Episode Transcript
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Narrator 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Los
Angeles Leaders Podcast, where
we dive deep into the stories ofthe visionaries shaping the
future of our region.
Hosted by Christopher Luna,this podcast brings you
conversations with the moversand shakers driving innovation,
leadership and community impactacross Los Angeles.
Whether you're an entrepreneur,a community leader or simply
(00:21):
someone passionate about makinga difference, this podcast is
your gateway to the insights andinspiration you need to lead
and succeed.
Get ready to be inspired by theleaders making waves in Los
Angeles and beyond.
Narrator 2 (00:36):
In this episode we
welcome Ajit Dodani, founder of
Empathify you.
Ajit moved to the US from Indiaand, like most first-generation
immigrants, had a bumpy start,worked hard and rose to become
the CFO for a fashion brand anda consultant for various
companies.
Today, he is the founder ofEmpathify you and a member of
the Forbes Coaches Council.
He is bridging human connectionand business performance
(00:57):
through trust, effectiveleadership and AI adoption for
sustainable, high-performingteams.
His wife, harsha, who hasalways built business alongside
him, is the chief heart officer.
Over the years, ajit as a coachand factional executive and has
helped various companies scalefrom tech, fashion, engineering,
real estate, entertainment.
Some of his proprietarylearning pathways include the
(01:20):
trust formula Piksik Sayaysustainable, high-performance
cultures.
The adaptive leader.
His workshops and keynotes arefull of stories.
Trust Formula Piksik SayaySustainable, high Performance
Cultures the Adaptive Leader.
His workshops and keynotes arefull of stories, science and
strategies that have inspiredand empowered audiences across
the world.
Because of his own diagnosiswith PTSD, he has been
recognized and is verypassionate about neuroinclusion
and has spoken to over 10,000individuals about the urgent
(01:41):
need of embrace the powers ofthose around us that are
neurodiverse.
He lives in San Fernando Valley, california, with his wife and
his two sons.
His purpose is clear to inspirea world where everyone can
thrive, personally andprofessionally, and feel like
they belong.
Please welcome Ajit Dodani.
Christopher Luna (01:57):
Welcome to Los
Angeles Leaders Today.
I'm honored to have you, ajit.
You are an inspiration to me.
We met early on in my career atthe Chamber and I've always
kept an open dialogue with youand the relationship has been
very personal.
You've helped, guided methrough a lot of my decisions
that I've made so far, and it'san honor to have you here.
(02:19):
So thank you for your time.
Ajit Dodani (02:20):
Chris, thank you
for the invitation, and to see
our friendship grow beyond theprofessional and move into a
relationship like this has beenphenomenal so fun.
Christopher Luna (02:30):
I follow you.
I'm a nerd, you do a lot, butbefore I get into what you're
doing now, I really want tolearn and have the opportunity
to give to my audience how yougot to where you're at now.
I would love to start with yourearly childhood and your
upbringing, your background andjust kind of your family.
Ajit Dodani (02:50):
Yeah, that's great.
So I was born in Lucknow, india, north of India, but I grew up
in Pune, india, and a wild,middle-class, amazing journey of
growing up of, you knowmotorbikes and fashion shows and
(03:10):
dance concerts and I used to bein dance competitions and but
very early, you know, I knewthat I felt more, sensed more
and just kind of got a sense ofthe room really early and my
uncles would whack me on thehead Men are not supposed to
feel and sense so much, you knowand that's when I realized that
(03:31):
I was an empath and that becamesome of my founding journey.
So, born in India and also, youknow, growing up in a place
like that, I saw so much joy andhappiness but at the same time
saw some things around culturethat were really difficult for
me and, being an empath, I wouldobserve stuff like that.
(03:52):
And I say this not to take itreally deep so fast.
So there was two sides of me afun, crazy, wild side.
I was just in India a month agoand met all my friends and we're
sharing stories of all themotorbike rides and how we
skipped college and all that funstuff, chris, but at the same
time, my deep understanding ofpeople and humans and and and
(04:16):
being there for the community.
And now, I guess, somewherealong the line, that got
ingrained in me and that whole,so that that journey was great.
Both my parents areentrepreneurs.
I grew up around what do theydo?
So my dad continues a legacybusiness in ice cream that has
been around there for a hundredof years now.
Because of COVID it shut down.
(04:37):
My mom actually first startedthe first women's health spa in
the city that ever.
This was about 60, 70 years ago, and so I grew up around a
family that were entrepreneurs,that were solving problems, that
were always thinking on theirfeet.
Christopher Luna (04:56):
Did you ever
get involved in the family
business?
Oh, 100%, tell me about that.
Ajit Dodani (05:00):
Oh my God, that was
so fun.
So dad had stores and he alsowould do fairs.
And so here I am at the age of10, 12, standing behind a
counter collecting cash.
Here I am going to fairs, andthen my own school would get the
ice cream delivered from theschool, the high school that.
(05:22):
I went to at the elementary andhigh school would get ice cream
delivered, so you're the coolkid, so it's crazy.
So on my birthday, chris, allthe kids in the school would get
a a bar for free so threebrothers so we did that, so grew
up with that kind ofinvolvement in the community.
and, chris, just to give you anidea, like I, I went back right
now too and for years when I wasthere, like the community knew
(05:46):
each other and we served eachother and we watched out for
each other's back.
And even to this day, when Iwent there and obviously older
now and then I met somebody andI'd meet people who knew my
family or my dad.
They'd say, oh, you're theDodani kid, we got you.
And I'm like wait, I just ateat your place.
No, we got you.
(06:06):
And I'm saying that that levelof community, that level of care
, to see that growing up and tosee that even decades later,
that love, that love for you andyour family.
And sure, it's not perfect it'sfar from perfect but I think I
(06:26):
grew up in that environment ofyou got to be there for each
other.
I remember our friendships,like I met friends after 20, 20
years right now, and just likecousins, you pick up right where
you left off no judgment, so sothat was that was that was
growing up, an entrepreneurialhouse.
(06:47):
I have two brothers I'm theyoungest of three and for me
education was like the daybefore my exams I would go and
watch a movie because I neverliked the concept of memorizing
stuff.
So anything that I neededmemorization for that was tough.
(07:09):
But stuff that conceptually,like math, science, all that
stuff I got it, and before anexam I needed to reset myself.
I don't know, Chris.
Christopher Luna (07:20):
So in your
family business?
Did they ever move to theStates or did they stay behind
your parents?
Ajit Dodani (07:26):
No, no, my parents
stayed there.
They've stayed there all theirlife.
In fact.
My dad came here and he's thefirst one that from our family
came here to this country and itwas beautiful.
You know, he had left thatsummer.
He had left the business to mebecause all the brothers were
out and he said, ok, you run it,so I'm in college and he's like
you run it.
Ok.
And he comes back and he sawthe very corporate way that I
(07:54):
ran a business in India whichyou're not supposed to.
You're supposed to be a littleflexible in the way you operate
stuff.
And he goes.
You know, son, I think youshould move to the States
Because with your kind offraming that you have and the
goes, you know, son, I think youshould move to the states
because with your kind offraming that you have and the
way you, what you want to dowith your life, I think you may
find some magic here so he wasthe one that motivated you to
(08:14):
move out.
He just planted that seed and hesaid you know, I I think this
might be the place for you.
My older brothers were indifferent parts of the world and
he said for you, I thinkamerica so there's three
brothers three brothers and allof them moved away all of them
moved away and how do yourparents feel about that?
I mean to be left alone um theywere actually very excited,
right, um, uh, they were veryexcited about it.
