Helping improve the well-being of the community by contributing my time, experience, and enthusiasm to support local stakeholder groups.
Professional:
President at Transglobal Systems Of Canada (TSOC), a second generation family owned telecom manufacturing business founded in Mississauga (1983).
Managing Partner at Think Modular Networks, a network cabling and smart technologies integrator established in Mississauga (2019).
Volunteer:
[Podcast Transcript Using Artificial Intelligence]
Umar Hameed 0:01
Are you ready to become awesomer? Hello everyone! My name is Umar Hameed, I'm your host on the No Limits Selling Podcast, where industry leaders share their tips, strategies and advice on how you can become better, stronger, faster. Just before we get started, I've got a question for you, do you have a negative voice inside your head? We all do, right? I'm gonna help you remove that voice and under 30 days guaranteed, not only remove it, but transform it. So instead of the voice that sabotages you, there's one that propels you to much higher levels of performance and success. There's a link in the show notes, click on it to find out more. All right! Let's get started.
Umar Hameed 0:41
Hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of the No Limits Selling Podcast. Today we're talking with Imran Hasan, he is the CEO of Think Modular. Welcome to the show.
Imran Hasan 0:53
Thank you, Umar for having me. It's a pleasure to be here with your listenership.
Umar Hameed 0:58
So we met at a meeting where you were talking about Crime Stoppers,
Imran Hasan 1:03
Correct.
Umar Hameed 1:03
and it intrigued me that why would we need a way for citizens to report an issue or a crime that doesn't involve calling 911.
Imran Hasan 1:16
So Umar, you know, what Crime Stoppers brings to the community is an anonymous way of connecting what the public sees or hears that is suspicious or illegal in their in their neighborhoods, and being able to report that anonymously to the authorities without having to report who they are, and provide details about themselves. That in itself provides an additional level of resilience and confidence in the in that relationship between the public law enforcement agencies in partnership with with with the media.
Umar Hameed 1:56
As we started doing this interview, I was thinking back to something would have happened in the 1970s. It was in New York City, many high rises, and a woman was being raped in an alley. And hundreds of people heard what was going on and nobody picked up the phone to call. And I think they did a lot of research studies around that. And part of that was that's the case somebody else is going to do it. So sometimes, you know, I didn't don't need to step up. And then the second part was people just didn't want to get involved. What if that person finds out I reported on them. So talk to me about that. That human drive to stay safe and how that interacts with the need for Crime Stoppers.
Imran Hasan 2:42
Well, Umar, I think the first element that we can touch on is fear. And I think the fear of repercussion, which you touched on earlier, and not only the repercussion from, you know, what if the bad people find out, I'm the one who ratted on them, but what about depending on the experience of the individual who's reporting the crime and the country they come from, and this is a reality. Many individuals from ethnic communities, whether it be from Africa or Asia or other parts of the world have had a less than positive interaction with law enforcement agencies. So they're coming to Canada or United States or North America carry with them that stigma of well, you know, police are not to be trusted. Therefore, when there's any kind of suspicious or legal activities, such as the one you described, that occur, they're reluctant to report it because they feel there may be repercussions by making the report to the police. That's why Crime Stoppers allows that intermediary where you can report the activity or the crime anonymously without having to provide your personal contact information. In fact, Crime Stoppers goes above and beyond should you inadvertently mentioned that you are the next door neighbor and in the situation where the crime occurred. We as Crime Stoppers remove that information from the report,
Umar Hameed 4:10
Keep your anonymity.
Imran Hasan 4:10
To o keep that anonymity and then be able to transcribe that information over to the appropriate law enforcement authorities.
Umar Hameed 4:19
Imran one of the things you mentioned was, you know, in many parts of the world, police forces are corrupt. And that lends to people not trusting the police in their home country, whatever country that happens to be, and they come to Canada or the US or the West and all of a sudden they're reticent to actually interact with the police. But also in our communities here. I'm visiting Canada. We're in Mississauga, Ontario today, from Baltimore. This many people in Baltimore that are thankful for the police. There's also communities where the police are the enemy, and that must happen in Canada as well. And the people that need help Most of those communities that have violence that have drugs, and it kind of puts them in a double bind, that they're trapped in a place and they can't reach out to the police. So how do you convey the message that it's a safe to talk to Crime Stoppers, but more importantly, how do you get people to actually break that old habit of not wanting to report to actually stepping up and actually doing it?
Imran Hasan 5:23
Well, you've brought forward a lot of interesting points, Umar, I'm going to say that, in countries around the world, where law enforcement personnel are not compensated adequately, then corruption tends to occur. But in North America, we have respected our law enforcement agencies and their personnel, we adequately compensate them for what they do. And we have an opportunity to build that bridge of respect and understanding and build a friendship and, and from my personal experience, being in Canada, for over four decades, I have always experienced a positive interaction with police. And it's because of the attitude I bring to the conversation. And I would encourage others to have that same optimism, and and keep an open mind. And understand that, you know, police are your friends, they're not there to harm us, they're there to protect and serve the community, and uphold the law. So if there's something that's happening intentionally or inadvertently, they are required to step in, and help us find that path to the right path. And I think that sometimes it could be, it could be a struggle, it could be a struggle for individuals to be corrected, or to be shown, you know, a path that is less than the path that they had chosen.
