In Business There Are No Foes, Only Friends
What happens beyond MTN?
In telecom, I am constantly scanning my horizons. I meet so many people and, spend time with them. I just spent a day with Arun Sarin [former CEO of Vodafone]. But nothing specific on my mind really!
Did the thought ever cross your mind of getting a professional CEO like Arun Sarin into Bharti?
He is a great professional. But he has the same problem I have. He has led one of the largest companies in the world. Where does he go from here? He has to find his next fix.
What about Asim Ghosh (former CEO of Vodafone India)?
You must remember, despite his best efforts Asim, could not upstage our team. But if there is one professional outside the Bharti stable in India I have huge respect for, it is Asim. He straddled three roles — mine, Akhil’s and Manoj’s. But I always used to tell him you are not going to get past us.
And beyond business, what’s on your mind?
Business is the only canvas available to me. I am not a trained scientist or a lawyer.
What about politics?
Politics is one way of nation building. Sitting in this room five years ago, I would have said yes, I’ll consider that seriously. But by and by, that has gone away. It’s not on the table anymore.
Participation is another form of nation building. That’s why we have the Bharti Foundation. One lakh children will be studying in these schools. To my mind, this is the biggest intervention programme by any corporate in independent India. We are building a school for public policy in Mohali, on the lines of the Kennedy School. I don’t see myself as a businessman alone.
Look at the Wal-Mart family. They have a 40 percent stake in the company. But only one Walton is the chairman. There’s nobody else in business. Somebody is a teacher, somebody else is a scientist, an investment banker. These models work. I am trying to break that standard mould that family businesses must be run in a certain way. We are privileged to be successful. But are we a family business? I have always said no. We are a family in business. And that distinction makes a huge difference.
Nandan Nilekani crossed over. Does that catalyse something in your mind?
Nandan freed himself from his executive responsibilities over time. I haven’t cleared my table as yet to take any responsibilities like those. But who knows. That’s not politics.
Doing a Nandan sometime?
I don’t know in what form and shape. Maybe at the Bharti Foundation, maybe a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment. They’re doing phenomenal work on climate change, disarmament, non-proliferation. That interests me.
When do you expect to clear your desk?
Hopefully the job will keep changing. I am not doing what I was doing five years ago. I’m not even doing what I was doing three years ago. Manoj is now the MD of the company and he is on the board. I think in a few years time I will be just the chairman of the group. All these new people who are coming in the system will allow me to do that.
How do you transfer the intuition you have developed?
It’s like my kids coming to me with questions on math. I could give them the answers. And they’d ask me how did you do it? I’d say I can’t tell you that, but I know the answers. They’d laugh and go away. Now, they’ve learnt their formulas and my kids know how to get there.
So from my point of view, processes take care of a large part of intuition. I hope eventually, they will develop it for themselves. They will combine it – more process, less intuition. I had more intuition and less process. In large part it’s already happened. Last year, I was president of CII and travelled too often. But Airtel gained market share. They did a good job.
Single Page View
