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What happens when a shy boy from Mecca grows up to become a global healthcare leader with a passion for teaching?
Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui takes us on a captivating journey through his remarkable life story – one that spans continents, cultures, and profound personal transformation.
Born in Saudi Arabia to parents who migrated from Pakistan after the partition, Dr. Siddiqui's earliest memories revolve around family, hospitality, and service. His childhood home regularly welcomed international pilgrims visiting Mecca and Jeddah, exposing him to a rich tapestry of languages, traditions, and perspectives. This multicultural foundation shaped his worldview and instilled values that would guide his future: "It's all about equality, equity, and simply serving people – humanity, regardless of race, origin, or ethnicity."
Dr. Siddiqui shares how his grandfather, a traditional hakeem (herbalist physician), inspired his path toward medicine, though his journey took unexpected turns. After years as a radiologist, he found his true calling at GE Healthcare, where he discovered his passion for teaching and connecting with people. This revelation led him to explore character strengths and personal development, ultimately understanding why certain career paths felt more fulfilling than others.
What makes this conversation particularly fascinating is Dr. Siddiqui's insights into cross-cultural communication and personal growth. From navigating different cultural norms about eye contact to embracing the power of vision boards, he offers practical wisdom applicable to anyone seeking greater fulfillment. His journey across 80+ countries taught him the importance of understanding without judgment: "Don't judge anybody else with their actions. We are all humans with pages and pages of our own stories."
Whether you're interested in healthcare, cultural intelligence, or personal development, this episode offers valuable perspectives on living with purpose and embracing lifelong learning.
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later to Saudi Arabia forgedhis connection to two distinct
cultures.
In his rich cultural blend, hefound the roots of his
compassion and empathy, valuesthat have become intrinsic to
(00:42):
his persona.
From his early years, heharbored aspirations of becoming
a healer inspired by hisgrandfather.
However, life's twists andturns led him down an unexpected
path.
A pivotal moment arrived whenGeneral Electric GE, a global
leader in medical equipmentmanufacturing, beckoned him in
2001, where he found himselftransitioning to a role that
(01:06):
resonated deeply with hispassion for teaching and sharing
knowledge.
For over two decades, hecrisscrossed continents, managed
a region that encompassedemployees from 80 different
countries.
This global exposure became aschool of learning, enriching
his perspectives and honing hisskills.
Join us in this episode as wedelve into his journey, his
(01:26):
unwavering commitment to empathyin education and his unique
vision for the future ofhealthcare.
Please welcome Dr MehboobSiddiqui.
Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui (01:37):
Thank you,
Gurasis, and I'm so humbled, so
thankful for this intro.
Gurasis (01:43):
Absolutely Pleasure,
pleasure to have you.
I am very excited for thisintro.
Absolutely pleasure, pleasureto have you.
I am very excited for thisconversation and I would like to
give our list a little bit ofbackground, like how we met.
So I recently went to torontoand I attended, like the
networking event and I presentedmy podcast there, shared my
podcast with the people, and drsiddiqui was the one who just
reached out to me and spoke tome and talked about the podcast
(02:04):
and how he liked the vision,everything and he would love to
be a part of it.
So glad to have you.
Welcome to the podcast mypleasure again I want to start
this episode by asking you somefun questions.
So first is what's your go-tobreakfast?
Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui (02:19):
so it
depends?
Great question.
It depends on the day of theweek.
Gurasis (02:24):
Okay.
Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui (02:25):
Right.
So, of course, working days.
When I say working days, sofrom Monday to Friday, okay, so
it's something very, veryhealthy, something very quick
and normally, normally it's likeyou know some eggs with you
know like protein, so healthyfats, olives, you know like just
(02:49):
to start with, yeah, and then Inormally avoid bread, any kind
of bread these days, but if Ichoose to, then I choose any
multigrain, you know like sortof one piece of that feta cheese
along with these eggs.
So that's about weekdays, onthe weekends, on the weekend
(03:11):
since, because you know it'sfamily again, uh, kids and all
that.
So we try to do a little bit ofdesi touch okay right and desi
tachmi is like you know, typical, typical, but in a healthier
way.
So, for example, you know, likehalwa, puri sort of stuff.
Okay, okay.
(03:32):
Or you know, like people whoknow what we are talking about,
like you know those parathas.
Gurasis (03:38):
Absolutely.
Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui (03:39):
But again,
you know like, in a healthiest
possible way.
You know like in a healthiestpossible way.
So, so, not using any regularoil, but what we do, we use
either olive oil or avocado oil,and then you know those, those,
uh, chickpeas or chanas made,you know, in a healthier way,
(03:59):
and that's it.
