focus your
group/organisation’s efforts on creating, marketing, and
delivering products and services, as well as the
expectations you create for your team.
But what are the attributes of a leadership mindset? In
this edition of the CIO Look magazine – ‘Champions of
Change 2021’, we attempt at dissecting the moves and
decisions of the six excellent leaders featured in this
edition to get a better understanding of the leadership
mindset.
Leadership is tough. The very nature of leadership
demands the will to face challenges head-on. Problems
will arise and a leader’s role is to successfully help his/her
team overcome them. Having a leadership mindset
means seeing problems as opportunities and recognising
that every challenge provides an opportunity to learn and
grow.
The leadership attitude necessitates the capacity to
make judgements swiftly, communicate them confidently
and stand behind them come what may. While
impulsiveness undermines leadership, the capacity to
quickly filter through information in order to make an
educated and timely choice saves the team and the
business from becoming engulfed in concerns and
anxieties. Leaders need to be decisive.
People like to see humility in their leaders – someone
who will admit what they don’t know and work quickly to
fill in those gaps. A humble leader values and recognises
the abilities and efforts of people around them, and freely
credits the achievement to the entire team.
Growing accustomed to change is an important part of
developing the leadership attitude. Leaders who have a
fixed mindset begin to miss crucial changes and might
soon fall behind.
Being a strong leader entails being open to a variety of
techniques and information sources. A growth mentality
entails not only seeking guidance from industry experts
but also walking that extra mile to find a variety of
sources of information and inspiration. Successful
leaders are resourceful. They are willing to learn from
anyone and keep their eyes and minds open to solutions
and approaches.
There are a few things people hate more than being lied
to. Especially in business situations, team members need
to know that their leaders are being honest and
transparent. Honesty breeds trust, happiness and
inspires employees or group members to work harder.
So many qualities and still we are not even close to
exhausting the list of factors that make a great leader.
Read through the pages of this special edition to learn
about some of the fascinating leaders and changemakers
of the 21st century.
Happy reading!
“Great achievement is usually born out of
great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness.”
-Napoleon Hill
AdityaUmale

HR Boost
mYngle
Creators Architects
BeTheGuide strives to become a driving force for people who
are looking to grow in their career and lives by enriching a
positive mindset.
HRBoost® specializes in meeting companies at their pace and
budget to integrate an authentic culture invitation that can be
reinforced again and again through leadership at all levels
with solid HR infrastructure.
mYngle is the pioneer of online language lessons. Native
teachers offer classes through a live virtual classroom to
professionals all around the globe.
Aglaia Capital Club
With a second line of business focused on digital assets,
fintech and blockchain, and advisory of token, Aglaia is
generating events, covering the whole process with an
affiliated technological and legal team.
Designs that only deliver beautiful buildings are a thing of the
past. For Creators Architechts, it is about how architecture
adapts towards changing emergent needs around us.
BeTheGuide Indian
Mentoring Academy
Pvt. Ltd
Brief
Company Name
Marina Tognetti
Founder
Utssav Gupta
Partner and CEO
Santosh Sunar
Founder and Director
Nicole Martin
CEO and Founder
Angela Alvarez
Founder and CEO
Featuring
D-DMS Techno
D-DMS works with passionate and ambitious businesses that
want to Plan, Strategize, Transform and Launch.
Varun Dahotre
Founder and
Associate Director
Visionet Systems India
Visionet Systems is a premier Information Technology,
Consulting, and Business Process Management Company that
delivers solutions to enable its clients to do business better.
Alok Bansal
MD, Visionet Systems
India and Global
Head of BFSI Business

Santosh
Sunar
In the Business of
Building Confidence
COVER
STORY
08

C
O
N
T
E
N
T
S
Alok Bansal
A Dynamic Leader with
Focus on Excellence
Nicole Martin
A Trailblazer in Developing
Powerful Businesses
Marina Tognetti
Communicating Beyond
the Boundaries
Ángela Álvarez
A Forerunner to Streamline
Financial Sector
20
34
16
24
Articles
Volatility Demystified
Why Timely Changes
are Necessary
in Business?
Adaptation Requisites
How to Adapt as a
Business Leader
30
44
Utssav Gupta
Changing Business Paradigms
with Innovative Ideas
40
Varun Abhaykumar Dahotre
Shaping the Business
Space with Confidence
48

Santosh
Sunar
In the Business of Building Confidence
COVER STORY
“
“
Change
is all about
.
transformation
Change is
constant