(08:37):
They've for their all theirlife, ever since, like since we
moved out, they've been sixmonths in india, six months out,
six months traveling and being,and now all three of us ended
up in the us.
So for decades they did that.
Now they're obviously settledin india.
They're the age where they'reat and they don't do that six
months, six months, uh.
But they know they loved it.
Christopher Luna (08:57):
They wanted us
to thrive and it's incredible
that he didn't really have thatsense of like, one of my kids
are going to take over thefamily business and continue the
legacy and you know, because alot of times in these family
businesses you have that senseof responsibility to continue
that legacy.
Ajit Dodani (09:10):
Yeah, I think, more
than responsibility, sometimes
guilt is deployed in a verytactical way, and I talk about
that.
It's, you know, aapi month inmay, right, and one of the
topics we talk about is, in someof our cultures, guilt is
deployed as a way to chooseprofessions or live lives that
are so unfulfilling.
And in the work that I do is,you know, as a coach and a
(09:34):
Forbes coach and all that stuff,you know, I get to meet some of
the most incredible humanbeings, chris, and sometimes you
see those people that havetaken a path that was suggested
to them or guilted to them, andthen years later, they detach
from that and actually choosetheir passion.
So, you know, to augment whatyou said, when you moved here to
(09:58):
the States.
Christopher Luna (09:58):
You're 19?
, yep, so what did you do whenyou first moved here?
You're alone.
Ajit Dodani (10:02):
Yeah, yeah, so I
moved.
I was the first of my family tomove here.
It's a crazy story.
You ready for this one?
Christopher Luna (10:07):
Yeah, that's
what I want to hear, all right.
Ajit Dodani (10:11):
So I finished
college out there, 19 and a half
Finished college, I'm coming tothe US, I have a job and I'm
also planning to go to schoolhere.
You know, typical idea and Iactually land in uh la, so let's
go back.
I land on april 1st in new york.
April 1st, april, fool's day,right?
(10:32):
So I land in new york, welcometo america.
I'm at jfk and I'm like my god,this is it.
My uncle picks me up, takes medown, um, you know, through
manhattan.
It's like six o'clock in theevening.
He's going through manhattanbecause we're staying in new
night.
So picture me and JFK.
We're going through.
He says, son, would you like toeat a pizza?
And I'm like are you kidding me?
Narrator 1 (10:49):
Pizza in.
Ajit Dodani (10:51):
New York.
I'm like, yes, let's do it.
So we go down and we pick up aslice of pizza and we devour it.
I'm like, oh my God, new Yorkpizza.
And then we get to the house inNew Jersey and both my bags
(11:11):
were stolen from the car.
Oh no.
So within three hours of beingin this country, I had
absolutely nothing except for alittle sachet on me with my
passport, and I say this becausethat was my coming to America
story.
And that started it all.
And I say that because thathappened and I'll tell you.
So I I come to californiabecause this is where my.
So my uncle picks me up, I goto dc and all that stuff and um,
(11:35):
and then april 5th I justwanted april 1st.
I land april 5th, an importantday.
Just leave it at that for asecond, okay.
So then I come to californiabecause that's where my job was.
I was going to go to schoolaround here and stuff like that.
So I come here I don't watchthis, I'm just about 20 at that
point, right, um, corporatecondo in hermosa beach with a
(11:58):
corporate car with the bmw inthat hermosa andCH.
My mind is blown.
I mean, I get up in the morning, I go down to the beach, I'm
like, oh my God, this is nuts.
And I'm in that time I wasmanufacturing garments for Okay.
Christopher Luna (12:14):
That's where I
got lost.
Ajit Dodani (12:15):
Yeah, so I'm so the
company that I'm working for is
manufacturing garments for thelimited and different other
brands, so they were clothingmanufacturing companies so I was
always interested in humongousindustry in los angeles huge,
huge.
So fashion finance, all thatstuff really interested me right
now I know where you get yourfashion sense so, so that that's
where I started and it wascrazy.
So the the offices were here,we'd fly to the caribbean, there
(12:38):
were factories there, and we'dcome back may I ask how you got
that role, though I mean becauseI I studied that in india.
I studied business finance india.
I studied business finance andfashion.
I always had that interest andthis was a connection that my
family had.
Okay, so I got in touch withthem.
They're like yep, we'd love foryou to come and join us.
So that's how I ended up herein the us.
It's incredible and I say thisbecause watch this six months of
(13:00):
create.
I mean, this is, like you know,like out of a storybook, right?
This kid from India ends uphere.
I'm jogging on Hermosa Beach inthe morning and then on my
seventh month, I fly back from atrip.
I land at LAX, take a taxi downto the corporate house and
(13:22):
there are people standingoutside the house saying the
company has gone under, your caris gone, your house is gone.
You have half an hour to packyour bag and leave.
And I say this because withinhalf an hour I literally pack my
bags two bags and I stillremember pch and hermosa, the
(13:45):
townhouse.
On this.
I crossed the street to theother side and there was a red
phone booth.
You know what phone booths?
yes, I'm not that young but aphone booth is to say anyways.
So I walk into this phone booth, the sun is hitting my eyes, I
have tears coming down my eyesand I'm starting to remember
(14:05):
everything that I'd learned,because this is when life hit
really hard.
I'm homeless and jobless in LAthe proverbial LA and I go.
What am I gonna do?
And I say this because I gointo that booth and I start
breathing and you know a littlebit about me and my power.
(14:29):
So over the years I'd watchedmy parents in India use
breathwork and presence totackle entrepreneurial stuff.
I would laugh when I was youngright when you see your parents
doing stuff, you're like youknow's that, what are you doing?
You know?
Christopher Luna (14:46):
they had a
great technique.
Ajit Dodani (14:47):
I mean my, my
parents, I've I've always just
seen them overwhelmed andcarried a lot of weight, a lot
of weight and I would see themuse this morning go out for
walks, breathe, sit outside, andthey're doing this breath work
and I let's get it.
And then in that phone boothall I remember doing was going
(15:07):
okay, you need to calm your fearand flight center, and that's
the like.
I leaned into it so hard atthat time that I calmed myself
down.
And I say this I mean today.
I talk about the power ofpresence.
Today, you and I get hit withchaotic things on the daily,
chris, not once, not twice 10times a day.
(15:27):
Today you open up your phoneand there's some news or some
news from the family orsomething happening right, how
do we center ourselves?
And that became a huge momentof reflection for me, where I
learned the power of presence,that in the middle of chaos, how
do you make good decisions.
And I remember picking up thephone, calling up a friend of
(15:48):
mine, and I asked for help, andI realized that asking for help
sometimes the bravest thing Icould do, because you know the
inside, the macho man and that'sdifficult.
Christopher Luna (15:58):
That's
difficult because, as a man,
like you're saying, you don'twant to ask for help, you don't
want anyone to know what yourissues are or your troubles are,
so that's difficult to pick upthe phone and make that phone
call true, and and and I askingfor help was the bravest thing I
did that day.
Ajit Dodani (16:14):
I called up a
friend and, rather than shame,
said hey, I put it in a fun way.
I said hey, what are you doingthis weekend?
He goes.
And he was a fun guy, his nameis roger, he's a fun guy.
And he goes.
I think I want to go to Vegas.
I said, hey, do you have a spotin your car?
Maybe I'd come along.
My plans have changed.
He goes, what's up, I go, Ihave the weekend off, so he
(16:34):
drives down from this area Infact, he lived right here in the
LA area.
He drives down to Hermosa Beachand he he says, okay, I'll come
pick you up.
