Faisal starts the episode by letting Yousaf know that he was the first person to tell him about the author Simon Sinek. He gifted the book, Leaders Eat last, to Omar which then encouraged Faisal to read it. And his interest in Simon just spiralled from there. In fact, Faisal says he would love to have him on FG as a guest one day. Yousaf studied Marketing at Masters Level. He first came across Simon Sinek in a viral video in 2017 that effectively explains that millennials as a generation have their own inherent problems which come into the workplace that make them “difficult to manage”. So all business owners across the world are now faced with this millennial problem. Simon gives his take on why these people are difficult to manage and what to do to solve it.

Faisal and Yousaf spend some time discussing books they’ve read and which of those they recommend. Faisal’s all time favourite is a book called, “How to win friends and influence people” by Dale Carnegie. He equally rates Dale’s follow up book as well, called “How to stop worrying and start living”.

Faisal and Yousaf exchange concepts they learnt from their favourite books on subcontracting individuals with certain skills to be a part of a collective protect but also maintain professional freedom.

Faisal explains how he met Yousaf when Faisal held a workshop on how to create a podcast. Yousaf attended as a student with zero intention of actually starting a podcast. But as a marketeer, he was going to be in a room with potentially 30 podcast creators and it was a brilliant networking opportunity for his own business.

Yousaf believes that cultural fit to a team is more important than skill set because you can always teach skill set, it’s harder to teach a certain energy. Faisal reiterates this by using the example of Apple, and how becoming an employee requires a 4 step process that is totally different in each step, where the interviewers are more interested in your vibe than your knowledge of their products.

The boys exchange thoughts on introverts and extroverts and who would be the ideal candidate to hire. They both come to the conclusion that actually the introvert may prove to be the better performer in driving sales, but both of them add value to a team as a whole. The strengths that are lacked in one, may be compensated for by someone else’s different strengths. But they all bring something that is needed to the table.

Yousaf shares a very important concept that sticks out in his mind from a business book he read, Rich Dad Poor Dad. The concept states that the poor man will decide that “I can’t afford this” but the rich man would say “how can I afford this?”. So changing the narrative of a statement can ultimately change our mindset. And this concept can be applied to anything in life, not just money. For example, “I’m not happy” can be shifted to “what do I need to do to be happy?”

One of Faisal’s favourite provoking thought was that you may end up failing in doing something that is easy but you don’t love, so why not just give what you love a chance, even though it may be more challenging.

Another interesting thought they share is that of being a morning person, and how even if you’re not a morning person you can become one. Not only is it beneficial from the perspective of the religion, but also, it shapes the structure for the rest of your day. If you’re a night owl staying up till midnight, chances are you’re not doing anything beneficial during those late hours. So why not just change your habit to become a morning person? Faisal goes to the extent of even suggesting that he may want to incorporate that as part of FG’s criteria, to become a morning person, not to start work at 6am, but for themselves. To gain productivity on a personal level.

The final part of the episode will definitely have you thinking outside of the box. Faisal and Yousaf discuss interesting topics such as, the urgency of millennials to buy things at the click of a button, the importance of a to do list and a not to do list, and the power of face to face interaction as opposed to meeting someone digitally.

Episode 262 was a brilliant discussion of two very intellectual individuals sharing some incredibly inspiring perceptions and advices of living through the world today.