Santosh Sunar
Founder and Director,
BeTheGuide

environment where they can be
confident and speak boldly so that the
interview process becomes a piece of
cake for them. This is where he is
trying to bring the change in. The
motivational courses and professional
coaching courses available in the
market right now are not up to the
mark.
The ones that are already in the market
lack credibility and proper course
material to facilitate true motivational
coaching or mentoring sessions. “I am
providing services in such a way that
the experience for a learner becomes
affordable with quality training,” says
Santosh. BeTheGuide is an ISO
certified company now and it has won
many accolades. It is one of the best
coaching centres in India.
According to him, every organization
and every institution must have
motivational speakers. He has
partnered with preschools and colleges.
Santosh along with his team at
BeTheGuide is able to completely
discuss students’ problems and
challenges while providing effective
solutions along the way.
A Versatile Journey
Santosh has 15 years of experience in
the motivational coaching field. He
failed twice while completing his
graduation in Zoology (Hons). He was
hunting for jobs after graduation.
Santosh has worked in multiple
disciplines. He was a teacher; he has
worked in an internet café, and he was
into construction as well. “I have done
jobs that were out of my comfort
zone,” states Santosh.
He has worked across different
verticals to gain knowledge of different
markets. But then, he received an
opportunity to work in HSBC. Being a
graduate from a different course,
working with an international bank
was a challenge. But he never backed
down from a good rodeo. Through his
experience, he has learnt that there are
three things to do when one is in a new
zone - observe, analyse, and
implement. “I call this OAI model –
Observation, Analysis, and
Implementation,” shares Santosh.
Initially, he wanted to become a Naval
officer. “I strive to work out of my
comfort zone. That is why, when I was
working in HSBC, I used to handle
customers who used to earn 8-9 figure
income whereas I was just getting a
five-figure amount,” contemplates
Santosh. This made him realize that the
finance sector is not really his calling.
People nowadays face a lot of
challenges when it comes to
experiencing change. May it be
their personal life or professional one,
the hurdles become taller and taller to
cross and this creates an unbalanced
lifestyle. In these changing times, it is
very important to secure one’s mind as
it is the most important tool that keeps
everyone on their toes. Negative
thoughts and opposite emotions can
affect the thought process of able
individuals in a drastic way. This is
why there is a need for competent
motivational speakers, who can really
help people to come out of their
stagnant self and become the leader of
their own life.
Changing times like the Covid-19
pandemic has forced people to work
remotely and it has been observed that
many people are facing mental health
issues due to the sudden lockdowns
and isolation. Hence, it has become
quite evident that there is a rising
demand of motivational speakers in
almost every part of the country. This
is why we at CIO Look India, with our
latest edition – Champions of Change,
2021 have brought Santosh Sunar,
one of the renowned motivational
speakers and mentors to the cluster of
the stories we are featuring. He is the
Founder and Director of
BeTheGuide.
Bringing the Change by the Spirit of
Motivation
Reskilling, Reshaping, and Rebuilding
is Santosh’s mantra. He trains people
to become motivational speakers and
professionals, where they can stand in
front of many people and be confident
while speaking. “I want them to give
the best speeches,” claims Santosh.
When candidates go for an interview,
Santosh wants to create an
“
“
I have won
the national
award for the
best motivational
speaker
“
“
Motivational
speaking
is the world’s
most interesting
career

He wanted to do something more. So,
he started browsing through Google
and came across various motivational
speaking videos and channels. “I was
fascinated by the motivational speakers
and the way they influenced people’s
lives,” adds Santosh.
He decided that this is something that
he wants to be involved in. This is the
space where he needs to make a
difference. From that point onwards, he
never looked back. In his initial
entrepreneurial days, he used to
conduct free sessions to gain public
attention and build his brand. “I
personally felt how difficult it is to step
into the motivational speaking
industry,” shares Santosh. To further
his knowledge, he started consulting
with other motivational speakers and
looking for motivational speaking
courses. But there were no economical
options available at that time. He
realized that if he wants to make his
stand in this space, he needs to learn
everything himself.
It has been four years since his journey
with BeTheGuide started. “My
entrepreneurial saga began with my
passion to follow my dreams and I am
glad that I am into the motivational
field,” says Santosh.
He and his team train the C-level
executives from multinational
companies and mentor them in
becoming dynamic orators. Speaking is
an essential skill for a leader, and
Santosh helps business leaders develop
this skill to the best extent possible.
Dynamics of BeTheGuide
It is a motivational coaching start-up
that focuses on providing excellent and
affordable motivational drive for
youngsters and professionals in the
“
“
Every company
should have dedicated
motivational speakers
in their arsenal to
enhance their
corporate lifestyle

Northeast India. BeTheGuide is
Meghalaya’s first skill development
coaching center, which has been
certified and registered under MSMED
Act of Government of India, 2006.
The company is providing a unique
learning platform for dropouts,
freshers, and already working
professionals to upskill their
communication in a dynamic way.
Through its various mentoring
programs, the organization is helping
people to be self-employed and create
an opportunity to grow in their
community via motivational speaking.
BeTheGuide strives to become a
driving force for people who are
looking to grow in their career and
lives by enriching a positive mindset.
Its model creates motivational speakers
trained by other motivational speakers
through the coaching that the
organization provides. The team at
BeTheGuide wishes to put at least one
motivational coach in each house in
order to make home a safe space to
develop and grow. To achieve this feat,
the company has organized different
sessions and mentoring programs at
various educational institutions in
Meghalaya.
BeTheGuide has been awarded with
various awards and recognitions like a
prestigious Indian Leadership ICON
Award and Top 10 winners in Chief
Minister’s E-champion challenge.