Umar Hameed 6:59
What's interesting is, in the last 2030 years, they have been looking at mirror neurons that are hardwired into who we are as human beings. And the whole thing, as it suggests, is very much mirroring people around us. And I think for us as babies, how we learn is very much mimicking our parents, I think Queen Elizabeth had, was interviewed a long time ago, where she was asking, How did you learn to be queen, he said, I learned like a monkey, I saw what my parents did, and I and I copied. And the reason I'm bringing that up is this is that we have mirror neurons, if you walk down a street and you smile at someone, even though they think you're nuts, they smile back, because we just hardwired to do that. And why I bring that up is this is you had mentioned your interactions with the police, you brought a certain attitude to those interactions. So if you're nervous, or suspicious of police officers, and you bring that vibe to them, they've got mirror neurons, and they start picking up that vibe, and they start reacting to that vibe, even though you may have legitimate reasons for having it, if they misinterpret it, it's gonna send that interaction down a certain path. And so really having that optimistic, grounded, rational view of this is how I want to interact with the person sets the tone for the entire conversation. But the question, I guess that for you, and I is, how do we get people to have that positive connection with the government with the police? Because certainly in Canada, and all the Western countries, is that corruption in police forces? Absolutely. Is it minimal? For sure. Whereas is more prevalent in in third world countries? So how do we get people to kind of change that mindset around police, that they're here to help us to serve us, and together as a community, we make this a safer place? It's okay, putting it on a sign. But how do you get imprinted in people's psyche?
Imran Hasan 8:57
Well, Umar, I think you mentioned, you know, learning from your environment, and I was always brought up, you know, as a young person, to respect my elders, you know, and that, you know, has transformed itself into how we interact with, you know, the public and even strangers, and a police officer may not immediately be your friend, but how you interact with that individual will determine the type of relationship you'll have going forward. And, you know, from the time you wake up in the morning, if you're grateful that, you know, you're able to wake up and take a deep breath, and, and, and stand on the right side of the Earth to, you know, to your interaction going out into the public, whether it's, you know, stopping at a red light or, or being pulled over because, you know, there was something that you may have done inadvertently or intentionally, that caused the, you know, the police interaction. Now, it's how do you deal with that interaction? positively, you could be defense, defensive, or you could be welcoming to listen, officer. I hope you're having a great day. I was. And I just wanted to know, was there something here that caught your attention that, you know, I may have inadvertently done. And if you approach the conversation that way, you know, police are humans to, you know, beneath that badge, and beneath that uniform, they're just like you and me Umar, and they have families, and they make mistakes. And like all of us, they want what's best for the community, you know, they want a safer and a stronger community together. And again, they can't do everything themselves. So they're going to rely on, you know, communication and honesty. And to be able to just be upfront about I made a mistake, and let's move forward together. What's the right path?
Umar Hameed 10:51
This is a little known secret. But I've gotten off from many, many speeding tickets, just with the attitude in dealing with the police officer. So hey, so my sister in law Bard one of borrowed my car, and she was going in Baltimore, in the far left lane, ready to make a left turn, but you could also go straight, which was legal, and there's a car there with the trunk lit up, and she does that, and turns out to be a police officer, that gives her a ticket. The very next day, I same car, same intersection, same mistake, probably a different cop, but who knows, and I get pulled over. And because I was like, you know, quite friendly. And he said, Be more careful next time. So she got a ticket. I did not. And so it was like, she's blonde here. Blue Eyed, beautiful. It's like Ha, I found the only gay cup in Baltimore.
Imran Hasan 11:43
What the, what the viewers or the listeners don't know, is that you have a great smile.
Umar Hameed 11:47
So that's one equation we've been talking about Crime Stoppers. One of the challenges we have with police is that they see the ugliest side of humanity on a daily basis. It's a nonstop onslaught. So it's only natural to build up defenses. And some of the darkest sense of humor that I've heard are police officers, because that's one of the ways you cope with this. But in order to make this a better community, we also need our police to be more present and connected and understanding. So does Crime Stoppers have a bridge on the other side? Or is there another organization that's trying to get police to be actually more accepting of community policing?
Imran Hasan 12:30
Well, Crime Stoppers is an organization for, you know, the general knowledge of the public, which is not an extension of the police. We are a community led organization. You know that including myself, as the chair for Crime Stoppers is a volunteer, we're not compensated for what we do. And we're community minded people. And we are a very diverse group of people from different ethnic backgrounds and faith groups and, and gender, representing different gender groups. And oftentimes, I've had conversations with our friends at pure Regional Police. I'm going to go one step further. There are partners there, they're more than our friends. And we've had the conversation about there's going to be instances where Peel Regional Police will lead a conversation and peel Crime Stoppers will walk alongside them. There'll be other instances where peel Crime Stoppers leads initiative or a conversation and Peel Regional Police walks alongside us. So yes, the answer the long answer to your question is yes, I feel Crime Stoppers provides that conduit of community connectivity between the law enforcement agency and the public, again, in partnership with our media, and being able to create activities, initiatives, events, whether it's a fundraiser, like we've done in the past in the form of a carwash, and a barbecue or whether it was a hot sauce challenge we did with our first responders, or, you know, we're going to be having a Canada Day barbecue coming up in in 2022. And these are opportunities for the public to interact with our first responders community, including our law enforcement agencies. And it really does help to build those bridges of respect and understanding.
