The Covid-19 outbreak has made more individuals, companies, and governments around the world consider collaboration for growth and productivity. People are discovering different and innovative solutions to deal with different problems. Health and medical workers from different parts of the world are collaborating with the help of technology to combat this global crisis. These stories will only help us in the future as we people will learn to live sustainably and make real efforts and steps to help the economies from environmental destruction and reconsider our idea and addiction to growth.

As a part of my series about the things we can do to remain hopeful and support each other during anxious times, I had the pleasure of interviewing Shailesh Dash, Entrepreneur and Financier.

A veteran of the MENA alternative investments sector, Shailesh has over 24 years of alternative investment experience. He is a well-known entrepreneur and has founded various financial services companies aimed at promoting ethical and socially responsible investments in the Middle East & South East Asia region such as Al Masah Capital in 2010, Regulus Capital and Future Capital, across various industries such as healthcare, education, logistics and financial services

He is the Founder of Regulus Capital Limited (RCL), a management consultancy and advisory firm providing services to small and medium-sized companies operating in various sectors. He has also founded Future Capital Limited (FCL), a premier Emerging Markets financial services provider offering asset management, investment advisory, wealth management, custody solutions, and research services across multiple locations globally through its subsidiaries and associates.

Having grown various financial services businesses into industry leading investment managers, Shailesh carries unique insight into the various investment opportunities available in the MENA & SE Asia region and through his vast experience and execution capabilities also carries the necessary tools needed to take advantage of these opportunities and stay ahead of the curve.

Shailesh’s success and track record has been recognized by his peers as he is consistently ranked as one of the top most influential people in the regional investment industry. In the past few years, Shailesh has been heavily working on all his ventures to set new regional standards for community service, corporate governance and socially responsible investments. He has been featured on various articles for philanthropy, ethical investments and serving the community.

He has received several awards that are a testimony of his achievements and work attitude.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?

I worked as an analyst/investment manager’ in India for 6 years after I completed my MBA, during which I was involved in some of the most impressive Private business deals which helped me learn and grow. In 2000 I moved to the Gulf and was involved in Private Equity, Corporate finance and research activity and started getting involved in buying and selling of private businesses in the region.

With 16 years of work experience backing me, I decided to start Al Masah Capital. This helped to my advantage as I had worked in industries ranging from, Research, corporate finance advisory and investing in manufacturing companies to various services industry companies. Working in such industries helped me understand the important aspects from an investor’s point of view and what is the need of the hour. Moreover, 10 years of regional experience helped me create offerings based on investor’s needs and risk profile. Thus, we structured private equity portfolios, keeping the investor’s requirements in mind.

The advisory, consulting and fundraising firm was only the tip of the iceberg for me. I have since then founded several companies and businesses such as Regulus Capital Limited, Future Capital Limited, Avivo Group, Al Najah Education and Gulf Pinnacle Logistics and have been able to expand the businesses from Dubai to other parts of GCC and Asia.

Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

It would be difficult to name only one book. In different stages of my life I have been influenced by many different books. For example, Monkey Business, Beating the Street, The Essays of Warren Buffet, Greed is God, The Intelligent Investor, Zero to One, The Lean Startup, etc.

Ok, thank you for all that. Now let’s move to the main focus of our interview. Many people have become anxious from the dramatic jolts of the news cycle. The fears related to the coronavirus pandemic have heightened a sense of uncertainty, fear, and loneliness. From your perspective can you help our readers to see the “Light at the End of the Tunnel”? Can you share your “5 Reasons To Be Hopeful During this Corona Crisis”? If you can, please share a story or example for each.

Future Generations

Due to the global crisis, the younger population has now understood the severity of what is happening to their future. To overcome this, these people are now taking action in different ways possible. Whether it is joining protests or planting trees and recycling, they are trying to do their part in securing their future and further urging and changing the attitude of their friends and families.

Growth, Productivity and Collaboration

The Covid-19 outbreak has made more individuals, companies, and governments around the world consider collaboration for growth and productivity. People are discovering different and innovative solutions to deal with different problems. Health and medical workers from different parts of the world are collaborating with the help of technology to combat this global crisis. These stories will only help us in the future as we people will learn to live sustainably and make real efforts and steps to help the economies from environmental destruction and reconsider our idea and addiction to growth.

Alternative ways to work

The current situation has allowed many companies to make the transition to “work from home” settings for their employees. Businesses that thought they would never be able to adopt this, have been forced to do so. Perhaps, remote working in the post-crisis days will also become more important and more companies will adapt to it. This will not only benefit employees but also companies as it will open up avenues for them to have a diverse pool of talent, and further make use of technology to be more efficient. I think like the industrial revolution, in real sense the Internet and supply chain revolution starts now.

Real value of labour

Some professions, despite the lockdown, have had to keep going, even in times of lockdowns and quarantines. It has made people realize the immense value that these kind of labour add to our lives and economy. Compensation for teachers, groceries, pharmacies, healthcare workers, logistics etc., will hopefully improve as these difficult times have reflected their value to the society and created a stronger appreciation for their efforts.

Go back to the basics

Start aggressively investing in agriculture, clean water and food processing would become very important for all the economies and food security would start taking centre stage of all decision making. This is a labour intensive field of business but technology has helped in significantly improving the productivity. This will be a area which the govts will very focussed on investing and the younger generation should benefit significantly improving their skill sets around these businesses.

From your experience or research what are five steps that each of us can take to effectively offer support to those around us who are feeling anxious? Can you explain?

Take care of yourself

It is important to first take care of yourself before offering support to others. Try to focus on what you are grateful for. Try to maintain a daily routine. And most importantly, find activities that will help you relax and just breathe. Furthermore, reach out to your loved ones, and reconnect with old friends.

Compassionate Leadership

Leading with compassion and empathy is more critical than ever, in these difficult times. Practicing self-compassion during this time is also important. It is important to take the time to check-in with your team and practice mindful listening, so as to help reduce their fear and anxiety.

Good Internal Communication

It is important that your employees receive clear, consistent and reliable information. As employers, it is important that leaders provide clear and immediate information to their teams from trusted sources.

Stay informed

Social media has led to spread of a lot of misinformation resulting in additional fear and anxiety. As important as it is to stay informed about what is happening in your community and the world, it is also important to understand what sources can and cannot be trusted. Stick to trustworthy sources and limit the constant monitoring of news and media.

Improve Personal Skill Set

Try and improve our personal skill sets to the changing environments and see how fast we can adopt.

What are the best resources you would suggest to a person who is feeling anxious?

In my opinion, the best resource is to look at your own self and develop personal habits that make you happy. This would not only help in feeling a sense of calm and happiness but also help in honing skills that we usually don’t have time for. Simple activates like art, meditation or yoga, fitness and music can help in reducing anxiety.

Furthermore, there are good online resources that you can consult. Websites such as WHO and CDC over expert tips and guidelines that one can follow to help in such stressful times

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/managing-stress-anxiety.html

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?

Stay hungry, stay foolish.

There are no old roads to new directions

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

Firstly, with the current global situation, I think the most important thing is to keep yourself as well as family members and people around you safe and healthy. More importantly, this is also the time to reflect on how we have treated the environment and take effective steps at grass root levels to help save our environment, especially for our future generations.

Secondly, it is important that we make sure everyone has jobs and are able to work to provide for themselves adequately. Taking small but effective steps for this will eventually help in fighting hunger.