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A Dynamic Leader with Focus on Excellence
Alok Bansal
S
uccessful business leaders are driven by the zeal to
introduce massive transformations through their
dedicated endeavours. They embrace innovation and
excellence to bring out something new in their companies'
operations. These leaders never give up during adverse
situations and always provide tremendous opportunities to
every employee to learn and grow. One such goal-focused
change leader in business who is introducing
transformational ideas to take the business to the next level
is none other than Mr. Alok Bansal, the MD of Visionet
Systems India and Global Head of BFSI Business.
Mr. Alok is an expert in managing strategy, global
operations, optimizing and leading growth of financial
services, mortgage banking, and BPO firms. He is highly
skilled in general management, turning around start-up
businesses, and in managing multi-site operations. Mr. Alok
has led technology and business development fuelling the
growth of companies he has worked with.
Being a high-performance leader, he is adept in creating
scalable organizations by developing comprehensive
programs for team building, leadership development,
organizational culture, and knowledge management.
An Accomplished Professional
Mr. Alok has two decades of in-depth experience in
spearheading major technology initiatives. He has
successfully implemented scalable outsourcing services and
delivery infrastructure. Under Mr. Alok's astute leadership,
Visionet gained 7x revenue and the employee base grew by
3.5x. He has developed multiple team-building programs
which has helped in developing the operations across
multiple organizations.
Supporting Society Dynamically
Mr. Alok believes in going beyond token CSR and in
making real and positive impact on the society. He is of the
opinion that the country can grow and prosper inclusively
only when the paradigm shift happens at a collective level.
Envisioned by Mr. Alok, 'Unnati For India' is an initiative,
which is far-reaching and impactful. The team at Visionet
has extended its expertise to make the next generation
future ready. Under the umbrella of 'Unnati For India', the
company plans to train almost one lakh graduates over a
tenure of five years, in order to transform them into
employable resources in the IT and BPM space. With this
initiative, Visionet trained almost 600 graduates last year,
and 90% of these resources have been absorbed by Visionet
as its employees.
A Decorated Individual
Mr. Alok has made tremendous achievements throughout
his illustrious career. He completed his Bachelor of
Technology degree from IIT Bombay and completed his
executive education in aligning strategy and sales from
Harvard Business School. Apart from that, Mr. Alok is a
marathoner, fitness enthusiast, and an avid reader, which
helps him to carry out his leadership responsibilities
effectively.
A true leader
does not create
followers, but
leaders
16 | September 2021 | www.ciolookindia.com

Alok Bansal
MD, Visionet Systems India
and Global Head of BFSI Business
Champions of Change

Under the focused leadership of Mr. Alok, Visionet has
received numerous recognitions. The company has won the
Microsoft Partner Award in 2021. One of the employees
also won the HW Woman of the Year 2021 Award. Besides,
owing to the perseverance of Mr. Alok, the company has
received testimonials from clients who are part of the top 20
financial institutions in the US. These clients have found
Visionet to be a strategic partner that helps them achieve
sustainable business outcomes through digital solutions.
A Leader with a Purpose
Mr. Alok believes that a true leader does not create
followers, but leaders. He aims at not only overcoming the
challenges, but also at creating a sustainable work
environment, where people can learn and evolve. With
delegation, mentorship, affirmation, motivation, and
inspiration, Mr. Alok aims to create a legacy of
empowerment.
He believes in putting people at the heart of the
organization, investing in them, appreciating their
achievements, listening to them, and allowing them to
grow. Mr. Alok is of the opinion that a true leader should
take every feedback in a positive manner. Especially, during
this current pandemic situation, they should encourage the
employees to be confident enough to express their
grievances and to come up with suggestions and new ideas.
This way, in the future, when they lead their own teams, the
employees will remember how it felt to be seen and heard,
which in turn, will also turn them into good listeners.
About Visionet Systems
Visionet Systems, Inc. is a premier Information Technology,
Consulting, and Business Process Management Company
that delivers solutions to enable its clients to do business
better. It offers a unique combination of technology,
knowledge experts, and proprietary mortgage technology
products. The company excels in delivering industry-
leading solutions to global BFSI clients.
With a talent pool of more than 6,500 passionate engineers
and digital consultants across the world, Visionet offers
agile and innovation-driven value to its clients.
Towards a Bright Future
As the Global Head of Visionet BFSI, Mr, Alok aims to
make India a global financial hub in the Asian market and
develop it into a centre of excellence for automation,
analytics, cloud and data technology, and innovation. The
company plans to deepen its talent pool to provide
comprehensive, high-quality banking/fintech advisory
solutions. Marching ahead, Mr Alok intends to facilitate and
invest in R&D to develop new solutions, including the use
of distributed ledger technology for inter-bank payments
and trade finance.
Under his dynamic leadership, the company will continue
to enhance its regulatory approach, to support enterprise
and innovation while maintaining financial soundness.
Visionet will also continue to focus on ensuring that
regulations support innovative business models and on
strengthening the cyber resilience of financial institutions.
Mr. Alok believes that complementing the business
strategies and innovation agenda will be an active skill
development program to help the financial sector workforce
build world-class skills. With digitalization and automation,
job roles will evolve, and existing professionals must be
equipped with new skills and competencies.