And of course, of course,masala chai would always be
there of course yeah, yeah so.
So that's about the typicalweekend and weekdays breakfast
okay, well, I think it sounds.
Gurasis (04:13):
Everything is very
healthy, so taking care of your
health a lot, so that's great.
So second is, tell us about afavorite song or a dialogue or a
movie and tell us why it's verysignificant to you that's a
more harder one, you know,because, to be honest with you,
it's been a while.
Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui (04:31):
It's been
a while I haven't watched any
movies or you know tv as a whole.
So I'm not a netflix person,I'm not a moviegoer person, you
know, like who goes.
But, um, the last movie which Iwatched, you know, with my wife
and with one of my childhoodfriends I don't know if you're
(04:52):
familiar with, but it was theReturn of Mola Jett.
Gurasis (04:56):
Oh, my God Okay.
Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui (04:58):
Okay, so
it's like you know it was the
remake of the typical Mola Jettand people who are from Punjab,
yeah, they can relate it verywell yeah, okay.
So so it was the return ofmaulajat, part two, and that's
what I watched.
Gurasis (05:16):
I don't remember
exactly, but months ago it was
in the theater I think you arereferring to the, the one where
the lead is fawad Khan.
Are you referring to that onewhich recently is made in
Pakistan?
Made in Pakistan, yeah.
Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui (05:29):
And,
surprisingly, the very first one
.
I watched that during my stayin Pakistan when I was in
medical school.
Gurasis (05:38):
Exactly.
Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui (05:39):
But it was
made way before that time.
But we had an opportunity towatch it in one of the cinemas
because it's one of theevergreen movies.
So yeah, that time it wasSultan Rahi.
You know the cast and you knowhe's no more, but yeah, so this
is the one with Fawad Khan andMyra Khan.
Gurasis (06:01):
Okay, so, lastly, if
you had to teach one phrase in
your native language, what wouldit be and what does it mean?
I mean, I know you speak fivedifferent languages, but
whichever you want to choose andtell us about that.
Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui (06:14):
So I would
definitely go with Urdu, Urdu
or Hindi.
You know, as people they say,and the phrase is Mayusi guna
hai, Okay, May.
And the phrase is mayusi gunahai, Okay Mayusi means
disappointment Right and gunameans it's a sin, so we don't
have to be disappointed at anypoint of time.
Gurasis (06:37):
Yeah, Okay, and if you
could teleport back to a
particular place from your homecountry for just a day, where
would it be and what would youdo?
Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui (06:47):
now, this
is confusing.
For me, home country meanssaudi arabia or pakistan I'll
say saudi arabia okay, thatwould be in jeddah.
Jeddah means the, the bride ofred sea, and I would be spending
either day, night or the wholeday along the Red Sea.
Gurasis (07:11):
So, Dr Siddiqui,
earlier when we were speaking,
you know you have talked to meabout the vision board that you
have, where you know youmentioned your goals and things
that you can remind yourselfthat you have to achieve in your
life, or things you haveachieved already in your life.
So me, first of all when wasthe first time you heard about
vision board and when did youstart creating it?
Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui (07:31):
another
great question.
So it all started, you know, inthe last one year or so okay, I
don't exactly remember when,but one.
Like you know, I was discussingwith you about the course I did
one year dedicated study whichis about functional medicine,
(07:52):
and it's about you know thecoaching.
How to be a good or how to be afunctional medicine health coach
, right.
So now we can discuss it laterthat what is all about
functional medicine healthcoaching.
But since you asked me, wheredid I find that concept?
So in that you know, course, wehad our own cohort, and cohort
(08:16):
means like a bunch of studentsattending, so it's a small group
.
So in my group, one of the youknow I would say there were
excellent, or there are still so, excellent individuals from all
over the world and one of these.
so the cohort is already done.
(08:36):
It's finished, but we are intouch, you know, as a group and,
as you know, as fellow coaches,and her name is Beth, as you
know, as fellow coaches, and hername is Beth.
That's the concept which sheintroduced, that she put
something on the wall which iscalled Vision Board and that
clicked to me at the very moment, you know, in such a big way
(08:57):
that I started my own.
And again, you know, thanks toher, thanks to this concept,
that whatever you wanted todream or you know, thanks to her
, thanks to this concept, thatwhatever you want it to dream,
or you know you just want it todo, so we put it as a priority
on that board and then itwherever you spend most of your
time, then you just keep it.
(09:18):
So there is a visual effectmost of the time, you know
reminding you so it could beanywhere.
