Jawad Ahsan, CFO of Axon, the significant technology & weapons company, has found incredible success despite not following the expected path toward it. This week on AMP we discuss his new leadership book and his thoughts on team building, tasers, and tackling diversity.

As a first-generation Pakistani-American raised outside Boston, Jawad entered college with the intention of pursuing medicine, right up until his C in chemistry. From thereon in he decided to forge his own path, leading to a series of esteemed management programs and CFO roles for major companies. With an atypical finance background, Jawad became incredibly passionate about leadership development, regularly presenting on the topic. Last December he made good on the frequent suggestion that he write a book, publishing What They Didn’t Tell Me: How to Be a Resilient Leader and Build Teams You Can Trust.

We dissect the book with Jawad, honing in on the idea of defining one’s North Star. Are you one of the few people that can clearly articulate what your path in life is, or do you go on autopilot and rely on serendipity to advance? He outlines the four uncoachable traits essential for building strong teams, fanboys over MBAs with Asad, and gives his 21-year-old self some advice on open-mindedness, cultivating mentorship, and dispassionately filtering feedback. Even feedback like being told—not once, but twice—that there is something wrong with the way you learn.

As an executive of a company primarily producing tasers, body cameras, and software for law enforcement, we ask why he wrote this book now, in this political climate. He feels strongly that the lessons he’s sharing can change people’s lives. Too, he’s proud of the achievements at Axon, whose mission is to protect life and eventually make the bullet obsolete. Founded after two of CEO Rick Smith's high school classmates were murdered in a road rage incident, Axon has saved over 200,000 lives with its products. Jawad shares two remarkable stories about de-escalation: that of an armed teenage girl in the midst of a very public mental health crisis, and of a young Black Axon engineer remotely activating the body cam of the officer who pulled him over. Axon has also developed programs that track when officers repeatedly ignore policy and now conducts empathy training via VR by putting officers in the “offender’s” shoes.

In addition to CFO, Jawad is Axon’s chief diversity & inclusion officer. He speaks about the importance of giving platforms to minorities, his preference for plurality over diversity, and how a unique American meritocracy offers myriad opportunities, as long as you’re really good at what you do. Next up? With their body cams being used in some of the most high-profile cases in 2020, Axon is trying to find a way to serve as a bridge between our communities and law enforcement.

This interview was recorded in January 2021. Check out what Jawad or Axon are up to on social media, and find out more about What They Didn’t Tell Me here.

American Muslim Project is a production of Rifelion, LLC.

Writer and Researcher: Lindsy Gamble

Show Edited by Mark Annotto and Asad Butt

Music by Simon Hutchinson

Hosted by Asad Butt

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