Categories
MarketOrders News

MarketOrders COO speaks at Inclusive Boards: Executive Leadership Programme

Our Co-Founder & COO, Sukhi Jutla, was invited to speak about career progression as a panelist during the Inclusive Boards: Executive Leadership Programme.

This programme was aimed at senior women leaders who came from companies including Deliveroo, Draper Espirit, HSBC, MoneySuperMarket Group and Lloyds Banking Group.

It was run as a residential programme at the Mallory Court Spa at Leamington Spa with 2 days of facilitated learning.

Inclusive Boards is the UK’s leading executive search agency specialising in diversity and inclusion at governance level. They support organisations to develop more diverse boards, senior leadership teams, and improved governance structures.

Sukhi was joined by 2 other panelists including Tamara McMillen, Executive Director of Sales at Virgin Media Business and Namrata Sarmah, Senior Director at Viacom.

Topics discussed included:

  • Climbing the career ladder
  • How to get board roles
  • Personality and leadership style
  • Balancing work/family life
  • Building and using your network
  • Continuous development and upskilling
  • Unconscious bias and overcoming challenges

 

Sukhi shared her personal story of how she navigates her career progressions, from being an employee to becoming an entrepreneur and board member. 

The event was a huge success and Ellen Partridge, Campaigns Officer for Inclusive Boards left this review for Sukhi:

‘’Sukhi was an inspiring panelist during the Inclusive Boards: Executive Leadership Programme, having a huge impact on senior women leaders in the room. She captured the attention of the room with her story and offered interesting perspectives on career progression, personal development, and work-life interface.’’

A few other reviews also include:

 

 

Categories
MarketOrders News

The psychology of innovation – what we’ve learnt at The Economist conference

October 3, our Head of PR & Communications, Caroline Hoffmann, was invited to The Economist conference in London.

A day of learning, debating and networking, organised in the heart of London at the Royal Institute of British Architects.

One topic particularly interested Caroline: “The Psychology of Innovation”, run by Dr. Brian Marien, Founder & Director at Positive Group.

Here is her outtake (keep in mind that everything is scientifically proven):

 

Being emotional hacks your thinking

When we are emotionally affected by a subject, a situation, it changes the way we feel, think and behave.

Why? Because emotional regulation shifts when we are stressed. 

Emotions drive all the thinking and can prevent us from thinking rationally, clearly and being open to other people’s opinions.

Stress changes the circuits of the brain and drives negative emotions. It can make us doubt, feel unconfident, incapable, worthless.

 

You’re never too old to change the way you think

Good news, you can change the way your brain thinks, it is not as it is forever!

Thinking differently can be taught. If your brain is more amenable when we’re young, it remains amenable throughout your life. It means that no matter how old you are, you can teach your brain to think positively and regulate your emotions.

 

Be optimistic and you’ll live longer

Optimists live longer – it’s proven! 

I remember seeing a documentary about the power of smiling. Some scientists experimented how smiling could change our moods and, in a nutshell, they found out that smiling was obviously, a result of feeling happy, but that also smiling, as a cause, could result in making you feel happy. Indeed, if you make yourself smile more often, you’ll feel happier. It can feel weird at first, but actually smiling and laughing “easily” is like any other exercise; it takes practice!

Don’t wait to spread some good vibes and from now on, always see the glass half full and laugh at your colleagues’ jokes!

 

What does it have to do with innovation?

All kinds of innovation are stressful. Whether it is a new product, a new technology, a new management process or new hiring, stress can easily make us feel uncomfortable.

Here are a few examples:

A new product can lead us to be close-minded: “We’ve done it this way in my family for generations, why should we change now?”. Another way of seeing the situation would be: “Maybe this new product could make us more efficient, productive, profitable, and starts a new air of our family finally embracing technology.”

A new management process can make us feel upset and think negatively: “The company has been acquired by this big group. They’re going to merge our teams. I don’t want to talk to these guys who think they are better than us and impose us their ways of working.”. Another way of thinking would be: “I’m glad we’re merging the teams. We’re going to have even more incredible talents, learn new things and will smash our annual goals!”

New hiring could make you feel insecure: “Why did they hire this woman? She’s already got some of my missions and it’s only been a week. What’s next, taking my job?”. Another way of looking at the situation would be: “I’m glad they hired her! She’s doing some of my work so now I have more time to focus on innovative ways to improve my processes.”

 

MarketOrders’ opinion

The last decade has seen companies coming up with many ways to improve employees’ happiness at work. Free food, gym, parties, stunning offices, and team building activities; it all sounds lovely, but isn’t it a bit superficial? Is that really improving employees’ fulfilment?

At MarketOrders, we believe that people can only feel comfortable and thrive in a company if they feel they matter. What does that mean? It means being able to speak openly, being listened to, having their voice heard. It also means having your work and efforts recognised and praised, and your successes and achievements celebrated, no matter how small.

 

Innovation always brings downsides. We should be able to understand them, monitor them and take actions.

Understand how the brain functions and reacts to innovation will help it flourish. Leaders have to be aware of the psychology of behaviour and make sure their employees are feeling comfortable, listened, and happy.

Do you have an opinion? Anything you’d like to add? We’d love to hear it in the comments below!