It could be, you know,absolutely reminding you, yeah,
so it could be anywhere.
It could be, you know, like akitchen board, a refrigerator.
You know where we mostly putour calendars and all that stuff
.
But for me it's in my office,it's in my you know, my own
space, where I come, and and Ifeel that you know I have to be
(09:41):
creative and, uh, you know, itjust keeps reminding me.
Gurasis (09:46):
So that's all about the
vision board okay, so what's
next on the timeline in terms ofthe vision board?
Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui (09:53):
okay,
another, another great question.
So timeline, simple answerversus is to keep moving and to
keep progressing.
Because, okay, you know, thereis something I recently learned,
again you know from there areso many great people, you know
great minds out there that weshould not wait for the
(10:17):
perfection, right?
So, yeah, but maybe that was myolder school of thought that we
, and maybe that's thehumanistic approach that we tend
to be perfect to start anythingright, absolutely, or you think
about it if you are a kind ofperfectionist.
But, as you asked me, what's thenext?
(10:40):
So next is keep movingprogressing progressing, because
progression is the thing whichyou are doing right now.
Okay, yeah, I'm talking to youand we are moving.
Time is moving, basically.
So, because time is like themoving constant that should be
the progress as well, right andso.
(11:01):
So, without knowing so much orwithout thinking too much about
the future, right, I do have mydreams, like anybody else has,
and that dream is, you know, tobe a health coach or to be a
healer or, you know, provider ofanything good in my way, in my
surroundings.
It could be my friends, myfamily, my neighborhood, like
(11:24):
extended network.
So progression is going on andI'm not waiting for the
perfection.
Gurasis (11:31):
Absolutely, and I would
like to highlight two things
you mentioned.
First is definitely no.
Perfection is the enemy of thegood, and I think if I would
have not followed that, I wouldhave never started this podcast.
I waited for the perfectmicrophone or the perfect guests
or the perfect softwares andthe perfect timing.
I might have not started thispodcast, and I'm glad I did.
(11:51):
And now it's more than one year.
And the second thing you said isyou know it's important to live
in the present.
Rather, to think so much aboutthe future or even dwell so much
in the past it's not going toserve you any purpose.
It's important to live in thepresent and prepare for the
future, how much whatsoever youcan.
So I love these two things.
(12:12):
Thank you for sharing these.
So I want to go back, startfrom the start.
So in nine, after the partition, 1951, we were telling me your
parents moved to pakistan andfrom there that was like their
first immigration, that sort ofso to say they did.
And then later they moved tosaudi and that's where you were
(12:34):
born, and I believe you wereborn in 1970s sometime yeah, so
it was, it was 1971 yeah, so youwere born in mecca.
Tell us a little bit about yourformative years and what was it
like just growing up therealmost like you know, 50 years
ago and I remember, you know,like the, the hot weather right
(12:56):
I always remember, you know,like, like, and then, uh, I
don't know if it was you orsomebody else the other day when
we discussed that as a joke.
Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui (13:04):
You know,
when we talk about that, how
many weathers are in in saudiarabia or in middle east?
You know, yeah, we used to saythere are only two weathers one
is summer and the other one ishell.
Yeah, right yeah, so so so itwas, you know, like a childhood
with my, you know all great and,you know, loving siblings.
(13:26):
I'm sixth in the order of sevensiblings, you know.
Gurasis (13:31):
Okay.
Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui (13:31):
And I
would say thanks to God, they
are all spread around nowglobally, from Australia to US
and then Middle East, canada, uk, yeah, so all the vivid
memories of the childhood.
They are about family they are,you know about, about loving,
loving parents.
(13:51):
And yeah, one thing I would say, because now I reconnected to
that, that you know we have, wehave a huge house.
Huge house means like like abig place to live and then to
play.
In my early childhood and youknow like I used to see so many
visitors, visitor means, youknow like internationally.
(14:15):
And it's good to you knowmention why?
Because, as you mentioned inthe intro, gure, I said that I
was born in Makkah, and you know, and then we were living in
that region, which is close tothe Red Sea.
So Jeddah and Makkah, they arevery close cities, right.
So Jeddah was the port of entryfor, you know, all the pilgrims
(14:41):
and all the pilgrims who cometo perform either Hajj or Umrah
every year.
So that was the port of entryand that's the reason that
people from family, friends, offriends out of family, they used
to come year around to our homeand that's how I grew up seeing
(15:07):
, know, seeing my parents, mymother, my dad, you know, to
serving those people.
A little example you know, likepeople, they used to come
through ship, right, huge ships,so.