Narrator 1 (16:41):
He gets there and he
sees my two big bags, your bags
are ready to go.
And he's like what's up?
Ajit Dodani (16:46):
I go dude, I ain't
got no place to go.
I got 507 bucks left becausethe company didn't pay me for
the last paycheck.
So he said I'm going to Vegas.
I said I'll cover your costthere, but I just need a place.
And so I went with him.
He covered most of my expense,because 507 bucks ain't gonna go
(17:07):
nowhere in vegas at that timetoo.
So he said hey, I got you.
And we stayed there.
And while I was in vegas, I madea call to a man that was trying
to recruit me while I was atthis other company.
I said hey, presence.
Hey, I just want to let youknow I may be considering other
options.
I had nothing going on, Chris.
I called him up and I said Imay be considering other options
(17:29):
.
You know, you think we couldchat.
I may want to move to DC, youknow, because I'm thinking he
goes.
Oh, that would be great.
And, Chris, I flew back to DC,started my life again out there.
How long were you in DC?
So DC was fun because my dad'ssister lives there and I go
(17:54):
there.
And you know, there was animmigrant family two-bedroom
house with four of them alreadyliving, five of them living in
there and I became the sixthperson, so I'd sleep on the
floor, my cousin uh, Rena, andmy cousin Ajay there, and I
stepped on the floor because Ihad to start life from scratch.
And, uh, it was beautiful,because that's when I built the
(18:17):
most amazing relationship withmy cousin, sister Rena, and
today she's like one of myclosest friend sister, you know,
Uh, and I again learned thepower of how that works and then
, you know, lived that works,and then you know, lived in that
(18:38):
house worked hard, started fromscratch no bmw, nothing, no
corporate card.
It was a rust with burgundy, youknow those long station wagons
and stuff like that and that wasthe starting of a brand new
journey, which turned out to beamazing because on april 5th,
remember, I told you to beamazing because on April 5th,
remember, I told you remember?
the date, on April 5th, I'd meta lady by the name of Harsha and
(18:59):
she lived in DC and then when Iwent back, I met her and I got
a chance to get to know her, herfamily, and on April 5th years
later, harsha and I got marriedin dc, and I say this because
you know you've heard thisstatement how long have you been
married yet?
Christopher Luna (19:19):
I'm sorry.
How long have you been married?
Ajit Dodani (19:21):
already now 33
years.
Congratulations, thank youshe's incredible she's an
incredible human being and youknow and I say this because
steve jobs, his famous speech,said, you can never connect your
dots looking forward, but youconnect them looking backwards.
And I would not change a thingabout everything that happened
(19:42):
because it ended up leading meand finding the most incredible
human being.
That's been part of my journey,hersher.
Christopher Luna (19:52):
Well, it's
always nice that you meet.
I mean I, I I married my wifeum 13 years ago.
12 years ago can't count, um,she'll still tell me I'm wrong.
I think he does Um, but it's.
It's nice.
I mean and I saw it with myparents too you grow together.
Right, you're young.
(20:12):
It may not have been the smartmove to get married so young,
but I think that when you're ina relationship long-term like
this, you really have that bondand that strength where you
really went through your ups anddowns and growing in your
career, where you build thatstrength.
Because I see it now, myparents too, I mean, they're
soulmates and they've gonethrough so much together.
(20:34):
So when you find someone likethat, it's very important.
Ajit Dodani (20:36):
It's very important
and you know we don't take it
for granted.
Right, you know, there areeight spokes in our lives, right
, for a cycle to move forward,like you know, you need all
those spokes to be working.
And similarly in our life, likewe've identified eight spokes
that we one needs to have andand most of them just over index
, as you know, over index ontheir career and their work,
(20:58):
that spoke of their work inthere.
And they, you know health, sothey go, finance, health is
second almost, and sometimesthey let things slip and I and
no way I'm perfect or Hershey'sperfect or anything like that
but the years I realized and I'dwatch people that had a lot of
(21:21):
money or a lot of success butwasn't balanced with all the
other spokes of life, and thereis that emptiness inside that
shows up.
And it doesn't show up on theday to day, it shows up when the
world puts pressure on you.
You know that.
You know, squeeze an orange,orange juice comes out.
Squeeze a lemon, lemon juicecomes out.
So when one of these spokes isa little weak and the road gets
(21:44):
a little bumpy, that spokebreaks, the wheel stops right
and I, I I say this I'mbeautiful to hear your story of
your parents and yourrelationship with your wife,
because that becomes such apowerful force Any partner right
, any partner, just having allthose areas that you identify
(22:05):
that are going to hold that up.
Christopher Luna (22:06):
So yeah, and
we keep it going for our kids,
right?
So I see that growing up.
So what brought you back to LA?
Ajit Dodani (22:13):
So in DC.
So I started working for theBenetton office on the East
Coast a little bit and thenthere was an opportunity to come
here and open up the officehere on the West Coast at that
time.
So Benetton was scaling reallyfast and they wanted to open an
office right here on Melrose.
And they wanted to open anoffice right here on Melrose and
so flew down here and thatbecame a magical moment in my
(22:36):
life where, you know, a fewyears later became the CFO and
just you know that wholeexperience around fashion,
people, impact, culture, I meanwe were so far ahead of the
business world at that time,like what we were doing as a
responsible business, whatBenetton was doing was so
(22:58):
beautiful, so to be aligned andpassionate about that we'd have
so much fun.
And a lot of my early foundationof the work that I do today is
based on my journaling.
So a little quick fact so I doa lot of journaling.
So a little quick fact so I doa lot of journaling, so I have
journals from I was I juststarted.
Christopher Luna (23:17):
Yeah, you,
just I just started.
I bought the one this year.
Ajit Dodani (23:20):
Oh, wow.
So I've written in all kinds ofdiaries and all kinds of
journals.
So I have those ring journalsfrom you know decades ago and
all that stuff.
And so I remember writing thefirst time I met Harsha in the
journal.
I just met the person I'm goingto marry and my kids just found
that book and they're like, dad, you're nuts, that's incredible
.
I also have written in therewhen I've been really lonely.
(23:43):
Like you know, in the moment andit's crazy how you not only
lean into your strength, youknow the spiritual strength, the
spiritual strength, the humanstrength, other people right,
and as I reflect back, I look atwhat I did and I didn't.
And sometimes you know, whenyou reflect back like, oh,
that's what I got to remindmyself to do.
(24:04):
So I journal my entire journey,growing through the journey.
At Benetton I had an incredibleCEO.
Christopher Luna (24:12):
How many years
were you there?
16 years.
How big was that company like?
How was the leadership style ofbeing a cfo?
Ajit Dodani (24:20):
yeah, yeah.
So the very young, very highenergy, the ceo, andrea for the
west coast here, just anincredible human being.
We have a friendship now that'slasted 30-some years and it is
just beautiful and professionalpersonal friendship.
We've been there for each otheras a family and I say this
(24:40):
because we were all a bunch ofyoung people and we were eight,
nine of us and we haveget-together still to this day.
Most of us kind of live in thisarea and the energy was about
impact and purpose and all ofthat right, working hard and
we'd laugh, but we were doingsuper impactful work.
(25:00):
But also we had some reallydifficult personalities within
the organization and I wouldjournal how the good leaders
were impacting the organizationand how there's one very toxic
leader that we kind of had tostay there, unfortunately
(25:23):
because of the connection withthe community.
He stayed there longer than heshould have.
And we've all been there.