Founder and CEO,
Aglaia Capital

COVID-19 pandemic has
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our core values.

CHANGE IS AN
PART
ESSENTIAL
OF BEING AN
ENTREPRENEUR
“
“

C
hange is the central idea of everything, may it be
life, business, social interactions, etc. Change is
important for every organization because, with
no change, businesses would lose the freshness and
there will be no competitive edge. The world is
changing every day, if businesses fail to embrace the
change, then it is difficult for them to grow on a massive
level.
Timely change is necessary if you want to keep up with
the world around you. It is very easy to have been left
out in the world of business. In businesses, change plays
a vital role but, many organizations are threatened to
change because they might lose the traditional business
models. Streamlined businesses are often scared of
change.
But it is also true that change is a much-needed factor
in the current fast-paced world. There are challenges
faced by the different industries in enhancing change in
their already set business. Nevertheless, this has to be
done to keep up with the rapidly advanced technologies
and world.
Change just does not affect the financial liability of
industries but it comes with huge success rates too. As
Albert Einstein said, “the measure of intelligence is the
ability to change”. This quote sums it all up. No doubt
that there is difficulty in coping with the fast-paced
world but one who achieves this critical art of change,
wins.
WhyTimely
Changes are
Necessary
in Business
Volatility Demystified
?

In this article let’s see why change is a necessity in
businesses.
Technology Benefits
Technology is on the boom in the current industrial
scenario and overall. From kids to senior citizens
everyone uses technology and are attracted towards it.
Including technology in business is not as easy as you
might think it is. The fear of letting go of the traditional
models of doing business will always haunt
entrepreneurs. But, embracing tech-savvy solutions
and adding them to the business will provide you with a
huge customer base. It will no doubt prove to be the
cherry on the cake in the growth of the business.
The advancement in the concept of AI and Big data has
touched skyrocketing heights. Businesses are utilizing
and making the most of it. Technology makes things
smoother and crispier. Work gets minimised with
technology by your side. Customer needs are
constantly increasing and technology acts as a helping
hand in keeping up with the ongoing trends.
Embracing the technology will only add value and a
solid base to the businesses.
New Opportunities
Change opens a gateway for improvement and coming
out of the comfort zone. Usually, people are used to
doing the same with the same methods but, change will
teach you to do the same things in a better and easy
way. With change comes new opportunities, new ideas,
new skills, and a new mindset, which is utterly
important in the current situation.
No one likes the same trend or repetitive ideas, hence
changing with time will add to the success rate of the
business. Changing a crisis into an opportunity is an
inspiring phenomenon that entrepreneurs do. Out of
the box thinking comes and changing frequently goes
hand in hand.
Change in the organization will let employees learn new
skills and explore different ideas. The employee’s
creativity will only add profit rates to the business.
Changing Economy
The change brings in a difference in an organization and
along that brings in financial expansion, which can be
scary. The change in the economy can affect an
organization in positive and negative ways. The change
will bring new opportunities, but it will also bring new
challenges while walking on the way towards success.
Economic stability is the most important factor while
doing any business. Being afraid of bringing in change in
the organization is obvious. But this does not mean that
there should be no change at all. Smart work and smart
changes are always worth giving a shot.
The Ability to Experiment
Every new day is a new opportunity to learn something
new. Experimenting with the existing factors is a way of
embracing change. Baby steps can be taken while
starting to experiment with organizational changes.
What matters here is the freedom to do something
new, something unique, and something exceptional.
Sticking to the traditional way of working with adding a
little bit of change and a hint of uniqueness is what will
make the business shine.
As Winston Churchill said, “to improve is to change; to
be perfect is to change often”. Perfection can be
achieved if you keep changing with the flow.
- Sayali Sangewar

CEO and Founder ,
HRBoost
The one
thing that
won’t change
is change
itself
“
Champions of Change | 2021
®