So they used to come like fromfrom india, from from from pak,
from from from Pakistan, fromBangladesh, from Indonesia, from
(15:33):
Egypt, right.
So when they used to come andagain it looks to me like
yesterday we used to go with ourfather, with our dad, you know,
who would be much younger thanme at that time, and you know,
they used to serve thosepilgrims.
They used to serve with, withwater, with food which my mom,
she used to prepare at home, youknow.
(15:54):
So there were no big kitchens,there were no modern commercial
kitchens at that time.
All right, and I'm stillsurprised at how she could have
managed the massive amount ofcooking for, you know, more than
50 or 100 people back then.
You know, we were just kids, wewere just kids.
So that's the, I don't know.
(16:15):
Maybe I'm a little bit lost.
I went into, you know that,past that, what did you actually
ask me?
But yeah, so that's all thevivid memories of my childhood,
you know so a loving family withsiblings playing around.
We used to play soccer a lot,because soccer was the only
(16:36):
sports you know, we call itfootball but, soccer you know,
so like in our neighborhood withthe friends and then yeah,
neighborhood with the friends,and then, yeah, so, so, so, you
know, and then going to schoolwith all my, with all my
siblings, because I was theyoungest one, yeah, so, so,
these are the early memoriesokay and you definitely answered
(16:59):
my questions.
Gurasis (16:59):
It didn't go anywhere.
That's exactly what I wanted toknow about your growing up
years.
But also tell me you know,since I also mentioned earlier
and you also told me, that yourmother was from the indian side
of punjab and your father was afamily grandfather was from
delhi, and then they moved toislamabad from pakistan and then
saudi arabia.
So you have I'm sure therewould be something in your
(17:20):
growing up years, because youhave grown up in this like a
cultural blend, right, peoplefrom india, pakistan and down to
saudi arabia, maybe like a, ofcourse, like the religion might
be the similar, but tell me,like how was it, in that sense,
you know, like the culturalblend that you grew up in and
how that has shaped you?
Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui (17:40):
oh, wow,
wow.
It's such a again you know,beautiful question and and you
have really touched to the youknow the core of what I believe,
what I'm today.
You know, or you know how thehistory or the time shaped me.
It's all about culture,absolutely.
(18:01):
It's all about, you know, likemulticulturalism,
multilingualism, and then youknow like, so, in Saudi Arabia
and again Jeddah, because of youknow, pilgrims, they are coming
from around the world, right,yeah, so, okay, necessarily,
around the world.
When I say mostly, you knowfrom all the countries, like 56,
(18:25):
you know like Muslim countries,they come and they do this
pilgrim right Now.
That's another way of you know,or this is another beautiful
aspect of that, that people fromdifferent cultures, from
different languages, fromdifferent backgrounds.
Sometimes they don't speakthose languages, right, and, and
(18:49):
we are.
But what's the one commonality?
The commonality is, you know,like that dress.
The dress means like the twowhite sheets which everybody you
know, they just use it, andthen they even don't know their
languages, right, and, and theyuse, they use the hand languages
they use.
You know the, the, the universallanguage of love, or what I say
(19:13):
, you know the empathy, or youknow the, the listening, like.
I'm telling you the example ofport, the seaport, where there
used to be, you know, shipscoming, right, yeah, and then
used to be.
You know ships coming, right,yeah, and then, and then people
from people from india,bangladesh, sri lanka, indonesia
(19:34):
, egypt, sudan, right, that'swhat I can recall.
I can remember all sort ofcolors, all sort of people and
not speaking languages of eachother.
But then what was the commonlanguage?
The common language was the,the purpose of serving, that was
humanity, I would say humanityyou know you have rightly put
(19:54):
the right word.
So humanity, humility, and thenonly the purpose of serving was.
You know, they are the guest ofgod, they are the pilgrim so
let's, let's, let's do that, so.
So that's number one.
Number two, you know, then itcomes when you grow, when you
like.
You know, when you were broughtup in that situation, it's the
(20:15):
multilingualism right.
So I started learning Arabic,although Arabic was not first
language, but again thanks toSaudi Arabia thanks to.
You know that my surroundingthat we started to Saudi Arabia.
You know that that mysurrounding that we started
speaking Arabic you know, as thestreet language or whatever,
because we are going outside andthen, of course, since we were
(20:36):
in the schools, we startedlearning English.
We were starting, you know, weused to talk in our own mother
tongue, which was Urdu and youknow, and then Punjabi
whatsoever, and then I rememberI was, I was telling you or
somebody else that my dad, mygranddad, they used to speak
Persian.