And that's when I startedrealizing and I remember years
ago on a napkin on Melrosewriting a formula around trust
like what are the traits thatbuild trust, what are the traits
that break trust?
(25:43):
And that became the foundationof the work we do right now at
Empathify you around the trustformula.
And.
But the journal started onmelrose and, oops, melrose that.
And I forget exactly cochran.
I think there's a restaurantthere.
Napkin started there and overthe years it's built out and to
(26:04):
this day.
I mean, I think two years ago Iadded one more word to things
that build trust and then Iadded one more word to break
trust, so we have a level one, Imean I think I I've.
Christopher Luna (26:14):
I've been on
some of your calls on linkedin
and you get into those detailsand that's what really drives me
to you is I'm learning off ofthese techniques and and how to
build that trust with your, withyour team right and and how to
navigate a lot of thosescenarios.
I mean, when I, when I, ran afamily business, we had
employees that were there foryears and a lot of times they're
(26:36):
too comfortable, right?
Or you built this.
It's really a family, right?
So it's not employee-employerrelationship, but you want to
know how to navigate that beforeit gets to that point, right?
So I pick up on a lot of thosetalking points that you have in
this LinkedIn platform that youhave, and I think that it's
(26:58):
really it doesn't matter whatposition you are in your career.
It's always good to always beon top of mind of these
techniques because, thingschange, people change, your
employees change too yeah soit's always good to be improving
yourself in those techniquesone 100.
Ajit Dodani (27:18):
So let me talk
about that family, business and
leadership within there for asecond, are you okay?
in that direction, because soI'm an empathy strategist, right
, and I tell people you can havetoo much empathy you can have.
Tell people you can have toomuch empathy, you can have too
little and you can have too much.
The sweet spot of empathy iswith boundaries and proper
(27:39):
accountability.
Empathy with accountability isthe victory for any leader,
right?
I'm sure you've seen Chris.
Too much empathy, they don'tknow how to lead.
Too little empathy they don'tknow how to lead right, that
right balance.
Specifically, let's talk aboutfamily and small businesses,
right?
So today I said, as afractional and multiple family
and small businesses, and in afamily and small business,
(28:03):
sometimes people are promoted toleadership positions just
because they've been therelonger, they're related to the
family, but they have notresolved their issues and they
should not be given theresponsibility to lead others.
Christopher Luna (28:22):
That goes on
in corporate America too.
No everywhere.
Ajit Dodani (28:26):
No, no, I see it
everywhere.
I see it everywhere 100%.
Are you kidding me?
100%.
And I say this, but sometimes,when the family starts, and even
in corporate America, theperson who got their first
leadership position was the-.
Christopher Luna (28:40):
I think it
should be a requirement to take
these leadership courses orcoaching or some type of
learning.
It doesn't matter how advancedyou are in your career.
I think every position ofmanagement or every position
that you change into, especiallywhen you're leading a team, you
should have some type ofrefresher on this, because I
(29:01):
think a lot of people in acorporate America kind of forget
that they need to continue thatlearning experience.
Ajit Dodani (29:09):
Okay, so can we go
for the jugular here for a
second.
I'll say this because it's it'syou're, you're a hundred percent
right, chris.
So most people lead theircompanies and lead their
organizations based on the thingoh, we have these values, so
there's stated values.
Then there's lived values, andmost people are like, ah, we
(29:29):
have a state where we live ourvalues, but there's lived values
, and most people are like, ah,we have a stage where we live
our values, but that's not howpeople lead.
People lead in individualindividuals lead based on their
shadow values.
Each one of us have eightshadow values on our shoulder in
every room we walk into, andthose shadow values dictate how
(29:50):
we lead a team.
Let me give you an example.
I'll just give you, say, two ofthem.
You can look it up.
But control intelligence, right, those are big shadow values.
I'll give you an example ofsomebody that was a crazy leader
.
You want to hear this story?
Crazy leader that was me.
(30:10):
My shadow value when I was ayoung CFO 27, 28, my stated
values was innovation and ideas,so a team of accountants,
bookkeepers, people and stufflike that.
But I was so insecure, myimposter syndrome was so high.
My controlled shadow.
So my stated value is innovation, but control intelligence and
(30:33):
recognition.
I wanted shadow.
So my stated value isinnovation, but control,
intelligence and recognition.
I wanted that.
So I never gave my team thecontrol, the recognition, the
responsibility, and I watched myteam distance themselves from
me, not speak up at meetings.
All of us have that, chris, andI say this because if we don't
(30:54):
and for me the journey was, andI watched the journey I'm like
what's happening.
And then I found this wholetheory around these shadow
values that we all have All ofus.
Every time we're interactingwith somebody, think about
intelligence.
I've been here longer than him.
I should be the one to end themeeting.
I should be the one to startthe meeting.
In this AI world, I'm tellingpeople flip the world, flip that
(31:17):
switch.
Let's stop leading in thoseways.
Christopher Luna (31:22):
It's funny, I
feel like with AI, we're really
going to see character beprimary.
You can hire the smartestperson out there, but in reality
, you don't have to hire themanymore.
You have this ai out there, um,that you can leverage, but in
reality, the people who you wantin your team are going to be
(31:44):
people that have great characterin every part of their life,
right.
So I think that's going to besomething.
I mean, I'm looking at my kids,right.
I was talking to someone.
I'm like what should they studywith technology changing so
fast?
Like, what field do we pointthem to?
Because it's scary not knowingwhat they're going to do in the
future, um.
(32:04):
And he told me he's like justbuild good character, everything
else is gonna come come, so Imean.
I don't know how you, how do youfeel about that?
Or how do you do that with yourkids?
Ajit Dodani (32:16):
So I have adults.
They're 22 and 27 right now.
Let's talk about AI for asecond, because that's the topic
of the day.
So, for me, I love technology.
I enjoy it.
The second day ChatGPD comesout, I'm on it, using it and in
it, and we start using it rightaway and, across Empathifyio,
(32:38):
I'm starting to use it acrossevery domain.
Today, I have almost like an AIagent working with me.
I'm fully all in and I say thisbecause here's what we saw
happen.
I'll tell you this we startedusing it right after the ChatGPT
comes out.
We're seeing the Gen AI right,because AI has always been there
, but Gen AI large languagemodel I'm like, ooh, this is
(32:59):
super cool.
And loved how it started givingme help, started making me more
efficient tasks and all thatstuff.
But then, as we started workingwith our clients and watching
(33:19):
what's happening, we realizedthat AI, gen AIs become the IQ
equalizer.
So today, you and I, within afew minutes, could know the
exact same thing.
Scary, chris.
The scary thing is me.
Ajit wrote code the other dayand it actually worked, and all
I did is I asked the rightquestions, questions, and it
delivered a solution for me thatworked, and I say this.
So when IQ gets equalized, whatare the skills that are needed?
(33:41):
And then we saw this moneygetting thrown at it Investments
, and today you're seeing thatHuge investments in AI adoption
and stuff South Lat but what werealized and Boston Consulting
Group just put out a report isthat out of all the money being
spent in AI technology and AIstrategy, 7% are actually moving
(34:03):
the needle.
The balance 13% to 18% are outthere in the middle struggling
70% of people's money are notgiving results.
To your point here, chris,because they're missing the
human side.
The human side of AI is thebiggest sport.
(34:24):
Think about this right, chris,we've seen a 10x change because
of AI in the last year.
Right, we're seeing one versionafter another version after
another version.
You and I were used to oneupdates a year, one change a
year and we'd still have where'sthat mouse go?
Where did that button go, right?
But now the change is so fastwe can only change at 1X.