Umar Hameed 14:24
So outside of your work with Crime Stoppers, what else are you doing to make the world a better place?
Imran Hasan 14:33
Well, I think we all have a responsibility to make the place that we live the place that we work and, and the place that you know we raise a family in a better place and how you can do that. And an example of you know myself, I volunteer on the board of Crime Stoppers. I also volunteer on the board of the food bank. And, and I know the importance of food insecurity and the continued rise of dependency on food banks, you know, especially through this, this COVID-19 Emergency Umar, and it's not just locally here in Peel or in Ontario or in Canada, it's across North America and around the world. And, you know, what we can do is help give a hand up to the community in need. And how we can do that is by supporting our local food banks, I'm on the board of directors for eating food for change. But like eating food for change, there's other food banks within Mississauga, Ontario, Canada and around the world, I would encourage your listeners, if they can to support the local food bank by either dropping off some some food that is non perishable that can be, you know, forwarded to the, to the members in the community who need it most, or to make a small donation. Because food banks have the capability and the capacity to be able to buy food much more in abundance than what you and I can do when we go to a grocery store. And, and remember, the community need can't survive only on non perishable food items. They also need fresh fruit, they need vegetables, they need fruits, they need meat, they need cheese, they need milk, and other products like that. And food banks can buy that if you make a donation, and then they can serve those members in their community who are most in need.
Umar Hameed 16:25
I am 61 years old. And there's not been one day in my life where I did not have enough food, not even the thought of I don't have enough food. So it's it almost disconnects you from the need that food banks exist. Like it's a thought it's an it's an idea. And I think it's dear listener, it's your job to go to a food bank, and be there when food is served. In in Baltimore, they have this organization called our daily bread. And they reach out to churches, and they have 100 casserole pans. And they give it to many, many churches, and they make one kind of casserole. So there's 100 dishes of that, and they put it in their freezer. And every meal, they get the 100 cans out and they have salad and other things. And homeless people come. And so I got a chance to actually go there and sit down and eat with people and see how essential that was. You don't know to the walk, not necessarily in the other person's shoe. But it's because by and you hear the stories, and I'm gonna share one horrific statistic with you. In the US, if you see a homeless person with an empty cup, with no money in it, and you reach in your wallet, and you put a $10 bill in that cup, that human being for that moment is richer than 50% of all Americans. Because there are people that have houses and homes but their, their net worth is negative. The $10 in your cup is enough to make you richer than 50% of the public. We're all blessed. Go out there, help your community. And the best gift you can ever give is your time and your money. Because you get that gift back in just the feelings of being useful.
Imran Hasan 18:20
And if I can add to what you've said, And I echo everything that you've you've mentioned, Umar, there's one thing that we can give an abundance that will never make us more, or make us less rich. And that is a smile. And when you smile at someone, it's contagious, you know, in a good way, they will smile back. And when you smile at someone, think about the mental wellness that that person is going to experience the uplifting spirit in that person to perhaps survive one more day. And that's simply because of your smile.
Umar Hameed 18:54
A friend of mine had told me that he never gives money to homeless people unless he gets their name gets this story. Because that human contact because most of the human contact that people on the street have is negative. And he's teaching his kids. This is a human being. And we get to hear this story and we get to connect with them as a human being is that we shouldn't lose sight of that it's human to human doesn't matter who you are, Prime Minister of Canada, or someone on the street, we need that connection. We need that kindness. Imran before we part company, is there one word of wisdom you would give our listeners, maybe a mind hack that would make them more productive or happier, or just more more joyful in this world.
Imran Hasan 19:39
Well when it comes to food insecurity and and you know serving our community need I think of the adage you know when you give a man a fish you feed him for a day, but if you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime. So I encourage you know your listenership to to not only help give a hand up to that community need, but to show them how they can support themselves.
Umar Hameed 20:07
Imran, thank you so much for spending time with me today learn a lot and can't wait to lend assistance to our people in Mississauga, Brampton, the Peel Region. Thank you so much for being on the show.
Imran Hasan 20:19
Thank you for having your Umar. And safe journeys to you. I know that you're a bit of a travel bug and that you'll be moving around the globe and look forward to reconnecting with you and your back.
Umar Hameed 20:37
If you enjoyed this episode, please go to iTunes and leave a five-star rating. And if you're looking for more tools, go to my website at nolimitsselling.com. I've got a free mind training course there, that's going to teach you some insights from the world of Neuro-Linguistic Programming and that is the fastest way to get better results.