“Young Turks Gear Up”

One of the early and senior women professionals in the corporate world, Sonu Bhasin has led businesses in senior leadership positions during her corporate career, including as director at ING Barings; president, Axis Bank; Group President, Yes Bank. Currently, Sonu is an independent director on the boards of well known companies. She is the founder of Families and Business (FAB), a platform for family businesses and the editor of Families and Business Magazine. In an interview with Corporate Citizen, Sonu Bhasin takes a fascinating behind the scenes look into what goes into the making of a successful family business and its future

Corporate Citizen: Your previous works have also dealt with business histories. What made you take up The Inheritors, specifically? Please describe the experience.

Sonu Bhasin: People like to hear/read stories. And the stories about ‘real’ people are more interesting than fictional ones unless, of course, the fictional one is Harry Potter!

Stories about people making ‘good out of challenging times’, to keep our belief in ourselves strong, have always been part of our story-telling. And in modern-day times, there are enough and more stories of people succeeding even when faced with challenges. The stories about successful sportsmen, actors, politicians are out there for people to read. To this list, I am adding the segment of family business owners.

Thus whether the stories are about success or even failure on the way to success, the readers are likely to identify with the characters and the stories. The readers can then decide, individually of course, of what they take away from each story of success or failure.

The other reason for writing ‘The Inheritors’ was to enable the readers to see beyond the ‘glamourous’ lifestyle of these people and get a peep into the hard work and determination that is needed to be successful.

CC: You said in the webinar that Family Businesses are the unsung heroes of the Indian economy. Could you elaborate?

I do believe that Family Businesses are the unsung heroes of the Indian economy. We know that they are all around us, but we haven’t really acknowledged their contribution to the economy. It is not because we don’t want to, rather it is because we are not aware of the quantum of their contribution. Data shows that approximately 90 per cent of world commerce is in the hands of Family Owned Businesses. Family businesses contribute between 60 to 90 per cent of the GDP in their respective economies, are the largest employers outside of the government and deliver better profitability, consistently, when compared to their non-family- owned counterparts.

CC: Sujoy Gupta of The Hindustan Times said he would want to take you to task for not probing into why Family Businesses hang on to their formulae/secrets of success. Would you agree with that critique?

Family Businesses, over years of working, arrive at their own way of doing business. A large part of that is based on their own family values and their outlook towards life in general and business in particular. Thus, even if they share their secret it may not work for others as each family is different. But since, the secret recipe of success is their own, I do not blame them for wanting to keep it a secret!

CC: The Inheritors deals with nine stories. Which story stands out the most (for you) and why?

Each story is different as it is about different people. However, for me, the stand out story was that of the Dhingra brothers of Berger Paints. It was fascinating not only for me but also for Penguin Random House, my publishers. My second book, therefore, is the biography of Kuldip Singh Dhingra, the patriarch of the Dhingra family and the co-owner of Berger Paints.

CC: Considering that a subject like this is fraught with the complexities of human behavior, how easy or difficult was it to stick to a neutral stance?

Throughout the process of writing the book, I saw my role as ‘The Narrator’. It was my job to put the stories before the readers without getting my own feelings and judgments into it. I had spent quite a few hours with each protagonist as part of the research for The Inheritors. Even in those conversations, I did try (and succeeded most of the time) to get the protagonists to speak candidly and honestly without butting in with my own thoughts or judgements. I do believe that I succeeded the most in playing the role of the narrator.

CC: Given the saying that, The First Generation builds, the second expands and the third spoils, what is the messaging that successive generations need to take the baton forward?

The messaging is simple and is addressed to the older generation as well. The key message to the older generation is to ‘let go’ and the key message to the gen-next is to look at the responsibility of taking charge not as a burden but as the responsibility of a steward to ensure continuity. Once the business has grown and employs other people, even though the shareholding may be with the family, it really belongs to the employees. The gen next needs to understand this responsibility and act accordingly. This, by no means, implies that they need to be the MD or CEO. Not at all. If they are not inclined to run the business, then it is their responsibility to get the best talent from outside to run the business. In all this, the message to the older generation remains – Know when it is time to move on and let the gen next take charge.

CC: In the name of tradition, would you not agree that family-owned businesses and the pressures born thereof, are also destroyers of individuality?

I take it that this question is about the individual employee in family business? If yes, then my answer is-not at all. In fact, family-owned businesses are far more flexible and open than the non-family businesses. Due to the nature ownership, the decision making is more personalised and the trusted individual can do a significant amount of work.

CC: Considering the premium that millennials and post millennials place on individuality, how likely are they to succeed in keeping the family values and traditions alive? After all, you did stress that those businesses who stay alive in the long run are those that manage to keep their core principles alive?

Yes, I do believe that the family businesses that survive and thrive are the businesses in which the family has practised the core values. Any family that has moved away from their core values has seen the business being impacted negatively. Regarding the matter of the millennials succeeding in keeping the family values, let me tell you about a White Paper that we brought out titled The Millennial Inheritors of Family Businesses in India. For this White Paper, we spoke with over 100 millennial inheritors and the findings are fascinating. The millennials are the keepers of family values! They value their family culture and are already doing their bit in keeping it going. My takeaway after I finished the White Paper study – The world is in good hands!

About the Author

Sonu Bhasin is one of the early and senior women professionals in the corporate world and has led businesses in senior leadership positions during her corporate career, including as director at ING Barings; as president, Axis Bank; Group President, Yes Bank. Currently, Sonu is an independent director on the boards of well-known companies. She is the founder of Families and Business (FAB), a platform for family businesses and the editor of Families & Business Magazine. She can be reached at Sonubhasinfab@hotmail.com

A fascinating behind the scenes look into what goes into the making of names like Marico, Dabur, Keventers, Berger Paints, Select Group, Max Group, Luxor, Motilal Oswal Group and the family youngsters who took the legacy forward, adding their own pages to an already overflowing book of achievements, The Inheritors stands out not only for the lucid narration and painstaking research but also the humanisation of several corporate honchos most of us perceive to be uni-dimensional success stories, the supposed chosen few born with the proverbial silver spoon in their mouth. We learn about their hopes and dreams, their failures and frustrations even as we root for them to carve their own niche. And one thing we are decisively deprived of is the notion that it’s all handed over to them on a platter.