Facing the wave of disruptions

by Philippe Ghanem, Founder of Squared Financial Group

Recent history is witnessing three of its toughest years. A pandemic that is still shaking the world, geopolitical tensions and conflicts, economic crises, market mania… but businesses, governments, and households are still resilient and charging into adaptation.
As a savvy businessman, entrepreneur and investor, I will share with you 6 ingredients to face this wave of global disruptions, a recipe that I use to square off any breaking change.

Stay in control and look at things from a different perspective. Have the courage to adapt and re-adapt your strategies. Dare to accelerate, slow down, or cancel projects and strategies. To minimize mistakes, make sure you have the right talents, and retain them to guarantee that your business grows and flourishes according to plan. I would recommend choosing people with knowledge who are willing to learn and grow, with whom you share the same values, and who are loyal to your brand and would gladly walk with you throughout your journey to success.

One way to this journey is communication; and good communication skills help you stay in control. To improve those skills, you need to listen very carefully to verbal and non-verbal language. Always maintain a positive attitude and avoid overreacting. That is how you build trust with your team and your clients, and they will be more likely to welcome the decisions you make.

Information is also key. Once you have enough, you can make decisions to change or improve. And keep in mind that decisions don’t have to be binary. Sometimes no decision is a good decision; it’s ok to keep things as they are.

Most importantly, take care of yourself as an individual and take the time to pause and reflect, but also question yourself without overdoing it. It will help you make good decisions.

Anticipate. Most problems have solutions, but the best practice is to anticipate. The best way to do that is by detecting small signals that might turn into big problems, especially in markets and trends. Then, you would want to determine the extent of these disruptions and how they will affect your business. Now, I understand that some disruptions hit suddenly without introductions, and the past couple of years are living proof, but I recommend that you always set an emergency plan.

Discipline your mind and thinking. Being in control isn’t only about what is around you. It’s vital to have your mind and thinking controlled. And that’s where discipline comes in. But discipline doesn’t just happen, it’s calculated. First, you need to be self-confident, that’s when you start making solid decisions. Remember: question yourself, not doubt yourself.
Discipline also gives you inner strength, and helps you have critical thinking and build good character. You will be thus committed, focused, goal-driven, positive-minded, and solution-driven.

Bank on technology and innovation. Technology has evolved so much that you need to keep up with all the trends to be able to increase and optimize your offerings and services as a business. In the financial services industry, we are at the core of trends, and that’s what allows us to meet clients’ expectations as intermediaries. As a prominent fintech company, we depend on technology and automation and are focused on robotics and Artificial Intelligence. This is how software and hardware can connect, leading to the automatic mutation of systems which allows a better business performance through constant data analysis.

Stick to your values and principles. Maturity and experience, whether personal or professional, will shape the way you perceive people and business, and that’s how you evolve while staying true to your core values and beliefs. No matter how disruptive the world is and how drastic changes are, if you have strong values and principles and if you are willing to make bold decisions and hard choices, then you are on track to achieving long-term stability and success.

Manage your risks, especially in a faster-paced world that requires stronger and wiser leadership. Risk management is both a challenge and an opportunity, and this is what our industry is all about. Fintech risks can be categorized under three facets: regulatory, corporate, and operational. When you, as a business, are compliant and protecting your clients and yourself, then your risks are managed. Once you identify your risks, perform qualitative and quantitative analysis, and protect your data, you are in control.