W
omen in today’s time are
not just great home
makers but are also
great businesswomen. They are the
ideal example of being patient and
strong. In recent times, they are
breaking the stereotype of society
of women being fragile. Indeed, they
are passionate and brave towards
everything they do. The never giving
up attitude of women makes them
stand out of the crowd. Such women
are capable of bringing change in
the world.
While searching for such world
changers for our edition, Champi-
ons of Change | 2021, we came
across an amazingly talented
woman, Nicole Martin, CEO and
Founder of HRBoost®. Nicole’s
leadership skills and passion
towards bringing a change have
proved that she deserves to be one
of the most successful women in the
world.
In the following interview, Nicole
briefed us (the team of Insights
Success) about her journey to build
HRBoost®. She also mentioned
about the challenges she faced while
bringing up the change in the
industry and about how she man-
aged to serve best to the clients
during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Nicole has also shared her future
goals and advised the budding
entrepreneurs and youngsters who
wishes to bring a change in the
world.
Following are the focal points of the
interview:
What is ‘change’ according to you?
Change is inevitable. However, to
receive it and become agile through
change requires an astute aware-
ness of how we are feeling amidst
the external environment—and then
feeling safe enough to communicate
it to those around us in a way that
allows us to embrace it together.
Kindly tell us how you are bringing
change in this world with the help
of your business. Describe about
your company in detail.
Ironically, the biggest threat/change
to the marketplace is talent, even
now. Only the truly forward-
thinking companies will make
winning moves even in the down-
turn of economy.
The best just competes against
themselves. The concept of the best
is to be rooted in continuous
process improvement. The one thing
that won’t change, is change itself.
The time is now to incorporate not
just intrapreneur strategies in your
business, but also augmented talent
attraction strategies for freelance
and/or skilled resources.
With culture being the new organi-
zational structure, the benefit of
access to freelance expertise in
various areas of business will not be
just desirable, but necessary. This
can be beneficial for businesses too.
Businesses that are good at building
a framework to uphold the culture
as a common language and experi-
ence for all their resources working
in synergy with clear focus to a
shared goal, well then, business can
acquire what is needed at a fraction
of the cost. This can help fuel a
growing business and when done
right, it can improve efficiency and
contribute to the economy.
None of us can foretell the future. I
am confident however, that the
talent won years ago. Despite the
current unemployment rates, you
hear about, the skilled talent is at
work and resources are skim in
several industry verticals. Get ready
to witness people making life
changing decisions. People who are
purpose driven to claim their joy
through flexible work that fuels
their intellectual passions is now at
the forefront.
The new evolution will be seeing this
take place from the former bread
winners in families who no longer
fear the risk in the face of uncer-
tainty, knowing nothing is more
important than their wellbeing and
the well-being of their families. The
hospitality industry is already
painting the future with staycation
retreats because working from
home can be great especially when
it is not mandated.
The talent of the future will seek to
work from anywhere and on their
A TRAILBLAZER IN DEVELOPING POWERFUL BUSINESSES

terms. I feel this is all evidence
enough to put every business owner
on notice. If you did not know it
when I wrote The Talent Emergency
in 2015, then heed my notice to you
now. The talent still has the upper
hand and women remain an oppor-
tunity! Now, I would like to pose to
you, is the talent landscape a threat
or an opportunity?
At HRBoost®, we specialize in
meeting companies at their pace
and budget to integrate an authentic
culture invitation that can be
reinforced again and again through
leadership at all levels with solid HR
infrastructure. Strategic HR Day 1,
Employee 1.
What made you venture into the
industry you are catering to?
It is my number one responsibility to
empower my team of Boosters,
invest in ongoing education, tools,
and resources to optimize my team.
I have a faith that they will in turn
delight our clients with the love for
what they bring. I was truly humbled
when after years of serving on
Advisory Board and being part of a
winning organization in my prior
roles, my own company took the
stage of Best & Brightest ® Compa-
nies to Work for in Chicago, in 2019.
Now, we just aim to get others there
with us.
What kind of products or services
do you provide that are making a
difference in people’s lives?
We recently engaged a partner to be
the HR Expert on Demand, and this
truly takes our bench strength to
small businesses across the country
via phone or their chosen mobile
device. While we prefer in person
like everyone, these days we have
gone digital.
Given we are not your Broker, your
Attorney or a 1-800 number.
We believe HR expertise is essential
to any business as they grow their
enterprise. Our Shared Services
approach allows businesses to
access strategic HR at their pace
and budget, all while taking a holistic
approach to integrating a culture
plan that enables their strategic
and/or operational plans as a
business.
We deliver skilled talent to our
clients. We also believe they need
both strategic and tactical resources
at the same time. One human is not
ideal as there are various cognitive
abilities to optimize HR strategically.
We believe our shared services
approach to the middle market is
the PEO Alternative. And yes, the
middle market needs an alternative.
What kind of challenges have you
faced while bringing the change
through your business? How has it
affected your professional life?
Like any business, talent is critical to
growth and skilled talent is critical
to our business. As a result, we have
reinvested in our talent and our
approach is not only towards
acquiring talent but also, to enable
it. We have also been careful to
listen to our clients, their experi-
ence, and ways we can better serve
them. Our ﬂexibility and custom
approach to how we work with
clients, has fuelled our growth and
success. The challenge will always
be access to capital, both ﬁnancial
and human. As the business grows,
those challenges just increase in
scale.
How has the ongoing pandemic
affected the operations of your

