Bhavdeep Singh: Exciting Trends, Productive Habits, and Lessons Learned

Bhavdeep Singh is currently a Managing Partner at Whitehawk Associates, an advisory/consulting platform with clients in healthcare, retail, and supply chain. The company was formed in 2021 by Singh himself.

Concurrently, he is also the Chairman of HealthQuarters in New York, an exciting start-up that is bringing together clinical care and multiple wellness providers on one platform. He and the HQ team recently launched their first location in NYC which has been done in collaboration with Mount Sinai and they are now looking at an aggressive rollout plan to launch up to 100 locations in the next 3 to 5 years.

Immediately before joining HealthQuarters, Bhavdeep Singh was the CEO of Fortis Healthcare, a leading integrated healthcare delivery service provider in Asia that operates over 30 hospitals, approximately 4,000 beds, and over 400 diagnostics collection centers.

Before joining Fortis, Bhavdeep Singh was with Ahold, a $26 billion retailer with almost 800 stores. He was with the company for almost five years and served on the company's executive board. While there, he was EVP of HR and then went on to head Ahold's US operations and new formats business. In addition, prior to his initial stint at Fortis, Bhavdeep Singh was the CEO of Reliance Retail in India where he led the opening of more than 700 new stores in less than two years.

We had the opportunity to talk with Bhavdeep Singh who shared with us the habits of his which make him more productive, the things he's most excited about, and what a typical day looks like for him.

What's one trend that really excites you?

I am the father of two children and their potential to make a difference excites me. But, it's not just my children - it is the promise of our younger generation as a whole that excites me. While millennials are often criticized, I am actually a fan of how they view life and how they are actively working to make the world a better place.

I think back to when I was in my teens and early 20's - my life was about me, my future, my career, and my success - it was basically a "me, myself, and I" story and not much else mattered. But, today, there are so many young people that are thinking about helping others, focused on meaning and purpose, and a general concern for humanity.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive?

I think of life and productivity like a kite. You need an anchor, tether, and wings in order for it to work. My anchor is the values my parents and my community have instilled in me. In Sikhism, courage (Nirbhau) and positive spirit (Chardi Kala) have an important place in my life. Like most Sikhs in the world, I try to do "path" (prayer) every day - that keeps me together and focused.

With that said, I do try to live a disciplined and structured life which takes a solid work ethic. While I am no longer a "spring chicken", I would like to think that I work as hard as anyone I know. I keep the mentality that the job must get done so I start early and keep going until late if I have to. I try to stay focused and driven every day, in every instance, and in every situation. I hold myself accountable no matter what.

What was the worst job you ever had and what did you learn from it?

During my early retail days, money was tight and I had several part-time jobs - taxi driver, security guard, bus boy, paper boy, landscaping, and a few others. With that said, I don't know that I have had a bad job.

My experience has been that how I felt about a job had more to do with my attitude than anything that was happening at the job itself. So, knowing that this was something I had to do in order to support my family, I went in with a positive attitude and made the best of it.

While I have never had a bad job, like everyone else, I have had situations where I did not enjoy my job and that was invariably a result of a challenging boss. As I have grown in my own career, I have realized that the worst kind of manager is one that is unsure or insecure. This has taught me to work harder at being a good manager who enables his team members to do well.

What are you most excited about?

I am excited about so much!

I am excited to see how we will learn to apply new innovative things like AI, Robotics, and Automation to make this a better world.

I am excited (and curious) to see what will happen if we can effectively apply retail strategy to healthcare - imagine putting the patient at the center of everything, what a novel idea!

I am excited to see what happens when we cross boundaries and transfer principles across industries and geographies.

But, while all of the above are legitimate things to be excited about, I am most excited by all of us and how we will live in the future. As the father of two children, I am convinced our children are far smarter than us and they have a much more global view of things. They are also kinder and more gentle with fewer selfish behaviors - now, that is something to get excited about. With this base foundation in place, I can quickly get excited if I think about what our children will do to make this world a better place.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

I am an early riser and start my day with prayer as faith has a huge place in my life. As far back as I can remember, I have always said that morning is a time for contemplation and thought - and that's what I try to do. However, if I step back a bit, my day actually starts the night before where I spend a couple of minutes looking at my calendar to plan the next day.

I take a walk or jump on the treadmill as I am constantly working to hit my daily target of 15,000 steps. However, I spend the majority of my day going between meetings and doing work. I am a fairly serious person and while "all work and no play" may be a bit extreme, it's also not that far off either.

Since COVID, I have ended up working from home once or twice a week and I spend that time with clients or at my local coffee shop which is a nice, and healthy, substitute for the office.

Since I work with international clients around the world, there are typically calls I need to take in the evening. My days are full and fairly intense but I don't think I would have it any other way.