(34:45):
So at Empathify, we have a verytactical formula that we're
teaching, and I rememberpresenting it in 2023 at an
event at DoorDash, where theirentire BPOs were there and you
know talking about the formula.
That has now become afoundation that we teach across
organizations.
It's called PI times, hi times.
(35:09):
Ai equals sustainable businessresults.
I mean PI means personalintelligence, just like what you
were talking about.
We need to understand who weare.
Things like shadow values,things like what's not allowing
me to learn.
How do I need to skill up?
How do I need to get better incommunication?
How can I be more accountable?
How can I and listen to, maybesomebody that's generationally
(35:34):
younger than me, or zip andlisten to somebody that's
generationally older than me andnot have that thinking inside
right?
So that's PI.
Hi is about truly understandinghuman intelligence,
understanding who are ourstakeholders, what is the
business outcome we're lookingfor, who am I working with, what
are their diversities thatthey're showing up with, and how
(35:57):
am I taking that into account?
So if I'm looking to create anAI model that needs to attract a
diverse community, I need thosethoughts going into my AI tool.
So if I don't invite everybodyto the table, that bias is going
to stay in my AI tool.
So if I don't invite everybodyto the table, that bias is going
to stay in my AI tool.
And then you multiply it bystrategy, and today EY put out
(36:19):
something, too, that said 10% ofyour effort should be in the
technology of AI because it'seasy.
The balance of it should be onunderstanding the human
influence around it, so I hopethat added.
Christopher Luna (36:35):
Yeah, I mean I
think it's important that we
continue the conversation withpeople who are still growing,
because I think there's a lot ofemerging leaders that have a
hard time finding their place.
Thinking of the early 20s,fresh out of college, they have
these great degrees and theystill feel a little lost right
(36:58):
and there's a lot of competitionout there.
But what I tell family andfriends I'm like, look, what's
really going to set you apart isyou.
You have to be out there, youhave to be networking, you have
to expand your network.
Like, go outside of your circle, Because a lot of people get
comfortable we get comfortablewith our close friends and I
mean I do this a lot.
(37:19):
It's really uncomfortable,right, You're putting these
situations in these rooms, whereyour room's full of people Like
, how do you navigate all ofthat?
So it's important that we teachthese characteristics to our
emerging leaders, and that'swhat I'm trying to build here.
Right, there's a lot I comeacross a lot of great leaders
like yourself.
Actually, it's funny there'sthis picture of you you're
(37:42):
speaking.
I'm not sure if it was akeynote or whatnot, but you're
speaking at SoFi Stadium.
And there's this wall behind youfull of footballs.
Ajit Dodani (37:50):
What event was that
?
It's a SoFi event.
I forget.
I was wall behind you full,full of footballs, what?
What event was that?
It's a sofa event.
Christopher Luna (37:56):
Uh, I forget
it was I was talking to, I'm
sure you talked a lot ofcorporate events, but there
there's a football wall behindyou and and it's funny because
my brother sent me this pictureand he's like, oh, look what I
did at sofa he built that wallfull of footballs did I ever
tell you that I don't think Itold you that right.
Ajit Dodani (38:09):
And then I saw that
picture, I picture I was like,
oh, that's funny, I know thatguy.
Christopher Luna (38:11):
Oh my God, but
I didn't put two and two
together until I met you alittle later that was beautiful.
Narrator 1 (38:17):
What a full circle
story.
Christopher Luna (38:18):
And then I
remember a 50, a gold 50.
Was that your event too at SoFi?
I'm not sure.
Narrator 1 (38:26):
He built this huge
50.
Christopher Luna (38:28):
It was like a
50-year anniversary or something
, Something wow, but you do alot of these keynotes, you do a
lot of these speakingarrangements.
Tell me a little bit more aboutthat.
Ajit Dodani (38:38):
What are some of
those topics that you touch into
Today.
I think the focus is clearlyaround trust, which is really
important, and there are twolevels of trust.
The second is sustainable,high-performance cultures,
because the word sustainable isbeing missed.
So I get invited to do a lot oftalks around that.
(39:00):
The whole conversation around Iwas telling you earlier, before
we started this, this wholeconversation around humanizing
AI adoption.
I've probably done 15, 20 talks.
We have a whole workshop and aseries around that and I think
those would be the top three,right, like we need to create
(39:25):
environments where people feeltrusted, where they can fail,
fail fast, feel you know andsafe.
Just like you, I spend a lot oftime volunteering, so I do some
work with the folks at UCLA, thestudents I was just talking to
them a few weeks ago, and thesame question about what are
some skills?
Right, if AI is the great, whatare some skills?
(39:45):
And I can tell you for them,what I was talking about was
about you know we need to.
In order to win today, you needto have a high level skill set
Every month, even though you'redone with school, because these
were graduations, you're donewith school.
One new skill technical skilland one new human skill.
(40:06):
You got to keep building onthat.
I am taking classes right now.
I'm sure you're doing the sametoo.
We're all learning becausethings changing so fast,
otherwise you feel like animposter and you can't Not fun.
So first thing is skills right.
Second thing is you got to getreally good at communication,
really good at communication.
And I say that because if wedon't ask the right questions
(40:30):
and we don't learn how to listen, we're missing.
Christopher Luna (40:35):
Communication
and presentation skills.
Ajit Dodani (40:37):
I just started
Toastmasters.
Christopher Luna (40:41):
After I
started this podcast, I'm like I
need to freshen up mypresentation skills Because you
know it's very.
You see, those are things thatthey teach you not to?
Do right.
So, it's continuously learning,for sure 100%.
Ajit Dodani (40:53):
And in
communication I can say this for
those of you who know me thenumber one thing that we have to
get our workforce, ourcommunities, to get good at is
to be present.
Our workforce is showing up inmeetings with only 60% of their
mind in that meeting, Because40% are thinking of bills, their
(41:18):
kids, their family, their lovedones, financial situations,
political situations, socialsituations, and I say this
because it's real.
This device on our side, thephone, is bringing in all of
this.
So the power of presence, theability to stay present, if,
like we for organizations, we'revery tactical, so we teach it
(41:40):
as a skill.
So in communication, if I can,if I'm listening to you but my
head is somewhere else, it'sgone.
But if I can just have a15-minute conversation with you
where I'm present, I will hearsome of the best ideas from you.
Chris, how many times have webeen there where we're not
listening?
Christopher Luna (41:59):
I just got
lectured the other day by my
wife.
I'm looking for my phone now.
So I'm guilty.
Obviously I'm at home and I'malways working, always on my
phone, always on my computer.
I'm doing multiple tasks and Iforget to be present in my kids'
life.
They're growing up so fast andI think that, with having the
(42:22):
cell phone near you at all times, I told my wife I'm like I do,
I have to get home and just putthe phone in another room room,
right, because you get lost inwhat's going on in the moment.
Um, we're not going to be ableto get these moments back.
So it's it's important to find,I don't want to say balance,
but I I'll find a way to livewith it.
(42:42):
Right, because I think we Imean we're all having those
issues.
I mean I have my, my godparentsare older and my godfather
passed away, but I just rememberhim always being on the phone
too.
So I mean we kind of get drawninto these devices.
Ajit Dodani (42:59):
So can I tell you,
the most important thing that
perhaps, maybe your viewers canappreciate this too.
If you walk away from nothingelse, this is our gift to you is
the how do you make it astrategy?
For me, that's what it's alwaysit's an empathy strategy.
It's how do empathy means?
Empathy means understanding,self-awareness, stakeholder
understanding, strategic actionright.