organization? How are you driving
your company to sustain its
operations and ensuring safety of
your employees at the same time?
We have always trended with
growth year after year, however
amidst the pandemic we were hit
hard like many. Thankfully, we have
successfully returned to pre Covid-
19 revenue levels, and this is
something we are pleased with
given the level of uncertainty in the
market. We have revealed some
new innovative ways to reach our
clients and as talent shifts occur, we
are ready to help the businesses
that seek to retain talent.
What would be your strategic
approach to scale your business in
2021 and beyond?
Like many businesses, my organiza-
tion was hit with a decline in
revenue when lockdown occurred.
Challenges like many others, we
facilitated several furloughs, layoffs
as a service to our clients and even
partnered with others that had to
dismantle their business. Thankfully,
as businesses that were ‘essential’
needed support, 50% of our portfo-
lio kept talent onsite and have never
been virtual.
Our lost revenue was recouped but
with a new portfolio of clients that
realized their culture invitation and
compliance was critical to continued
talent retention. Our largest
revenue ever in one month occurred
in October 2020. Now, a year later,
the talent is moving and not just
from one company but across the
country to where they choose to
live. I also have talents in my team
that made choices to keep their
families safe and in balance. Thank-
fully, we practice what we preach so
we have talent in the pipeline.
Regardless, it is clear, the competi-
tion for skilled talent has no bound-
aries in our country, and virtual and
hybrid approaches to working will
outlive this pandemic.
Our Recruiter on Demand services
have increased throughout 2021.
Diversity and Inclusion became the
forefront as well as Safety and Well-
Being. New measures of engage-
ment include wellbeing and overall
health to include mental health in
the workplace. Businesses that
showed care during this past year
will retain talent but those that
failed to keep talent informed, part
of the discussion and ahead of the
anxiety will see their team change
and likely in a big way before year
end.
What would be your advice to
budding entrepreneurs and
youngsters who are striving to
bring a change in their community?
I feel it is imperative to get hands on
experience doing what you seek to
learn. Make sure it brings you joy
before investing time, energy, and
dedicating your life to it. Enjoy the
journey and be prepared to learn,
unlearn, and relearn. Surround
yourself with people who inspire
and support you, but also don’t
patronize you. Remember, even if it
gets harder, or takes longer, stay
diligent. Anything you love will be
worth it.
Where do you envision your
company to be in the long run and
what are your future goals? How do
you plan to embrace the changes
happening in your industry?
We created a Covid Business
Bundle within 30 days of the
legislative changes that swept
across our country. I priced it at a
nominal fee ($149.00) for all the
policy, forms, and instructions to
manage the new paid sick leave and
emergency family medical leave. We
included a free consultation because
the last thing a business needed was
to learn they weren’t in compliance,
when they were trying to do what
was right. The most fascinating part
was to see how many out of state
clients found us before many in our
own backyard did.
We kicked off 2021 with a Culture
Leadership Summit with 11 interna-
tional speakers and only charged
$2.95 cents. The cost of fuel but
instead of your car, it was for you
personally. Proceed beneﬁted A
Safe Haven, a Chicago non-proﬁt
addressing homelessness in our city.
We also inked a joint licensing deal
to bring our Phone Client program
to Android and Apple, something we
now partner with Brokers to bring
HR Experts on Demand to their
clients. Looking to the coming year,
much of what we did in person will
now be available online and on
demand.
What is the current industrial
scenario of the sector you are
catering to?
If you do not have a positive work

culture, talent will not tolerate it for
long. Creating a culture conversa-
tion take rigor where two-way
exchange is fostered and upheld. We
were recognized as a Best &
Brightest® company to work for, in
Chicago before the pandemic.
Regardless, any organization
committed to excellence knows
culture can change with every
promotion, hire, or termination. Put
separation and a pandemic in the
mix and more conversations were
needed.
If you do not have a common
language for how leadership lives
across the organization, morale can
suffer. We implemented pulse Covid
Surveys in addition to our standard
culture surveys and metrics.
Anonymous pulse is important, but
we also began more company check-
ins across peer levels. We have kept
Monday Motivation, Happy Hours,
and Wellness Wednesdays with the
long term in mind as we feel we
created a deeper connection during
these tough times. We also had
Chaplains in the workplace before
Covid-19.
I was thrilled to see them working
more proactively to connect with
our team in a virtual world and we
had high utilization these past 12
months. I feel proudest of what we
discussed, exchanged on, and
shared. The subject matter has not
been around easy subjects. We had
a team meeting to discuss racial
unrest and while it was emotional, I
was touched that my business has a
culture that feels psychologically
safe, where I can hear and see my
team sharing with each other and
beyond without fear of peer
judgement but rather seeking to
learn from one another.
You will notice it instantly. Nicole Martin, CEO and Founder of
HRBoost®, loves what she does, and she does it remarkably well. “I’m the
accidental entrepreneur,” says Nicole, “I looked back after starting my
own business and said, ‘I started a business. Whoa!’”
Nicole did not set out to create HRBoost. She simply followed her passion
to help clients understand the importance human resources can play in
developing a strong business. Today Nicole is a successful entrepreneur
and an HR industry innovator, who is dedicated to helping small to mid-
size business realize their potential through their employees.
A self-professed ‘country girl in disguise,’ Nicole Martin grew up in
Montana, where, she says, “Everyone knows you and greets you on the
street.” Nicole was also lucky to have a great mentor early in life: her
mom. “My mother is highly spiritual, and she raised me with the philoso-
phy of being happy,” said Nicole. “She always believed in that you are a
special person—she ingrained that in me—and you are capable of any-
thing.”
Success is relative. Many people would read my resume or some printed
article about me, but the real success comes in the joy of doing what you
love every day. It is amazing however, when you turn around and see
many others who work for you and source Joy and Purpose through our
shared work and creation. Work and Life should be integrated not
compartmentalized. “I love that there is no real dividing line between
work and play for me,” she conveys.
“It is our vision at HRBoost to bring JOY and PURPOSE to PEOPLE
through their work. It is how we serve our clients and the people that
choose to join up on their visions. We live it at HRBoost and believe
everyone deserves the same opportunity. I am thrilled to travel the world
in my spare time and share how all of us can live our joy and purpose
through our work,” concludes Nicole.
A COUNTRY GIRL IN DISGUISE