Gurasis (20:56):
Okay.
Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui (20:57):
Yeah,
because Persian in that time you
know back, you know like insubcontinent Persian was one of
the literary languages in whichthey used to speak right.
Gurasis (21:10):
Farsi.
Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui (21:11):
Farsi,
exactly.
And we talk about the books bySheikh Saadi, like Hikayat and
Bostan-e-Saadi and all thosethings.
Even Rumi yeah yeah, and Rumi,right, yeah, and then our own,
our very own, allama, you know,Sir Iqbal, who was one of the
biggest poets of thatsubcontinent.
(21:34):
Anyway, coming back to yourpoint, it was, you know,
exposure to multiculturalism.
And then, of course, withcultures, food comes along,
right 100, and and then, youknow, there was like an
opportunity to taste or to knowabout different foods, food,
foods of arabia, foods ofsubcontinent.
(21:54):
You know, the foods ofdifferent african, sub-saharan,
middle eastern, far eastern.
You know all those foods.
Luckily, luckily, when I gotstarted my schooling, uh, where
I said so it was, you know, likethe uh, it was the
international school, most ofthe international students at
(22:15):
that.
I'm talking about early or late70s, saudi arabia.
There were expats coming, youknow, they were still coming,
and the oil boom, the so-calledoil boom, it was still yet to
start.
So, you know, like diplomats,like you know again, people
around the world, skilledworkers, you know, like
(22:38):
accountants, doctors, engineersand teachers from around the
world, and then they thoughtthere should be a good schools
for their own kids and and Iremember, like you know, my dad,
he, he was one of the pioneers,again with the rest of the you
know community back then whostarted, you know again, because
(22:59):
they, they thought aboutcommunity, they thought about
extended.
So their vision was, again, notonly for their kids, their
vision was, you know, for thegenerations to come.
Yeah, and again you know thecollective level of community.
My friends, you know they arefrom different arab countries,
from sri lanka, from, you know,bangladesh, from india at that
(23:21):
time and of course, of course,you know the.
So this is how I grew up andthis is how the language,
culture, food, it was instilledin us or in me?
Gurasis (23:34):
And what is something
from all these growing up years,
something from your culture,tradition that you have managed
to preserve up until today, whenyou are a father and you have
children?
Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui (23:43):
I'm just,
you know, overwhelmed with this
question, again, Just trying tobe as precise and as possible.
It's the equality, it's theequity, it's the service, simply
simply serving people.
Humanity, you know, regardlessof the race, origin, ethnicity,
(24:07):
anything you know, just onebigger picture which is about
serving people in any way.
Gurasis (24:17):
I just want to go back
to your time again in Makkah,
and I think from there it wasJadda, where you went for your
high school, I believe right,and I remember you were telling
me that you were like a very shykid growing up, but then
eventually you got into debatesand you became like an extrovert
or you might be an extrovert,but it was hidden in you
somewhere, but and the reasonbehind that was, you said, it
(24:40):
was your environment thatboosted you, your teachers and
your peers.
You know, then, basically, thekind of environment you grew up
in, and that's where theconversation regarding the
characteristics, the personalitytraits, came up.
Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui (24:53):
Right.
Gurasis (24:54):
And and I remember you
were sharing that people usually
have the like 24characteristics.
People end up choosing three orfour as their signature
personality traits.
So I want to talk a little bitmore about that and also like
how you evolved as a persongrowing up.
Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui (25:10):
Right, so,
yeah, so back in school, and
you know, until high school, Iwould say until the grade of,
you know, the year eighth orninth okay so.
So I was, uh, I was, you know,like very much shy.
If any teacher, anybody youknow, wanted to ask me to stand
(25:34):
up, I like you know thosetypical schools and then say
anything in front of them.
I still remember, you know,that my, from inside my legs
they used to shake, okay.
So.
So maybe if it was not a visualshaking, but from inside I used
to shake from top to down, justjust not not going, you know,
(25:55):
to the stage, but just even justto stand up on my own, okay, uh
, you know place, or the desk aswe used to call.
So I was good in studies, youknow, a typical good child, you
know, who is not into fights oranything.
Very first time I started doinga debate or like Extempore yeah,
(26:18):
exactly, you know the extemporecompetition.
It was very bad.
I mean, I would say I don'teven want to remember that, but
as bad as could be.
And you know those feelingswhen you want to forget about
that event, that I wish thatcouldn't happen.
Right, but thanks to, thanks tothat teacher, he is not alive
(26:40):
anymore.
But I, you know, I always prayfor his.
