How to use wealth to fulfill social obligations

By Indrajit Gupta/Forbes India

In the past few years, business leaders have created enormous wealth for their shareholders and for themselves. Is there a way to now use that wealth to solve complex social problems?

Mehmood Khan grew up in Mewat, Haryana, one of the most backward districts in the country. Hard work and native intelligence took him to London, headquarters to consumer products giant Unilever, where he was head of global innovation. While there, he decided to use his network and business skills to help pull out the 4 million-odd residents of Mewat out of the boondocks. So he networked with IBM, Future Group and Mother Diary among others to build local enterprise using local talent.

He focussed on women in a district where female literacy levels were an abysmal 2% to 3%. After six to seven years of convincing young girls to make school a habit, literacy levels have shot up to 86% in the six to 14 age group. Along the way, he discovered large swathes of rural customers who, he believed, held value that could be unlocked.

When we first wrote on Khan in June this year, it was clear the story had struck a chord. It was widely circulated among his alumni at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Khan says he was flooded with offers to help via SMS, email and phone calls from all over the world.

Shortly after Manmohan Singh's government was re-elected in May, Khan reckoned it was time for some serious soul-searching. A few months later, he opted to retire from his job at Unilever and commit himself full-time to resurrecting Mewat. It is time, he said, for people like him to give back to society. He now lives there, travels widely across the district, and leads a team of volunteers on projects that promise enormous change.

Now, it isn't difficult to see why Khan's story inspired a section of our readers to act. Many are trapped in jobs that hold no meaning. A few find a cause they identify with, but their involvement is usually limited to writing out the occasional cheque. Only a handful of leaders I know of go beyond passive giving and engage deeply to solve complex problems confronting society. I have oft en wondered, what holds them back! These are high-performance individuals who have been there, done that. Three weeks ago, I decided to find out why.

Tarun Das is the best go-to guy out there, if you are a business leader looking for advice. You can trust him to give you the truth and nothing but the truth, even if you fl inch. Two weeks ago, Das stepped down as chief mentor of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII). He intends to spend his time helping businesses find ways to integrate with society.

During his tenure at the helm of CII, Das says he was witness to an incredible revolution. For much of the eighties and nineties, Indian industry was uncompeti- tive, laid back and destined to go under when liberalisation came knocking. That destiny though went the way of the Malthusian nightmare - it remained a fable. Instead, Indian industry learnt to stop whining and learnt to become globally competitive. It has come to a point where even an 800-pound gorilla like General Electric is being compelled to look closely, and perhaps emulate the innovative services and products sweeping its markets from India. This, Das says, was the first revolution. He now wants to see a second one in his lifetime - businesses stepping up and engaging deeply with social development

What, I ask him, will galvanise business leaders? His answer is a simple one. After they've built their businesses and earned their glory, every leader in the country craves only one thing. Respect. Respect of the kind Ratan Tata commands. It's the kind of thing that isn't earned overnight. It is built brick by brick, by engaging deeply with the society they live in.

I took the thought to somebody who knows a thing or two about the personal transformation business leaders ought to go through. As head of the Azim Premji Foundation, Dileep Ranjekar has had the opportunity of working closely with Premji. Th e foundation is focused on primary education. Ranjekar says a social mission requires long-term commitment from the promoter.

In their case, he says, there was no way they could figure out a sensible agenda without actually taking the plunge. They considered a few options before deciding to stick with primary education. That is where, they reckoned, they could bring considerable change. Bringing systemic change though is a bit like peeling an onion they figured along the way. Take for instance something that appears as simple as training teachers. Primary school teachers are trained by high school teachers who in turn have never taught at the primary levels.

How do you deal with the gaps this deficiency causes? Th en there is the fact that students come from diverse backgrounds, some from homes where both parents are illiterate. So, says Ranjekar, you've got to take a holistic view of things, understand the linkages, and keep plugging away. Progress can be painfully slow.

To Premji's credit, he wasn't interested in just writing a cheque to support the cause. He was equally concerned about how the money he contributes is deployed; understanding the issues on hand; the impact the foundation could create; and whether or not it actually helps in transforming lives.

In 1998, when Premji first spoke to Ranjekar about setting up the foundation, Ranjekar recalls asking his boss a question: Would you be willing to run it a professionally as Wipro is run? It wasn't a trivial question. Because in many companies, corporate social response (CSR) activities are oft en handled by a junior team or the promoter's spouse. Premji told Ranjekar to go ahead and hire the best people, empower them with the resources needed to act, and build internal capabilities. It also meant shying away from publicity. In Premji's mind, publicity kills credibility.

Today, the foundation has close to 400 full-time employees and hundreds of part-time volunteers on its roster. By all accounts, it is run as professionally as Wipro is. It has been a long, arduous journey. But Premji stuck to his word.

This raised yet another question in my mind. How does one get the best minds to engage with the challenges our society faces? It isn't easy in India.

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