Champions of Change 2021
Utssav Gupta
Partner and CEO,
Creators Architects

In an exclusive interview with CIO Look India, Mr
Utssav Gupta, Partner and CEO of Creators
Architects enlightens us about the concept of Change.
His insightful and innovative way of thinking is the essence
of Change. He is an efficient personality, who provides
innovative solutions in the architectural space.
Below are the highlights of the interview.
What is change according to you?
Change evokes fear in some, excitement in others, and
dread in many. Change can occur as a result of an activity
or as a result of an action. And while both are important, I
believe that transformation is the most beneficial outcome.
A change that does not provide an obvious advantage to
people or society is not subjected to a change. Change
moves at its own pace, and a change agent leaves a positive
impact on the current situation and create a big
transformation in the entire scenario, environment, and
humanistic behavior.
In addition, I see the change as an opportunity to learn and
improve. When you see an opportunity to make a difference
in the bigger world and take action to make it happen.
Architects at Creators Architects consider architecture to be
an instrument for change.
Kindly tell us how you are bringing change in this world
with the help of your business. Describe about your
company in detail.
The environment in which we live is one of the most crucial
influencing variables of change. It has an impact on us and
stimulates us to act in specific ways. There has been a
change in the environment, as well as in how human
activity is perceived. The behavior is the outcome of
conditioning as a consequence of environmental influence,
and the environmental impact is the result of the building’s
design and how the individual is surrounded by it.
That is the hammer we are employing right now. We make
architecture a practical alternative for everyone. We create
architecture to frame that environment, which influences the
subject’s behavior positively. Our change has also affected
the audience’s behavior, not only on individuals but on how
the crowd performs as a whole. Is it more empathetic? Is it
more considerate? Is it more thoughtful? Is it more spiritual
in nature? Our architectural molding affects the efficiency
of our work, particularly the critical efficiency. We have a
Utssav
Gupta
Changing Business Paradigms with Innovative Ideas
Every project
allows us
an opportunity
to learn
something new
“
“
“
“

workplace audit, a health-care space audit, and a factory
space audit covered for our clients. We believe, it is more
efficient and easier to be efficient if you have more
efficiency and ease of efficiency.
Brief us about the featured person and shed some light on
his/her professional tenure.
We at creative architects have worked with generations to
generations spanning 35 years as a change agent. Change
management and change induction have long been at the
heart of Creators Architects’ work. The terrain has changed
dramatically in the last 35 years. However, the ethos of
change has remained consistent and has been passed down
from Rajiv Gupta and Mrs. Mukta Gupta’s prior generation
to Mrs. Mukta Gupta and Mr. Utssav Gupta's the modern
world’s combined rangers.
Change necessitates forethought and the vision that
previous generations possessed, resulting in many
innovative architectural ideas. The need for a faster life or
greater efficiency, modernization, and critical applications
has migrated more into the modern world as a result of the
technological revolution. Utssav Gupta’s present framework
structure embraces that element of change and handles it in
the modern environment.
What made you venture into the industry you are catering
to?
Design and architecture intrigue us, help us comprehend the
world better, and are powerful tools for reorganizing
ourselves. Of course, how you carry out these tasks is
critical. Architecture, on the other hand, has always been
like this for me. And, as someone who was born and
nurtured in this culture and profession, I recognized the
attributes. These contributing attributes can be traced back
to childhood. As a result, pursuing this job with my own
unique perspective became a natural choice for me.
What kind of products or services do you provide that are
making a difference in people’s lives?
The building industry has the power to transform people’s
lives, and it is prominent. Through human centricity,
business unpredictability, and climatic centricity, we adapt
our architecture to make a difference in people’s lives.
Creators Architects drive by the principles of the outcome-
driven model.
This model consistently delivers exceptional results — and
it is not by chance. The strategy was designed from the
ground up to be outcome-driven, with a focus on what
consumers and stakeholders want to achieve. It leads to the
creation of feature sets, platform concepts, and business
models that will undoubtedly benefit customers and
stakeholders.
What kind of challenges have you faced while bringing
the change through your business? How has it affected
your professional life?
In the field of architecture, every day is a new learning
experience and a lot more challenging. The most complex
task is quantifying the amount of change that the product
will bring because we are working with an imaginary
product. It is not physically present to verify for the client
what is going on. As a result, although there is a significant
gap between the actual product and understanding the
tangible product, it becomes much trickier to comprehend
and measure the change that will occur.
How has the ongoing pandemic affected the operations of
your organization? How are you driving your company to
sustain its operations and ensuring safety of your
employees at the same time?
Catastrophic changes and inventions are identical twins.
COVID-19 was one such devastating event in human
history that mentally rocked humanity. But this COVID
crisis instigated us to anticipate the possibilities of changes
to be adapted, changes to be embraced, and change in a way
that enables us to comprehend what the pandemic has to
offer.
We, Creators Architects, took it as a positive outcome for
our fraternity and clients. The proactive stance we are
taking for the year 2021 and the ensuing years is to look
forward to a healthy reassessment of conventional forms
and determining if the output generated by conventional
methods is bringing enough change and positivity to the
new COVID environment. We wish to hone the skills
further and build a model of innovation. A paradigm, that
adapts to new changes while also giving new values to this
new COVID environment.
We envisioned our company as being at the forefront of
bringing valuable market-changing innovations. We are a
niche centre company, and we anticipate that the niche will
continue to grow and meet people’s future needs in
qualitative rather than quantitative ways.
What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs and
youngsters who are striving to bring a change in their
community?
The only constant, as they say, is change. But, in today’s
world, how adaptable are we to embrace change? While
change is required, it is also critical for creation instruments
to change and define the change as you know, as what’s
required, as well as quantify the change that defined the
change as a consequence of what’s required. If the change
is not meaningful, if it is not serving, if it is not the words
of positive growth, then it is pointless to make the change.
As a professional who has experimented with change, I
believe that it is essential. What matters the most is the
meaningful change.