You know that he should rest inpeace forever.
And then and then so.
So he encouraged me and he said, no, you can do that.
And he practiced, you know, atthat time I'm talking about
early 80s now that he, you know,asked we didn't know anything
(27:01):
about the body language, aboutyou know, whatever, but he said
so, debating stuff, that, how toyou know present.
He said so, debating stuff,that, how to you know present
yourself and how to memorize.
Yeah, first of all, it was thememorization.
I'm trying to remember theexact words.
It was not a debating concept,it was like they give you one
topic and then you had fiveminutes.
(27:24):
You just have to speak about it, either in Urdu, which was, you
know, my mother tongue, or itwas in English, literally right.
So this is how it all startedgradually, gradually, you know,
the confidence it started comingto you know, or like.
So we were able now to speak.
(27:44):
At the very same time, one of myliterary teachers.
I wrote down something I usedto do, some journaling.
All of a sudden, it happened tobe in a rhythm.
He was the main inspiration forme and I thought he was the
safest space for me.
So I shared that with him, evensharing it with my dad or with
(28:05):
my mom or anybody else.
He liked it, he encouraged meto keep doing it and that I
would say that momentum is stillgoing on, that you know I used
to write down poems, so this isall all I remember from that
part.
Coming back to the characterstrength things, yeah, I had no
(28:25):
idea until, I would say, an yearago, when I started learning
again the coaching, or thefunctional medicine, health
coaching, and one of the earliermodules was how to rediscover,
or how to discover your owncharacter strengths.
Now, in the beginning, itlooked like to me.
(28:46):
You know there are hundreds ofpeople out there on social media
who talk about discoveryourself and this and that.
But then, since it was like anassignment for me, by the way,
there is, like you know, a freeit's a free resource and that's
why I'm sharing it.
We call it VIA, v-i-a, viaInstitute, and then what you can
do VIA, via Institute, and thenwhat you can do.
(29:07):
It says VIA Character StrengthsProfile.
Anybody can go and thisresource is basically a product
of more than, I would say, 20years.
As much as I remember, you knowit's surrounded by discovering
all the humans living today orin the past or in the future,
(29:29):
that all of them, they have 24characters or 24 strengths.
Now, one thing which has to bementioned here they don't talk
about the weaknesses, when wediscussed earlier that being an
introvert and being an extrovertis not something bad.
Absolutely Introverts they are,as being an extrovert is not
something bad, absolutelyIntroverts.
(29:49):
They're as good as extroverts.
Leaders are as good asfollowers.
The prudent people.
They're as good as bold.
And you know, like the peoplewho don't think and they're just
.
It's all about thecharacteristics.
Absolutely Me, you, anybodywho's listening to this, anybody
you know who would like to know, they have this 24.
(30:09):
But our upbringing, oureducation, our trainings,
environmental exposures, youknow all those things, good and
bad experiences.
They bring those five, I wouldsay, signature strengths, or the
main character strengths whichshape yourself, and then you
(30:30):
start using them without knowingthem that you have them.
The rest of the 20, they gointo the background.
They are like an app in yoursmartphone that you are not
using them, but in thebackground they are still
running and thanks, you know, tothis, this research and to this
, and that it's the first way ofself-discovery you go and then
(30:51):
you discover your five top mostor ten top most character
strengths and then you reflectupon them.
One of my top five strengths,one of them is love of learning
okay, I mean, it shows clearly.
I, I didn't know yeah, I didn'tknow about it absolutely, but,
(31:11):
but I was always eager to learn,which which led to another
characteristic, which iscuriosity.
Right, you know you, you haveheard this proverb that
curiosity kills the cat.
Absolutely, yeah, right, so soit was the curiosity, love of
learning.
I'm open to share mine.
So, like honesty, integrity,kindness, creativity, humor,
(31:37):
love of learning.
So these are all my five, sixor seven, you know in the top,
but I didn't know them.
But now I understand that.
Why, in the very beginning of myclinical career, when I was
working as a radiologist, behindthe dark screens, behind the
closed doors, you know, I wasnot happy.
It was not a fulfilling workfor me, it's not about money,
(32:02):
more a kind of satisfaction tome, to myself.
When I come in the evening, Ishould not come in the evening,
I should not be stressed out, Ishould not be drained out.
Yeah, this is one thing.
And secondly, when I wake up inthe morning, I should wake up
with another exciting day whichis ahead of my life, looking
forward to.
Gurasis (32:22):
Yeah it was not there.
Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui (32:24):
it was
just, like you know, a routine,
a routine work, a routine job.
But I spent 10 years inbecoming a trained radiologist.
