In this podcast episode, Anshuman Sinha is in conversation with Faris Aranki, the founder and CEO of Shiageto Consulting.
Faris has spent over two decades delivering strategic change for the corporate and non-corporate world as one of the top-tier strategy consultants, educators, and in-house strategists.
He has also experienced firsthand the difference between strategic success and failure.
Through his company, Shiageto Consulting, Faris Aranki brings a unique blend of expertise to the table that focuses on sharpening companies and individual effectiveness through a potent formula: success equals IQ×EQ×FQ.
Shiageto Consulting: Aims and Objectives
His company’s mission is to empower organizations to unlock their full potential and develop their intelligence, emotional, and focus quotient.
The conversation begins with Anshuman Sinha asking Faris Aranki about the name of his company.
Faris explains that he derived the name of his company from the Japanese term ‘Shiageto,’ which refers to a sharpening stone for honing knives.
With the same sentiment, he has named his company after this, as he endeavors to aid individuals and businesses in sharpening themselves and functioning diligently within their chosen markets.
Then Anshuman Sinha asks him about the successful formula that Faris abides by. Faris explains that the formula IQ×EQ×FQ derives from the concept of achieving success in life. He believes that to be successful, an individual must possess intelligence, emotions, and a focus quotient. In the intelligence quotient, he states that an individual must have a goal to succeed. However, simply having a goal is not going to help. The individual must also be able to come up with the best solution rather than merely choosing the first solution that comes to mind.
Link to the Full Podcast Episode
Regarding emotional quotient, Faris suggests that simply coming up with a goal and choosing the best solution to achieve that goal will not cut it. The individual must also be able to inspire others and take them along as they strive for success.
This process requires the individual to foster excitement among others and share their passion for their goal. To do so efficiently, they need to be emotionally intelligent.
A focus quotient must also follow this practice. For this, the individual must focus on setting up the business or any area in their life that they are working on and efficiently deliver their action plan. The focus question focuses on the execution aspect of an individual’s plan that they have decided upon once they choose the goal during the first stage of the formula.
What Faris Aranki Believes in
When asked about real-life examples of how Faris helps companies turn around with the help of the formula, he responds that he applies the entire formula from the preliminary stages of consulting. He elaborates on the example of a past client where the problem within the company was their overall stock. The manufacturing company needed to produce more stock, which led to extra expenditure for warehouse space.
To deal with this issue, Faris looked into the problem and how the company usually functions. He discovered that the sales and analytical teams of the company were on different wavelengths and could not communicate strategically.
With his training plan, Faris and his team were able to teach the analytical team to communicate efficiently so that the sales team could understand that the company needed to produce a set number of products to save money and function lucratively within the market.
Faris’s entire formula could be implemented within the analytical team, as he and his team instructed them to incorporate EQ into their daily tasks, fostering better communication within the department. With this training, the company eliminated the problem within three months.
Testing Methodology and Strategic War Games
Anshuman Sinha’s next question concerns the testing methodology strategy, including the strategic war games and strategy simulations Faris Aranki usually implements with his customers.
Faris explains that the techniques used to assess situations are rooted in pre-mortems and wargaming. His company uses pre-mortems where they can assume an idea is wrong and find all its flaws to make a better idea before launching it permanently.
On the other hand, with wargaming, his company takes the strategy and tests it against the market without spending millions of dollars to build it. The entire prospect of wargaming depends upon other people playing competitors and simulating a market environment where the strategy can function so the consulting company can test it.
He elaborates that by embracing this simulation technique, his company can take the strategy out for a test drive, help teams improve their IQ, and fix problems they might face.
Shiageto Consluting: Who are its Ideal Customers?
Anshuman Sinha’s follow-up question is about Shiageto’s ideal customer. Faris Aranki replies that the perfect customers for him are the people in the company who can identify the problem and eventually pay for it. Apart from the usual customers who pay for his services, the ideal customers include members within the C-Suite, such as the CEO and the COO, as well as different department heads and HR team members.
