Arvind Singhal: Men of steel

MARKETMIND

This last fortnight has brought the spotlight on four very different individuals from three different countries, whom I would unabashedly refer to as "men of steel". Mr Lakshmi Mittal is obviously on this list. Mr Mukesh Ambani, Mr Warren Buffet, and Mr Bill Gates make up the rest of this very exclusive group.

What I admire and have learnt from these extraordinary individuals is to dream big, act big, and deliver (or promise to deliver) results that can truly make a global impact and directly or indirectly touch the lives of millions, if not hundreds of millions, in an overall positive way.

It was not so long ago when I picked up a copy of the Financial Times in London and read with some incredulity the offer from Mittal Steel to acquire Arcelor. My surprise was not so much on account of the financial value of the proposed offer as it was on the "audacity" of a first-generation entrepreneur from India to dream so outrageously. At that time, practically no one gave his bid a serious chance to succeed. Yet, despite polarising the European polity, and against all odds, Mr Mittal has come out a winner and, in the process, would now have added even more patina to India and to Indians even while setting an example for many other Indian businessmen (hopefully including some of our IT sector giants also, who, despite having rock solid balance sheets and underused leverage capacity, seem to be content giving lectures to fellow Indians and only occasionally picking up an overseas company or two for low double-digit million dollars) to not only dream big but also start acting big.

Mr Mukesh Ambani, in the retail vision he has shared at Reliance Industries' AGM, and on basis of the reports of his recent initiatives relating to the special economic zones and on integrating the moribund Indian agriculture sector with the mainstream higher growth Indian economy, has given the hope and the confidence that India is in for a major revolution in the next 10 years""one that has the potential to impact the lives of almost everyone in India in a largely conducive way (though some will no doubt face an adverse impact as they may directly come in the way of this juggernaut). More details on his grand dream will unfold in the coming months, but even now, based on what has been reported in the media already, he could well be one of the most influential individuals in India in this 21st century.

Mr Warren Buffet (of Berkshire Hathaway, US) has given a new meaning to outsourcing (to paraphrase an article in the recent issue of The Economist). It is not only the size of his charity (about $38 billion or almost Rs 175,000 crore) that has grabbed the attention of the world, but for many (including me), the fact that he has chosen to route the contribution through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation rather than creating one in his own name is the matter of surprise and admiration. Living in India, where even a paltry donation of a few thousand rupees comes with the expectation of a marble plaque being put up somewhere, and where politicians fight to put their names on two ends of a small flyover even though the same may have been built with public money and serious time and cost overruns, the fact that someone can give away such an amount to a foundation in someone else's name is truly admirable. The foundation, with almost $60 billion in resources (and promise of many more billions to come), will have an incredible impact on poverty and disease in almost every part of the world in the coming decades.

And finally, in this pantheon of titans, Mr Bill Gates is second to none. Having created Microsoft, which, despite being pilloried and ridiculed millions of times, but yet being on the desktop (or now, the laptops) of almost everyone who has any interface with modern technology, and having created incredible wealth for himself so as to be the richest human being on the planet for many years, the act of announcing an exit from his company in 2008, when he would just be about 53 years old and focusing his energy (and exceptional intellect) to selflessly work for humanitarian purposes (not limited to the boundaries of his home country) is extraordinary. Again, for me, as I observe scores of successful Indian business leaders not wanting to quit even when in their 70s, and when they do so, focus on passing on the mantle to their progeny whether capable or not, or where politicians wish to serve the "nation" when well into the 80s and even 90s, this is truly exceptional and worth respecting and emulating.

As I wonder what drives these diverse individuals to achieve so much success in their lives, and yet strive to do some more extraordinary things, a few qualities stand out in contrast with many who I have had the privilege to interact with in the last two decades of my professional life and who had the option and the opportunity to become titans themselves. In my view, each of these four has probably never questioned if something that they dream to do can be done or not. They would have spent more time and effort in finding out how to do it and then persevering. Of these four, at least in one instance, I can say with some closer insight that "failure" is not an option. Doubting thomases have no place there, and almost all the 24 hours in the day are meant to be used productively.

As humbly as I can, I would like to salute these men of steel!

arvind.singhal@technopak.com