(43:20):
So let's, let's create astrategic way that I can be
present for each other at workand in our families.
Let's move our mindset fromfollowing just a circadian
rhythm, which is a 24-hour clock, to move it to an ultradian
rhythm.
For those of you who don't knowwhat that is, please look it up
.
But an ultradian clock, ourbodies have an 80 to 120-minute
(43:43):
clock and if we don't follow andreset ourselves during that
clock, what happens?
We start to burn out, and thatreset 80 to 120 minutes is at
empathify.
You call it a bam moment.
You either breathe, you getaware or you move, and you know
I talk about.
Every monday there's a postfrom me around.
(44:04):
How do you get aware?
The easiest way to get aware isto take a quick breath and just
get present you gotta teach herviewers that yeah, oh yeah, no,
I, I would be honored.
Christopher Luna (44:13):
I would be
honored.
We got time we.
Ajit Dodani (44:15):
I know I would be
honored, and I and I say this
because sometimes the answer isright under our nose and we
don't know where to look for it.
And what chris is referring tois something that I do in large
stadiums.
I do it in all my keynotes andfor those of you who are not
aware of this, and Chris, I'vespoken to you about this in the
30s and 40s, 1930s and 1940swe're taking average of about
(44:38):
five breaths a minute.
In the 70s and 80s we're takingabout seven to eight breaths a
minute.
Today, an average human beingis taking 12 to 18 breaths a
minute short breaths.
So when you take short breaths,your amygdala gets activated.
And when your amygdala getsactivated, your fight or flight
center gets activated.
So you think everything iscoming to attack you.
That means you're sitting in ameeting.
(45:00):
If somebody says something, thefirst thing you're like why is
that person attacking me, ratherthan being in the state of,
like, a reception and calm?
And now, why has that happened?
Sure, this is big reason, thecell phone's a big reason, but
also research shows that peoplein the united states want don't
want their stomachs to lookawkward and that's why they
(45:20):
don't take deep breaths.
Now, I didn't do this researchin my backyard right here in la,
it was done by harvard businessthat people don't take full
breaths because they want toappear a certain way, and I say
this.
So if one of the easiest way tofollow an ultradian rhythm and
Chris, you've got me takingwalks in the middle of the day
is I will reset every 90 to 120minutes, I'll reset, I'll go for
(45:41):
a quick jog, I'll do a walk,but sometimes I'm going like
this whole week I've beenmeetings to meetings, to
meetings, to meetings, tomeetings in a beautiful way.
But I can tell you one thingevery about two hours.
Here's what I'm doing I takesome breaths, so we're gonna do
it together let's do it togetherright now and I'd love for you
to join us if you're please.
If you're driving, don't do it,but if you're seated, join me
(46:02):
in this and we're going to takeforeign through well, you do it.
Christopher Luna (46:05):
You do it too,
when it too, when you're on
your show, on your LinkedIn showand audio only when we're
driving.
We can do this too, but don'tclose your eyes.
Ajit Dodani (46:12):
Don't close your
eyes.
Please don't close your eyes,that's for sure.
But what we're going to do istake four in through the nose
it's a box breathing Hold andsix out Now, just to give you
steady yourself.
But when you do four, six, youactually calm yourself down.
So the longer the breath, themore you're calming yourself.
(46:34):
So why don't we do this?
Christopher Luna (46:35):
Camera on him,
please.
Ajit Dodani (46:37):
We're just going to
do three.
I'm going to close my eyes andI'm just going to breathe in
four.
Hold, breathe out six and I'mgoing to get present for Chris,
right here, all right, so here,breathe out six and I'm going to
(47:26):
get present, for if a cfo isteaching you how to breathe,
there's probably a big return oninvestment on this.
Please look into it.
Christopher Luna (47:35):
It's the
biggest gift that person I can
give you from this for sure um,when I was managing the family
business, I had a lot of weight,a lot of stress um, a lot of
responsibility and I never tookthe time to, never.
And like you're saying, you'reback to back non-stop from seven
(47:57):
in the morning or earliersometimes yeah so, and we're
open 24 7 we close four times ayear.
Your phone, my phone was alwayson me.
Vacations, I would be in thepool, my phone's right there,
and that's when I get the phonecalls like public health
department's here.
What do we do?
And you know, you're, you'rejust overwhelmed.
Even now I think we forgot to.
We forget to take that time toreally meditate.
(48:21):
Um, when I sold the business andI started working at the
chamber, I focused on myself.
I lost 50 pounds since Istarted.
You know, since I sold thebusiness and I started working
at the chamber, I focused onmyself.
I lost 50 pounds since Istarted, you know, since I sold
the business and just startedworking out and really just paid
attention to my wellbeing.
Because if you don't payattention to yourself, all of
that gets shown to, to whoeverelse you're hanging around with.
(48:42):
And even like my kids, right,it's like you're stressed out,
you're overwhelmed, you're,you're yelling and screaming and
kicking.
And I have to, because actuallyI have to teach my son this too
, because he snaps too.
I mean, he's preteen, he's 10years old, but I see him and I'm
like, oh, wow, okay, he learnedthat from me, right?
He saw that at a time or amoment.
So sometimes we just really doneed to take this breath and
(49:06):
take the time to relax a littlebit.
Ajit Dodani (49:07):
Wow, you brought up
something that is so important.
It's the modeling of goodbehavior.
So one of the components thatbuilds trust is when we, as
leaders, model the behavior wewant.
So you're talking about my boys, you asked.
So they don't do anything thatI say.
(49:28):
So you're talking about my boys, you asked.
So they don't do anything thatI say, but they do what I do,
and I say this because they'renot perfect.
I'm not perfect, but every nowand then I'll see my older son,
who's the CEO for a large musicincubator right now, a thriving
music incubator for artists justamazing artists from around the
(49:48):
world.
That's my oldest son.
He's the CEO of the companyright, and every now and then
I'll see him take a breath, notbecause I told him to take a
breath, not because, but he'sheard it enough, but he's seen
me do it enough.
He sees me take that ultradianbreak at my home because we all
seem to, you know, work aroundwhenever they're home.
They see dad do that.
They'll see dad run up.
Oh, I didn't tell you this.
One of my ultradian reset ismusic and dancing.
Christopher Luna (50:12):
So I've seen.
I've seen videos at you at themusic center which I want to go
with you.
We gotta take my wife we gottatake my parents.
Narrator 1 (50:20):
You would love my
parents.
Ajit Dodani (50:21):
My parents are our
party goers, they, they I would
be honored they dance and andthey're out more than I am okay,
I would be honored and I I wantto say another thing about to
you, for those of you who don'tknow chris for a while and just
I've watched this journey of himthrive, make the right decision
for the community and do thiswork at the chamber and then do
(50:44):
this work on himself, like as Imet him and as because I've been
watching this journey of his.
So you're modeling, becauseyou're modeling what people
should do.
So I say this because when wemodel, that's how people pick up
, Even at the workplace, right,People are scared to put a
(51:04):
comment about how they're takingcare of themselves.
I told a leader hey, you shouldmodel that because you know
high-intensity startup, you knowthey have 200 people, you
should model that you're takingcare of yourself and all that
stuff.
And he was very uncomfortableIf I tell them that I'm taking a
little breath in the middle ofthe day.
What if everybody said?
(51:25):
I said everybody should do it.
Now, three years later, theentire company operates out of a
25 minute and a 50 minutemeeting.
That's their meeting settings.
They all have that five minutesto do a reset.
They all have that 50 minutemeetings.
And guess what?
They're producing more.