These individuals are only to identify the problem and assess whether they need professional help. These people are the perfect customers for Shiageto and enable Faris to run his company successfully.
When questioned about how he attracts his customers, Faris reveals that most of his clientele comes from his network, which he has effectively tapped into. Some of his best customers are people he met ten years ago.
The follow-up question from Anshuman Sinha concerns the budget for the projects Faris usually undertakes. Faris Aranki shares that his project sizes range from 20,000 to 200,000 pounds in the UK.
The next question is regarding the durability of the gig.
Faris says the workshops are a one-time gig for some customers, while it is a longer process for others. He shares that his biggest customer has been with him and his company for three years, and he has trained many teams for them.
He keeps training employees hired within the company and ensures that the company continues to function efficiently by having IQ, EQ, and FQ. Upon being asked about his company’s expansion, Faris Aranki proudly shares that his company has delivered to America, Africa, East Asia, and Australia for the last two years. He is looking forward to expanding further and building a more robust presence within the US market.
The Future Ahead
Anshuman Sinha asks him what’s next for his company and what he plans.
To this, Faris Aranki said that for the last four and a half years, he has only set one metric to track his success, which was fun. He believes the more fun his team and he have on a project determines their success since they make way more money on these projects. However, in the future, he plans on expanding more intentionally.
For the next five years, he wants to focus on the ambition to grow more deliberately and build more offices to build a permanent team. He also endeavors to work on catering to an expansive client base and develop new strategies that can help companies flourish in their set purpose.
Anshuman Sinha’s next question concerns the talent Faris hires in his company. He asks, “How do you identify and hire the right talent, and then how do you train them?”
Faris replies that he has been fortunate enough to have team members he’s known for over 15 years. However, he usually relies upon referrals and tests these candidates for the first three months while hiring new talent. He believes that a job interview is strictly a marketing exercise and tends to have the candidates work with his team for three months, where for the first month, they observe, while in the second month, they’re allowed to assist in projects.
In the third month, they can be at the front leading position and run the workshops. This hiring method has proven highly beneficial to his organization as he has hired talent who suits his consultancy’s work environment. However, when he failed to identify the correct candidate, he didn’t shy away from discontinuing the experiment.
The next follow-up question concerns how Faris Aranki plans his program with other companies. Anshuman Sinha asks, “Do you need the team members of your clients to be on call in conferences? What is the delivery mechanism of your workshops?”
Faris Aranki says the delivery mechanism is not to do it on a call. His team plans to host a workshop or a training session once a week. The organization holds a workshop every two to three weeks for shorter projects to devise strategies that aid the organization. However, in some instances, the workshops are spread over a month as they work longer with the team.
Upon being asked about his words of wisdom regarding why other companies should use his consultancy, Faris confidently guarantees the results. He elaborates that if his company cannot provide a strategy or achieve the strategic KPIs set by the clients, it is free not to hire them again. He also elaborates that his workshops are highly interactive and entertaining based on the feedback he has gotten so far. These two things are very powerful tenants and are why his company hasn’t lost a customer yet.
In Conclusion
The conversation ends with the final question, Anshuman Sinha asking about any advice Faris Aranki wants to give to individuals wanting to start in his industry. Faris Aranki replies, “Come on board; there’s more than enough.
But if you’re starting in this industry or any business, it’s about your mindset as much as your idea. You’ve got to be proactive. Nobody’s going to come looking for you. You’ve got to get out there, test, try, experiment, and talk to more people rather than less. And that’s how good stuff happens. It doesn’t come about just by chance.”
The episode concludes with Anshuman Sinha eagerly anticipating Shiageto’s fulfillment of its objectives and rise to prominence in the US market. They agree to meet in person for the next podcast and end the episode with mutual respect and well wishes for each other’s achievements.
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