Kobi Dorenbush is a creative thinker and a passionate competitor. Since his attempts at becoming the oldest professional basketball player in the NBA have proven unsuccessful, he predominantly uses his skills as a business consultant, specializing in banking, financial services and mergers & acquisitions. Over his career, he has been a practicing lawyer, chief executive of an international bank and financial services company and serial entrepreneur. Kobi currently works with various international businesses, helping them with business strategy and risk management.
Kobi will be one of the speakers at the DisruptHR Cayman event on May 25.
HR Gazette: Why did you decide to be a speaker at DisruptHR Cayman?
Kobi: I enjoy sharing my insights and experiences with others and I love the DisruptHR format. Rapid fire speaking and pack your message into a quick, digestible format.
HR Gazette: What will you be speaking about at DisruptHR Cayman?
Kobi: My first-hand experience in managing a business through a catastrophic event. It ultimately destroyed the business but taught me some great lessons.
HR Gazette: Why is your topic important to HR and Talent pros?
Kobi: Things don’t always go according to plan. When you’re building a team of people, you should include people who can continue to operate and add value even when your business is in uncharted territory.
HR Gazette: The DisruptHR format means you only get 5 minutes to speak to the audience. What unique challenges and opportunities does such a condensed speaking slot offer?
Kobi: It’s going to be a challenge to include many of the details that I want to include in such a short period of time. I’ll have to focus in on just a few key points.
HR Gazette: How does DisruptHR provide you with a platform to talk about Talent, Tech and HR in new ways?
Kobi: An audience that is looking to hear about issues in a different format may also be willing to hear about different issues.
HR Gazette: The HR Gazette is a big believer in the shift from traditional thoughts of HR to embracing modern HR as part of ‘people and culture‘. What does ‘people and culture’ mean to you?
Kobi: I learned a great analogy recently. Being part of a great business is not like being part of a “family”. We say it’s a family, but that’s not really the case since we don’t really fire members of our family, or increase/decrease their level of importance in the “family”. Instead, we should look at it as being part of a professional sports team. We’re all in it for a common goal, but we are all also personally enriched by participating in the team and its goals. As long as we are performing or status with the team is maintained. But over time, others on the team may become stronger and one individual may be relegated (or elevated) to a different position – or traded away or cut from the team altogether.
HR Gazette: DisruptHR Cayman is happening the evening prior to the 2016 CISHRP Conference. What are you hoping to get from this year’s Conference and which companies are you hoping to meet there?
Kobi: I’m always hoping for and looking to meet new people and companies from different industries in order to increase my network and find new opportunities.