Howto

Leadership Quest
Adaptas a
Business
Leader ?
I
t's no secret that businesses face unique challenges
in this swiftly changing era. From technological
advancements, pandemics that turn the world
upside-down, to shifting public perception, and more,
business leaders need to adapt their leadership styles
to remain competitive in this ever-expanding global
economy.
For example, in order to meet consumer demand and
expectations, savvy business leaders will continue to
understand how these demands affect the workplace
and subsequently improve the workforce. Hence,
innovation and creativity will also be key areas of focus
in modern companies as we look towards changing
tactics and incorporating new approaches along with
technology.
Evidence-Based Learning
The foundation of adaptive leadership is the idea that
people and organizations learn more from their
mistakes than they do from their successes. Adaptive
leadership is grounded in what we know about human
behavior and decision making, and the psychology
behind how we sometimes fail to be our best selves.
The leadership style also means that leaders must learn
from the results of their decisions. If they do not, then
they cannot improve their decision-making. The hard
part about adaptive leadership is to realize that the
decisions you made last week may not lead to the same
outcomes as similar decisions today, nor might they
lead to the outcomes you expected them to.
Simply put, evidence-based learning and adaptation
aim to give the leader the conﬁdence to act based on an
assessment of their learning process. This learning
process will enable leaders to develop an informed
understanding of what works, what doesn’t work, what
is unpredictable, and what might reasonably be
expected to work in given situations.
Through this process, business leaders can become
more robust in response to complex environments;
they will learn faster about their environment; they will

be able to tailor responses effectively; and they will be
able to analyze what works and why, over time.
Evaluate Theories, Assumptions, and Beliefs
Each aspect of the adaptive cycle – observing a
problem, analyzing the difficulties, generating a
hypothesis about what is going wrong, experimenting
to prove or disprove the theory – is a comprehensive
process that seeks to incorporate as many different
dimensions as possible into its assessment of specific
problems.
In other words, it is about looking for an integrated
understanding of specific challenges, one that cuts
across various dimensions and interrelated issues. If
you strip out any of these steps from the overall
adaptive cycle, you hinder action. Actions will only lead
to failure without recognizing the assumptions and
theories guiding them and also be less likely to lead to
success on their own unless they are informed by
relevant facts and experiences on the ground.
Streamline Decision Making
Opinion-based decisions are prone to error because
human beings are imprecise. Every person within an
organization has the ability to make effective, good
decisions. However, they can only do this if they have
access to quality information and evidence about the
problem they are trying to solve.
If you want your team to make quality decisions,
streamline your decision-making process. Make an
intentional effort to gather the evidence that you need
in order to make decisions that are better than simply
guessing or using personal preference or opinion to
settle on a course of action.
Implement Transparency, Inclusion, and
Accountability
Adaptive leadership works well when you create
contexts that encourage people to speak up about
mistakes, but it also requires diverse viewpoints. You
need to address human error, but you shouldn't hamper
individuals in any way in their most productive time.
Transparency, inclusion, and accountability are three of
the basic tenets held by adaptive leadership.
These three entities can go a long way toward making
adaptive leadership work in any context. They help
leaders understand what led to a mistake and create
systems that allow the organization to learn from it in a
meaningful way. When a leader makes a mistake, it can
often be a catalyst for great change. If this is the case,
it's important that you use this catalyzing power in a
positive way.
Communicate More Effectively
A leader’s job is to meet the needs of the people who
rely on them. And part of that is providing clear and
consistent communication at every turn of the wheel,
especially in times of rapid change and risk of failure.
They need to communicate effectively and accurately
without causing confusion and anxiety.
There are many unconventional ways to filter and
present in-depth information in a simple and easy-to-
use manner in order to give your leadership team and
your staff exactly what they need in real-time. The key
is to adjust yourself and the organization to the unique
needs of various stakeholders.
In conclusion, adaptive leadership is about creating an
environment where you can learn from the people
around you. Your goals should be aligned to ensure
your scenarios are relevant and representative of the
real world.

Founder & Associate Director,
D-DMS Techno Solu ons
Private Limited

Champions of Change 2021

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