Categories
MarketOrders News

From Prehistoric Roots to Blockchain Technology, A History of Trade.

From commodity money to the birth of fiat currency and the now worldwide popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin, money, as we know, is not done evolving or surprising us. But are these changes beneficial or disrupting something that already works? We’ll find out.

Origins of trade

Trade originated in prehistoric times. Prehistoric people bartered goods and services from each other when modern money was never even thought of.

Peter Watson dates the history of long-distance commerce from circa 150,000 years ago.

Trade is believed to have taken place throughout much of recorded human history, but not as we know it today. Commodity money, which are objects with a fundamental value like rare seashells, whale’s teeth, and cattle, was the only the way people traded for many years. And we can imagine that it was an easy way as a cow has probably the same value in England as it has in any other country, unlike today’s currencies.

As the system of commodity money evolved in many instances it then became representative money. This first stage of currency metals was used to represent stored value by the Romans.

In the 16th century, Holland was the centre of free trade, imposing no exchange controls, and advocating the free movement of goods. Visionary? You tell me!

The Great Depression was a major economic collapse that ran from 1929 to the late 1930s. There was a great setback in trade and other economic indicators during this period.

The lack of free trade was considered by many as a principal cause of the depression causing stagnation and inflation. Only during World War II, the recession ended in the United States. Also, during the war, in 1944, 44 countries signed the Bretton Woods Agreement, intended to prevent national trade barriers, to avoid depressions. At that time, governments were moving slowly towards borderless trade, which will later on, be enabled by a certain blockchain technology…

Today, trade is merely a subset within a complex system of companies which try to maximize their profits by offering products and services to the market (which consists both of individuals and other companies) at the lowest production cost.

A system of international trade has helped to develop the world economy in combination with bilateral or multilateral agreements, to lower tariffs or to achieve free trade, has sometimes harmed third-world markets for local products.

 

Cryptocurrency, the Trade 2.0?

The evolution of trade has brought some amazing innovations and eased global commerce, but also left behind developing and unbanked countries, until… 2008, the invention of Bitcoin and its innovative manner of using blockchain technology to enable peer to peer transactions.

What does that exactly mean for developing countries?

It means the world!

They can now transact globally whenever they want, however they want, setting up their own prices, cutting off the middlemen, all of this just by using a mobile phone.

No need for a computer; no need for a bank; no need for an intermediary; instant, borderless transactions. How wonderful?

Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology have already started revolutionising the way people transact and have opened many doors to third-world markets.

Nowadays, businesses can already buy and sell online (B2B & B2C), using cryptocurrencies on marketplaces like ModulTrade, Forra, and Shopify.

Have a look at this map to find out what shops accept cryptocurrencies around the world!

 

MarketOrders, disrupting the outdated processes of the gold & diamond industry

At MarketOrders, we understand that cryptocurrencies put the power right back in the hands of small and developing businesses, which is why we’ve decided to use blockchain technology within our platform.

Our marketplace enables small retailers to get the products they need faster, cheaper, directly from international manufacturers. By cutting off the middlemen, both parties, retailers and manufacturers, win, by selling and buying at the right price.

Our CEO Ram says, ‘Our retail customers and suppliers face unnecessary delays in receiving their products as the supply chain is held up with complicated paperwork and international payments taking weeks to settle. We intend to use the power of blockchain to digitise the documentation to process the products and get them shipped faster internationally while allowing our customers to use the MarketOrders native token as a way to settle payments in a matter of minutes rather than days or weeks.’

And that’s not all; blockchain technology brings transparency to an outdated supply chain system and ensure the provenance of the products and their legitimacy.

The future is now, and we’re seizing it.

Learn more about MarketOrders here.

 

Sources:

Categories
MarketOrders News

MarketOrders Celebrates Diversity at the London Stock Exchange

 

 

The London Stock Exchange Group welcomed Diversity UK on Monday 11th June 2018 to mark its contribution to improving equality and inclusion in Britain and to mark the publication of the 2018 edition of the #Top100AsianStarsinUKTech #innovation #women #tech #entrepreneurship.

 

 

Our very own Sukhi Jutla, Co-founder and COO of MarketOrders was invited to the LSE to celebrate being listed on the Top 100 Asian Stars in UK Tech.

 

The date coincided with the launch of London Tech Week 2018 and the 171st birthday of women’s rights campaigner, Millicent Fawcett. 

 

Diversity UK members and guests were welcomed by Nikhil Rathi, CEO of the London Stock Exchange Group and senior colleagues from the organisation’s diversity and inclusion team. 

 

Lord Gadhia, who was a judge for Diversity UK’s Top 100 Asian Stars in UK Tech 2018 list, gave the keynote address emphasising the importance of diversity and inclusion for Britain.

 

Read more here:

https://diversityuk.org/london-stock-exchange-group-welcomes-diversity-uk/

 

https://www.lseg.com/markets-products-and-services/our-markets/london-stock-exchange/equities-markets/raising-equity-finance/market-open-ceremony/welcome-stories/ondon-stock-exchange-group-welcomes-diversity-uk

 

Sukhi Jutla with Rav Bumbra, Lopa Patel and Farrah Quereshi

 

 

Written by CEO & Founder, Ram Krishnna Rao