Faisal Hoque, Future Strong Hero, tells us how

Faisal Hoque, Future Strong Hero
Founder, Shadoka
Author, Survive to Thrive
Faisal is a serial entrepreneur who helps leaders create
more amazing futures

Future Strong Hero Series: Insights from top leaders, change
makers and thought leaders who are creating better, bolder tomorrows.

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How do you stay Future Strong? One overwhelming dimension of being
future strong is how we invest in ourselves. You need to repeatedly invest in
yourself, reinvent yourself and push yourself where you are not comfortable.
So what I’ve been doing since I was 17 years old, when I first became an
entrepreneur, is to continually reinvent my own skillsets and explore new
markets, and create new products and new opportunities. I’ve been hustling
since I left Bangladesh, and as I fail, I reinvent myself. Whether it’s an
outside force or it’s you that’s driving the change, the most important
question is: Have you learned enough to discipline yourself to embrace change
and build new skillsets? And have the attitude to embrace your next chapter
in life? That’s what makes the difference.

You have to find what drives you. It’s your authenticity behind your passion,
when you’re working from your heart. You still need to listen to the outside
world though — it’s the inward and outward connectivity. This is also where
reinvention and future strong come into place. You have to constantly push
yourself to do better than yourself — it’s not a competition with others…
it’s about: can you make a better version of yourself? Authenticity comes
from being extremely devoted to your craft on a daily basis whether you
feel like it or not.

What do leaders need to do to build Future Strong companies?
You have to have a vision, obviously. That must be backed by excellent
execution. You can be a motivational prophet kind of leader, but if you
can’t execute effectively, continuously, then you’ll fail. Execution is
about the ability to focus, the ability to say no — which many
inspirational leaders have a tough time with. There’s also transparency
— which boils down to open, honest and complete communication. In that
communication, you have to be honest with yourself, and you have to be
honest with your organization in terms of: what’s possible; how everyone
can make a difference; and what’s not possible — you can’t do everything.
You have to be realistic….brutally honest and direct. That helps people
be more accountable and productive.

The last critical dimension is avoiding burnout and ensuring people can
recharge. Relaxed people produce far more than people who are hyper and
working crazy hours and trying to do too much. More doesn’t mean more.
Usually, less means more. This is a fundamentally necessary leadership
mindset. That focus manifests itself into execution.

The writing is already on the wall: The companies that will succeed
in the long-term are those that are not traditionally structured.
The talent pool every company wants and the younger generation are
more entrepreneurial, even if they are employees and not building a new
company. If you don’t structure your company to take advantage of
that, you won’t be successful.

I believe people are multi-dimensional, when company cultures and
strucutures force us to be single-dimensional — thinking the way
the company wants us to think — we hold back our greatness. When
we allow our multi-faceted selves to emerge, with focused efforts,
we can produce more with less…and be happy.

Hoque Strongisms
• Reinvest in yourself, reinvent yourself: Continuously
• Vision must be backed by excellent execution; the ability to say No
• Recharge yourself, continuously

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