Could not realize at that timethat why I'm not enjoying that
job.
Yeah, and then I startedworking with World Global
Company, ge, and it was aboutclinical education.
(32:44):
You know the connection withpeople.
And then I used to wake upevery day energized.
I used to wake up every daywith a purpose that I have to
meet new people, tell themsomething new or learn something
new.
Gurasis (32:58):
Absolutely.
Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui (32:59):
Right,
yeah, so so.
So that was the whole drive,you know, like two decades, more
than 21 years.
So GE Healthcare, which shapedme, which groomed me, whatever
I'm today, and again with thatparticular love of learning and
curiosity.
We kept learning, you know, wekept evolving.
Now, during those 20 yearsstill, there was something which
(33:22):
was telling me, it was notsatisfying me to my core.
Gurasis (33:26):
It was telling me to do
something extra to serve people
and humanity so, before we getinto that, I just want to
highlight like few things thatyou have mentioned.
Obviously, the dream career thatyou got into, and I think
that's like everybody's dream todo something that they love
doing, rather than doing it forsurvival or just for money.
And then, obviously, you knowthe personalities that you have
(33:49):
highlighted.
This is something that we allgo through daily basis in our
life, but we never like reallypaid attention to that.
So that's something I think ourlisteners also been trusted to
know about that, and I'll putthe link to that in the show
notes as well, since you know, Ihave heard you talking so
passionately about the care, theempathy of people and that was
(34:10):
something which was in yourblood, right, and that's where
you know you decided to get intothe similar industry because of
your grandfather.
So I want to tell our listenersbriefly about that also and the
connection with the hamdur, thedava khana that's how you say
it, I believe, right, tell usabout that as well we are going
back again.
Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui (34:28):
So my
grandfather, he was, he was the
herbalist in our language.
We call him, we call themhakeem hakeem.
Hakeem means, you know, likethe herbalist or or the
physician.
Gurasis (34:39):
So to say yeah, yeah,
yeah.
Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui (34:41):
So so they
were not the conventional, uh
allopathic physicians they were.
They were, you know, the herbalor natural, I would say now the
naturopathic physician, evenayurvedic, you can say I read it
yeah, yeah, so, so in terms andso in india it's just so
popular.
It's still, you know, like, likein pakistan, we do have, uh,
like hakeems and and I'm soproud of it he was attached to,
(35:04):
you know, khana, which is youknow then then we had it in
Pakistan and then, you know, wehad it in India.
I still, I believe that theyhave it.
They started using thoseproducts on on a commercial
level back then for common core,you know, for cough and for
this and for that.
We were in Saudi Arabia and mygrand, my granddad, he had his
(35:27):
own practice in Pakistan.
He was in Karachi.
There was a brief period oftime when he came to Saudi
Arabia and he lived with us.
I remember as a child there werepeople from neighborhood, from
our extended family and from,you know, visitors, who used to
come sit with him and as ahakeem, you know, he used to
(35:48):
feel their pulse and then heused to say hundreds of things
about them, like what diseaseyou are going through, and I can
go on and on and on.
He used to talk aboutintermittent fasting.
He used to talk about healthyeating.
He used to talk about rubbingyour feet with certain oils
before going to bed.
All these memories, they werehere or they're still here,
(36:11):
since we were living in a moderntime.
I used to remember he said tomy father, my dad, that you
should, out of your you knowseven kids, encourage somebody
to become a modern day physician.
So he was a visionary.
My dad was a visionary From thevery beginning.
In my childhood I had nothingelse in my mind other than that
(36:34):
I have to become a doctor.
You know, serve people, that'sit.
Gurasis (36:38):
Okay, now, that's very
interesting, you know, to just
follow one of the things thatyour grandfather said and just
doing that, it's just amazing tojust hear all that.
And so after, obviously, likesix years later, you came back
to you even went to uk for sometime and then you came back to
saudi arabia, you workedradiologist and and then
obviously, like I mentioned myintro as well, the general
(36:59):
electric came into picture andwho are in the manufacturing
medical equipments and that'show you started working with
them and you started working forthem, like in 2001, and you
worked for like 21, 20 plusyears or so and you were working
there as a clinical educationspecialist.
You know you were trainingradiologists.
You were training.
That you're like you always youtold me, like you know,
(37:21):
training by radiologist to theradiologist.
And then, since you love thatfor the radiologist right and
you love the teaching and wholeprocess and you said that that
was one of the learningexperiences, that was like a
school of learning and welearned a lot, absolutely,
absolutely.
