Virtual Leaders | Lockdown an opportunity to think more deeply on any matter, personal or business: AZB & Partners founder Zia Mody

The lockdown triggered by the spread of the coronavirus has entered into the third phase and entrepreneurs, the original hustlers, have had to make a plenty of changes to their daily routine to adapt to working from home (WFH). Their daily schedules have been disrupted and their long drawn out usual meetings have been replaced by video calls. Not to mention the stress of a looming economic slowdown and pressure from investors.

Moneycontrol looks at how a scrum of business leaders is dealing with these fast changing times. In today’s edition of Virtual Leaders, Network 18’s Rakesh Khar spoke to Zia Mody, noted corporate lawyer and Founder-Managing Partner of AZB & Partners.

You can read other editions of Virtual Leaders here.

Edited excerpts from the interview:

Q: We have completed 40 days plus of lockdown. This is unprecedented. How has your work from home experience been? 

A: I have set habits. I am used to paper and I am used to people. I must say the first two weeks were tough to get a shift in the mind set. But now one is getting used to not being able to communicate face to face. I am getting used to using technology as a way to get work done.

I find the younger lawyers much more adept and comfortable in embracing new technology. They really don’t see that it is so difficult. That has been good news for me. As a law firm, our lawyers are working. I would not say it is business as usual. It is little inefficient. The reality is that we have to get used to the new reality. But we must thank technology for sustaining us all during the lockdown time.

Q: Going forward, do you see work from home being an enduring phenomenon?

A:  There is a slight dip in the output. There is inefficiency and the deal flow is slower. I think the reality would entail partly working from home. We really don’t know how will it all pan out?

The way back to work will be gradual. I think Courts will have vacation in Mumbai. You won’t, therefore, have to test the proposition right away. I see Courts too will be reluctant to resume as before Covid. It is not as if virus will just go away. I think we all will have to live with the virus. It is troubling right now for me.

Q: Given the lockdown and its resultant highly adverse impact on business and economy, what kind of feedback are you getting from your clients?

A: There are a couple of threads to it. One, nobody has given up on India. It is a destination. The worry is the global recession which will hit everybody and not only India. Private Equity (PE) and Strategic Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) entities are trying to see what kind of economic impact lockdown will have across all their portfolios. They would be looking at their existing targets to see if they are healthy.

The medium and long terms play of India in infrastructure, healthcare, pharmaceuticals and the entire consumer space is inescapable. I see a short term pause for some, just because they are just trying to take a deep breath to see where the world has re-aligned itself.

Q: Given the economic contraction, do you see any major PE exits in India?

A: I think global PE funds would be looking at all their portfolios globally and India would be a focus area as well. They would be looking at Asia. I don’t think there is any stopping the PE activity. To my mind, the PE activity will continue but not at the same pace. There will be slightly more caution.

Q: Has work from home given you an opportunity to spend more time with family and friends?

A: Yes. I spent more time with my husband then in years and years. I have a daughter living with us (she was earlier in US). It is great to have her locked up with us. I have two other daughters. We call them by video daily and it feels great to connect. I have also found time to connect with some old friends and professional colleagues across the globe. I would say there has been more time spent in reconnecting than I have done in the last five years.

Q: What are key leadership lessons that the lockdown has taught you and business in general?

A: It has made us more contemplative; made us re-assess priorities and distil out the important ones. It is time to think that we don’t need to get paranoid about 100 things. It may be just about 50 issues that should bother you. Most importantly, I have got an opportunity to think more deeply and calmly on any matter, be it personal or about business.

As regards clients, the key learning has been to anticipate such a sudden swift risk. I think companies will have to see the importance of role of risk officers across all asset classes. Also, how do we prepare companies in which we invest for establishment of robust governance models? We have to ensure as to how we turn out to be fairly good, if not excellent, at managing this kind of crisis.