Get so much more done, Get somuch more done.
The ax gets sharper, Because ifyou don't sharpen your ax
(51:47):
you're cutting away with a dullask if you keep going all day.
So you know, kudos to you formodeling that behavior.
And your kids?
They'll pick up, and you knowthis.
Christopher Luna (51:58):
Our coworkers,
our employees, our teams pick
up, Because either we're anexample or a warning, and I I,
what I've learned from my mom isshe's always positive, always
positive.
We can have a really toughconversation about you know, an
insurance policy counseling orwe're getting sued or
(52:19):
something's happening right,that's horrible, but she always
finds a way to stay positive andI think that's key to any issue
.
Um is finding that positivitybecause, uh, the same thing I
keep talking to talk about myson, but I feel like my, my son
is such an in a important stageof his life like I feel like I
only have him for so much longer, because when they're 12 or 13,
(52:39):
like I remember when I was 13years old, that was it like I
was, like my parents had nothingto do with me anymore.
I mean, I learned what I, whatI learned, I was how I was.
So it's really important that Iget my son right now, before he
hits his teenager years becauseI'm like, please, I'm like, you
are beautiful, stay that way,stay positive.
You know, because you'll havethese temper.
(53:02):
And I brought him here actuallylast week he was on vacation
and he saw an interview and onething that I want to make sure I
incorporate my lifestyle withmy family, my work with my
family.
I need them to understand whatI'm doing, because when we have
the family business and you'veseen it, you grew up in a family
(53:23):
business that family businessbecomes your family.
Every dinner was about thebusiness right Every
conversation, like everything,revolves around the family
business.
So, in my role, what I'm doingit's really about providing a
value to the community.
It's really about supportingour members, and what I'm trying
to do is really be part andgive back.
(53:44):
At the same time, you're inyour career, right?
You're getting paid to dosomething you love to do.
So it's important that I showmy son because it hurts him that
we got rid of this business,but if he sees that there's a
way to grow and really make animpact in the community, that's
what I'm trying to accomplishhere.
I mean, I feel like I'mfortunate and I and I really
(54:06):
don't have a clear vision ofwhat I'm doing.
To tell you the truth, and Ithink, like you said, you and I
we've we've spoke when I firststarted and I'm still learning,
I'm still growing, but I thinkthat all of this is important it
all evolves.
Ajit Dodani (54:23):
It all evolves.
You know you bring up somethingso personally beautiful it's,
and especially in the work thatthat I do and we all do actually
is that it's easy sometimes tofake it and own the respect of
people on the outside, and thisis a challenge.
I've realized that if we, themost important people we've got
(54:46):
to learn to earn our respectfrom is the ones closest to us,
and I say this because I tellpeople I can earn your respect,
I can put up this thing, show upon stage and do all this stuff
and you see my life out there.
But the most important personI'm trying to earn respect from
is my wife, because she knows ifthe stuff that I teach, am I
(55:07):
living it?
Am I perfect?
Far from it, chris.
But man, that's the standard,because otherwise we can fake it
to the world and then that hugelevel of imposter syndrome
shows up and it's so difficult.
So, if we can live the way whatwe stand for in, every aspect of
(55:28):
our lives that becomes the mostempowering way that we can lead
.
Show up in our work, show upeverywhere as our dialed up
fullest self.
Because if we can do that, thenall of a sudden you're like,
hey, my values are aligned, youknow what you're and you know.
(55:48):
Here's what it is.
You know, simon, sinek, 101 isthat our horizon is clear.
And I've heard your horizon.
What you're chasing in yourlife and I'll let it be up to
you the impact you want to makein your community, in the
service to society and smallbusinesses.
I know Now, the pathway to that, that horizon is there, but the
(56:12):
pathway to that, like they say,you can write that in pen.
That that's the impact I want,but the pathway to that is in
pencil.
Okay, so it's going to go here.
Oh, but wait, I'm going to addthis here and I'm going to
augment this here and I'm goingto take this oh, I made a
mistake here and it's okay tosay I made a mistake here but
the horizon of the impact that Iknow you're after through
(56:33):
inviting the community intodoing the work that you do, that
has to stay the true north,because once we have that, then
everything else follows right,then we are able to follow
through with our actions, withour behavior, with our
communications, with ourrelationships, with our
(56:54):
accountability right and we'reable to say, okay, I'll learn
the skill set right Because thepurpose is clear.
Because if the purpose is notdefined then we don't do it.
And when the purpose is defined, you're like what kind of
legacy you know I want to toleave, and you know it's crazy
as it sounds legacy is important, I mean, and that I keep
(57:14):
bringing up my parents that theyhad that value day in and day
out when they came home, theyweren't any different and I
caught myself when I had, when Ihad that business, I would come
home and you just you take itall out on your family, right?
Christopher Luna (57:29):
And you don't
want to do that, right.
You want to be able to livethose values 24-7.
So it's important that we learnthat and we continue.
But talking about legacy nowwith you is like what do you,
how do you I mean you'rebuilding a legacy now.
What do you see your future inthe next 10 years?
Like, how do you see you'rebuilding this platform that you
(57:50):
have because you're well known,you're on stages almost every
week like, how do you continuethis legacy and what you're
building now?
Ajit Dodani (58:02):
may sound dark, but
it's, it's a good one.
When I pass, I want a millionpeople to say that Ajit impacted
me, that if my life could havejust you know, just touch, just
a touch here, just a touch there, right?
So the legacy continues,because this becomes a way of
life.
You know, all the books arecoming out and all of that.
(58:22):
I mean it's all written, it'syou know, and all of that stuff.
So it's also becoming a systemthat is taught and duplicated,
right?
Because for me, as you know,everything's a formula.
Sustainable, high-performanceculture that's a formula.
Trust becomes a formula.
Ai adoption becomes a formula.
So that's my finance side, likevery tactical side, and I like
(58:46):
formulas for everything, becausethat's the left brain, right
brain side of me.
Christopher Luna (58:51):
But I want
that emotional component and
it's important that you alignthat back to the corporate
culture right, because, at theend of the day, these companies
have to stay motivated, theyhave to perform, they have to
have a strong balance gmp andnow.
So we need to teach theseleaders um to do both and to do
it all.
Ajit Dodani (59:07):
Yeah, so I wrote an
article recently called the
Additive Leader that you can bebrilliant and you can care.
Most people think it's an orlike, it's an or function.
It's called additivity.
That's what we call it Like.
What is a skill that we can add?
I can demand high performancewhile taking care of people.
(59:32):
Most people don't know thatskill Like.
That's where our sustainablehigh performance culture comes
up.
I mean, everybody talks abouthigh performance culture.
I can tell you six out of tenare getting it wrong and they're
burning their people outbecause they don't understand
the word sustainable.
And when you do both, guesswhat happens?
People go through walls.
We've seen engagement scores gothrough walls.
(59:55):
I just had a managereffectiveness score go up from
25% to some even 80%.
Why?
Because they're like oh, Ididn't know it was a skill.
I didn't know trust was a skill.
I didn't know empathy was askill.
I didn't know all of this was askill.
I didn't know trust was a skill.
I didn't know empathy was askill.
I didn't know all of this was askill.
And, by the way, I recentlyread something it's not my work,
it's that positivity is anacquired skill.
(01:00:16):
And I'm like oh my.
Can you imagine if we couldreframe some of these
traditional boxes that we've allbeen told to put into?
And that's my goal is justdisrupt these boxes and it
impacts bottom line.
So we've seen again, bottomline revenue numbers grow up.