And then, obviously, beyond that, you know, your responsibility
moved out of gulf to the middleeast, to north africa and you
(37:42):
were managing like a regionwhich had employees over 80
countries, like I mentionedearlier, and there was something
you mentioned to me which wascalled the the me cat, you know,
which is the middle uh, eastafrica, central asia, turkey and
russia, and that also you saidit helped you grow.
It was your school and and thenmeanwhile you also did your
master's, you know, in thebusiness administration and
health care management.
(38:03):
I want to tell us like brieflyabout that.
I mean, I know it's like a bigquestion to kind of crux your 20
years in like few lines, buttell us like your overall
experience, like you know,working in those 80 countries,
interacting with people from allaround the world, that region.
How was that experience likefor you?
Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui (38:23):
So now
childhood is gone, Education is
done, you have to somehowaccidentally landed in a
position, typical clinical work,and now I'm in a position to
teach.
As I said, I started from thesmaller geographical location
which was, you know, work.
It was growing, you know,growing, growing, growing, and
(38:50):
then it became global.
So global means sevencontinents or, if you exclude
Antarctica, six continents.
You know Australia, New Zealand, to ASEAN, Japan, Middle East
Africa, Europe, North America,South America, whatever the
continued journey of traveling,meeting again people from, or
(39:14):
customers, I would say at thattime from different cultures,
and again, you know learning,learning, learning about new
cultures, you know about otherperspectives, you put yourself
into their shoes.
So it was not only culture, itwas about religion, it was about
faith, it was about foodIntegrity even.
(39:37):
Integrity.
It was about transparency.
It was about something which isso normal for one culture and
which is so much taboo orforbidden for another culture
you know what I mean, so can yougive us like an example, what
did you mean by that?
yeah, a very top of my mind.
So you know, like being bornand brought up again in saudi
(39:59):
arabia, you know.
So again, it's, it's a culturalthing.
It was.
It's all about body language,without any offense, that you
know.
When we talk to women or whenthey talk to us back, then they
are not supposed to look intotheir eyes oh, okay okay, it's,
it's out of respect.
Start from the home.
(40:21):
When I'm talking to my dad,when I'm talking to my mom, I'm
not supposed to look into theireyes.
Gurasis (40:27):
Okay.
Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui (40:28):
Okay,
that's just as a child, as a kid
, but as an adult, as aresponsible professional,
whatever.
When I talk to my fellow femalecolleagues like you know, we
are all professionals, we aredoctors or to my patients, I'm
not supposed to stare into theireyes and talk to them.
Gurasis (40:49):
Got it.
Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui (40:50):
It doesn't
mean that I'm not listening to
them or I'm not attentive tothem.
It's again out of the respect.
All of a sudden you come towest, this thing considered to
be which you know implicates orwhich tells you that you are not
confident enough.
Yes, or you know you areavoiding things, you are hiding
things.
If you are not maintaining acertain distance, you are a bit
(41:13):
conservative.
We are in Japan, we are inChina.
There is something which we callyou know, like the contextual
culture.
You talk very briefly, inbetween the lines, and then you
know, you think that theopposite person or your listener
, he or she, should understandeverything.
(41:34):
There is nothing wrong, thereis nothing right.
The only right or wrong thingis, you know to understand each
other's space, understand eachother's culture, each other's
norms, and you know, and then toaccept it.
The bottom line is try tounderstand and learn cultures,
and you know we are living inthis global universe, I would
(41:57):
say, more connected as everbefore, and don't be judgmental.
Don't judge anybody else infront of you or behind you.
You know with their actions.
Don't judge anybody else infront of you or behind you.
You know with their actions.
Don't judge.
Yeah, as you know, as you said,that we cannot judge a book
with its titles right Unless youread it, unless you read it.
(42:17):
So we are all humans, we areall you know, have pages and
pages of you know our ownstories.
So just be mindful, be present.
Gurasis (42:31):
Don't be judgmental and
respect each other.
I love that and definitely thisis something I think we all
should learn not to jump toconclusions and give people
benefit of the doubt and justhave a conversation with them as
possible or, if not, let thembe.
You never know what kind ofsituation they are coming from.
But, dr Sudhiti, I think I'mgoing to cut this conversation
here short and we might do likea second part to this, but I
(42:53):
would like to unfold yourCanadian journey a little more
and how the pandemic kind of ledyou to start your own
consulting business.
So for now, thank you.
Thank you so much for being onthe podcast and adding value to
my listeners.
Thank you.
Dr. Mahboub Siddiqui (43:09):
All
pleasure is mine and thanks for
having me, Gaurav.