World

Executive coaching expert, Dr. Taryn Stejskal shares her thoughts on how resilience is the key to beating COVID-19

Published

5 years ago

May 22, 2020

The outbreak of Coronavirus has led to a worldwide crisis with extensive losses in terms of health and much of the global economy. The pandemic has time and again reminded us evidently of the brittleness of some of the most straightforward human-made systems. The worldwide lockdown and isolation being observed for over two months to break the chain of COVID-19 are giving rise to restlessness among people as they are unable to step out of their homes. Executive coach and expert on resilience, Dr. Taryn Stejskal, recommends ways to beat the stress by building resilience and a positive attitude.

The uncertainty, unease, and seclusion caused by COVID-19 are triggering anxiety and fear among the citizens. The current situation has transformed our lives by putting our minds into survival mode. “Our creative and rational sides have shrunk, and we are forgetting the concept of connecting with others. In a phase like this, nothing but resilience alone will help us fight and survive the disease better,” says Dr. Stejskal.

In fact, through her book “Flourish or Fold: The Five Practices of Particularly Resilient People”, which is slated for release by the end of 2020, Dr. Stejskal has specifically focused on ways to enhance resilience in life, as well as leadership. She hopes to aid people to bring out the best in themselves each day. As of now, she is using her formal training and experience to guide teams, CEOs, and people in general to overcome their fears and failures due to heavy pressure, vulnerability, and insecurity caused by the pandemic.

Dr. Taryn knows that the pandemic is, without a doubt, a catastrophe for the whole world. However, it shouldn’t mean the apocalypse. We have overcome other epidemics like Swine flu, SARS, and MERS in the past. Dr. Taryn elaborated, “While we need to be cautious of what is happening around, one need not obsess over the pandemic. The only way to stay sane and strong during this world crisis is by facing the situation with courage, patience, and compassion, and most of all resilience”

Dr. Stejskal, who also owns a company, Resilience Leadership, can often be seen and heard advising people to turn negative thoughts into positive ones. She suggests leading a healthy lifestyle with good sleep and eating habits and reassures that normalcy will return. Dr. Taryn has consulted top leaders of Fortune 500 companies and illustrious startups. With her observation and experience, Dr. Taryn says that it’s time to identify what they can and cannot control and concentrate only on the former.

“Our resilience in the present times will be tested not just by how we curb the spread of the coronavirus but also how we make the best out of the rest,” added Dr. Stejskal. She further concludes by saying that while it is critical to take the pandemic seriously, panicking will not be of any help. It is imperative to place a great deal of importance on cleanliness, not just of the body but also of the mind. While doing so, people must remember to be resilient.

World

TRG Chairman Khaishgi and CEO Aslam implicated in $150 million fraud

Published

7 days ago

June 23, 2025

Jenny Jackson

In a scathing 52-page decision, the Sindh High Court has found that TRG Pakistan’s management was acting fraudulently and that Bermuda-based Greentree Holdings historic and prospective purchase of TRG shares were illegal, fraudulent and oppressive.

The Sindh High Court has further directed TRGP to immediately hold board elections that have been overdue and illegally withheld by the existing board since January 14, 2025.

In the landmark ruling, the Sindh High Court has blocked the attempted takeover of TRG Pakistan Limited by Greentree Holdings, declaring that the shares acquired by Greentree, nearly 30% of TRG’s stock, were unlawfully financed using TRG’s funds in violation of Section 86(2) of the Companies Act 2017.

“Having concluded that the affairs of TRGP are being conducted in an unlawful and fraudulent manner and in a manner oppressive to members such as the Petitioner (Zia Chishti), the case falls for corrective orders under sub-section (2) of section 286 of the Companies Act,” Justice Adnan Iqbal Chaudhry concluded.

The case was brought by TRGP former CEO and founder Pakistani-American technology entrepreneur Zia Chishti against TRG Pakistan, its associate TRG International and TRG International’s wholly-owned shell company Greentree Limited. In addition, the case named AKD Securities for managing Greentree’s illegal tender offer as well as various regulators requiring that they act to perform their regulatory duties.

The case centred around the dispute that shell company Greentree Limited was fraudulently using TRG Pakistan’s own funds to purchase TRG Pakistan’s shares in order to give control to Zia Chishti’s former partners Mohammed Khaishgi, Hasnain Aslam and Pinebridge Investments.

According to the case facts, the Chairman of TRG Pakistan Mohammed Khaishgi and the CEO of TRG Pakistan Hasnain Aslam masterminded the $150 million fraud. They did so together with Hong Kong based fund manager Pinebridge who has two nominees on TRG Pakistan’s board, Mr. John Leone and Mr. Patrick McGinnis.

According to the court papers, Khaishgi, Aslam, Leone, and McGinnis set up a shell company called Greentree which they secretly controlled and from which they started buying up shares of TRG Pakistan. The fraud was that Greentree was using TRG Pakistan’s funds itself. The idea was to give Khaishgi, Aslam, Leone, and McGinnis control over TRG Pakistan even though they owned less than 1% of the company, lawyers of the petitioner told the court.

This was all part of a broader battle for control over TRG Pakistan that is raging between Khaishgi, Aslam, Leone, and McGinnis on one side and TRG Pakistan founder Zia Chishti on the other side. Zia Chishti has been trying to retake control of TRG Pakistan after he was forced to resign in 2021 based on sexual misconduct allegations made by a former employee of his. This year those allegations were shown to be without basis in litigation that Chishti launched in the United Kingdom against The Telegraph newspaper which had printed the allegations. The Telegraph was forced to apologize for 13 separate articles it published about Chishti and paid him damages and legal costs.

After Chishti resigned in 2021, Khaishgi, Aslam, Leone, and McGinnis moved to take total control over TRG Pakistan and its various subsidiaries including TRG International and to block out Chishti. The Sindh High Court’s ruling today has reversed that effort, ruling the scheme fraudulent, illegal, and oppressive.

It now appears that Zia Chishti will take control of TRG Pakistan in short order when elections are called. He and his family are now the largest shareholders with over 30% interest. He is closely followed by companies related to Jahangir Siddiqui & Company which have over a 20% interest. The result appears to be a complete vindication for Zia Chishti and damning for his rivals Aslam, Khaishgi, Leone, and McGinnis who have been ruled to have been conducting a fraud.

TRG Pakistan’s share price declined by over 8% on the news on heavy volume. Market experts say that this was because the tender offer at Rs 75 was gone and that now shares would trade closer to their natural value. Presently the shares are trading at Rs 59 per share.

According to the court ruling, since 2021, shell company Greentree had purchased approximately 30% of TRG shares using $80 million of TRG’s own money, which means that that the directors of TRG Pakistan allowed company assets to be funneled through offshore affiliates TRG International and Greentree for acquiring TRG’s shares – a move deemed both fraudulent and oppressive to minority shareholders. The Sindh High Court also found illegal Greentree’s further attempt to purchase another 35% of TRG shares using another $70 million of TRG’s money in a tender offer.

The ruling is a major victory for the tech entrepreneur Zia Chishti against his former partners and the legal ruling paves the way for him to take control of TRG in a few weeks.