We've seen new division startin organizations where we've
(01:00:38):
tactically deployed high levelsof trust, high level of
sustainability, and I lovetechnology, so the high levels
of AI where you get it to apoint where it's literally you
get to your highest best use.
And your highest best use iswhen we're doing stuff.
That really fires me up,because 60% of the time
sometimes most creative peopleare like I got to do paperwork,
(01:01:01):
I got to do an Excel report.
Imagine if that was done in 5%to 10% of your time and you
opened up 30% of your time.
How would we win?
We would perform at a higherlevel.
And for me, harsh and I arejust getting started.
Every time we look at it, we'rejust getting started because
the world needs this now morethan ever Hyperconnected,
(01:01:25):
hyperinformation, and in thatmiddle of all of it, the person
that becomes the most human wins.
That is really how we as acommunity show up for each other
serving the community.
Yesterday I was at an event tosupport one of our dear friends
(01:01:46):
that opened up a childhoodmental wellness center in
Ventura County.
They've been working for yearsand you know we're just there to
support them and they're goodfriends of ours.
We met them professionally butnow they've become good friends
of ours and you know to be there, because relationships and it
takes effort and if we don't putthe effort we don't put our
(01:02:11):
community first.
We don't understand that.
That idea around giving,serving, doing something for
society.
Sure it's selfless, but it'sthe most selfish thing you can
do because it gives you thatjetpacks in your back.
And, chris, you've done a greatjob of that.
You've done it yourself for ourcommunity, you've done it for
so many people, bringing themalong, uplifting them, so I'm
(01:02:35):
stoked about that.
Christopher Luna (01:02:36):
Thank you.
Yeah, again, I learned it frommy parents.
My parents are very social.
They've always hosted a lot ofparties growing up and they're
always out attending otherevents, and I think that being
part of that and not being justenclosed in your home is very
important Making sure thatyou're present for your friends
and family and your colleagues,because you feel special, right,
(01:03:03):
and you can't attend everything, obviously, but it's important
to show that support to oneanother because it's not easy to
host an event.
I mean, you know that and I seethat quite a bit with my
parents.
Ajit Dodani (01:03:16):
Yeah, and it does.
And talking about I'm sure weall do this right.
We have to set good boundaries,and I say boundaries are not in
bricks, boundaries are inbamboo sticks.
I learned this from a beautifulassociate of mine that you know
your bamboos are then bound,that I will bend it if you ask
(01:03:38):
me once in a while, but if youask me to bend my boundaries all
the time, then you know we needto talk right, and I say this
because saying yes and saying nois the most empathic thing we
can do so we're coming up on ourhour, but before I let you go,
you mentioned simon and hisbooks.
Christopher Luna (01:03:59):
Do you have a
favorite?
Ajit Dodani (01:04:01):
do I have a
favorite book so many?
Um, I think I'll just tell youwhat's um.
What's on my desk right now, um, peak minds.
It's a book about talking aboutexactly what I was talking
(01:04:23):
about earlier.
I forget her name.
It'll come to me, but if youlook at a peak mind, it's a
beautiful book, a jim collinsbusiness 2.0 have you written a
book, have I?
uh, I put out a part of it anduh, during our fires here, I
don't know if you- so I put outa book, uh, leading through
chaotic times, so the book isready, um, and I I was supposed
(01:04:44):
to distribute it one way.
I'm figuring out how todistribute another way.
I want to make it accessible,so I'm figuring out how to
distribute it another way.
I want to make it accessible,so I'm still figuring that out.
So I've written a couple ofbooks the Trust Formula, aipi so
I've written all of these.
These are all books, so thebook becomes a foundation for my
content.
So for decades I've beenwriting.
So all of this stuff is allwritten, right?
(01:05:07):
So this is all written.
And during, in fact, during thefires, I put out a segment of my
book and that became the firstthing that I put out as a book.
Is leading through chaotictimes, right, because people
were struggling.
How do you lead, how do yousustain the business?
Like, we've got to take care ofour people and our business has
(01:05:28):
to move forward.
So how do you do it?
With a tactical empathy andunderstanding of both, because
most people struggle, some ofthem, they were not able to
sustain their businesses andthat suffered some of them with
covid yeah same thing, so youknow.
So that portion came out, soyeah, so so I think they're good
.
Christopher Luna (01:05:48):
So where can
everyone find all this
information about your books andwhat you've done and what
you're working on?
Ajit Dodani (01:05:52):
LinkedIn.
I would love or anybody whowants to get to know a little
bit more about me.
It's all LinkedIn.
There's a link tree in thereyou can watch videos, podcasts,
articles.
Christopher Luna (01:06:02):
I'm involved
in the community a lot, so if
you go to my LinkedInin go to mylink tree, there's ajith dodani
and you can see this face onthere.
If you had a wish interviewee,someone that you'd wish you
would interview who would thatbe?
Ajit Dodani (01:06:19):
um, I, I can, I can
I put a few people together?
Sure, so it would be.
And I say this Simon Sinek, Ireally like him.
Jay Shetty, I really like him.
Sza the artist, I respect her alot she's awesome Kendrick
(01:06:39):
Lamar and Obama, if I get thesefive people on the stage one day
.
Christopher Luna (01:06:46):
Well,
hopefully I'll be able to get
one of them here one day.
I've checked on simon.
Ajit Dodani (01:06:51):
Um, I didn't think
of kendrick no, because, like
when kendrick dropped his thelast album and he took us into
that journey of his, you know,if you know this the album, you
know the journey and his honestyand everything around that,
like I would like to understandhis mind.
Christopher Luna (01:07:11):
Yeah, it's
incredible.
I one of my guests that I hadhere.
I asked her who would you wantto go to dinner with?
And she said Prince.
Ajit Dodani (01:07:19):
And I'm like wait,
prince, formerly known as Prince
, I heard that, yes.
Narrator 1 (01:07:22):
Yes.
Christopher Luna (01:07:23):
Awesome.
Well, thank you for your time.
Um, I'm get you for another dayor maybe we could do a guest
show or something and bringsomeone here, and I think that
you have so much knowledge andyou see things differently from
your CFO experience.
You always mentioned KPIs and Ithink the way you align what
you do to what really needs tobe done in corporate America
(01:07:46):
Right, we can't forget, there'sthese goals and missions and,
like I said, there's a bottomline.
But in order to get to thosepositions as a company, we have
to bring and build the rightteam, and if you don't focus and
invest in that team, it's goingto be hard to really implement
what we're trying to drive.
So I love what you do, I'm abig fan and thank you for your
(01:08:09):
personal support.
It means a lot to me.
Ajit Dodani (01:08:11):
Oh, thank you.
Thank you.
I'm cheering you on.
You know I've always done itfrom day one, and thank you for
having me here.
This was a lot of fun and sounscripted.
Narrator 1 (01:08:20):
So like you and I
love it no prep, no prep.
Christopher Luna (01:08:22):
I love it.
So thank you.
I'll follow him on LinkedIn.
I'll put it all in thedescription.
Thank you very much for takingthe time to listen to this and
look forward to the next one.
Narrator 1 (01:08:38):
Thank you for
joining us on this episode of
the Los Angeles Leaders Podcast,hosted by Christopher Luna.
We hope you found ourconversation as inspiring as we
did.
Don't forget to subscribe andleave us a review on your
favorite podcast platform.
Your feedback helps us bringmore of the content you love,
and be sure to follow us onsocial media for updates behind
the scenes content and to jointhe conversation Until next time
(01:08:58):
.
Keep leading, keep innovatingand keep making a difference.