Business and Investment Lessons from Lolo Makhija

The World isn’t quite sure if the global economy is on its way to recovery or still has to suffer from aftershocks from the calamities of last year.  The stock and financial markets seemed to have steadied but the retail, the real estate and all other sectors have yet to shape up.  Debates and dialogues about recovery and recovery strategies are still rampant. People want to learn and be ready by whatever comes next.

Sometime ago, the Philippine Council of Management [PhilCoMan] asked me to make a presentation at the 37^th National Management Conference and provide an entrepreneurs part of view for responding to the challenges of the global economic crisis.  They suggested that I focus on the values of resilience, ethics and strategy for not just surviving but for succeeding through the challenging times.  They also suggested that I keep make my presentation lively and light.

After I had heartily accepted the opportunity to share my thoughts with experienced managers, academicians and thought leaders, I sat down to think.  I pondered about what each meant and how putting together all those would provide us with the potion for survival and success.

At first, my idea generation and morphing abilities sensed a lot of possible correlations but after a while I hit a stone-wall.  Planning a strategy, essentially, involved research, intelligence, planning, structure, discipline and a large amount of ruthlessness towards the achievement of personal or organizational goals.  Ethics on the other hand brought up responses about compassion, honesty, transparency, righteousness and morality.  Any serious recommendations about pure, intense strategy, in my mind, went into a headlock with my feelings about universalism, humanism and integrity vis a vis ethics.  The two chunks of ideas were like two mountain goats heading in opposite direction on a narrow bridge. I was stuck! All the reading, the research and forums with my colleagues wouldn’t spark off any ideas in my mind.

On the night before the presentation I went to bed fraught with anxiety and chaos in my mind.  Finally, past midnight, a mentor, a coach and a ghost from my past came visiting. This was a man who had lived through the great depression, survived World War II and Partition of India-Pakistan in 1947.  This guru from the past had not just lived through these devastating periods of human history but had also succeeded through them with a combination of spunk, sincerity and suppleness of strategy.

Lolo Makhija, born and raised in Karachi, Sindh, was brought up by a lawyer father.  Though he, himself, never did go to college he’d acquired the sharpness and the analytical mind of his father.  Lolo Makhija had built and nurtured several successful businesses in his lifetime. By the time he was in his early fifties he had turned into a very conservative investor whose life had acquired calm and stability which we all strive for.   From his position of strength and stability he supported his life and family with grace and dexterity.

The lessons that he had shared with me are the ones that I presented to the members of the 37^th National Management Congress.  These are lessons that I picked up not in one sitting but over a period of time through my growing years.  These were times when I was moving from boyhood to manhood, from days of carelessness to times of responsibility and direction.  Most of the lessons were picked up during challenges and moments of painful changes in my life.  The memory of those moments is still very vivid in my mind. I remember sitting hunched up on a large window sill while Lolo perched himself on a straight back chair, across me, in his living room in Mumbai. The only thing that gave away the fact we were having a deep conversation was that we were both entranced by the frantic sounds of traffic and pedestrians on the streets of Mumbai in the late 70s.

Before I share the lessons I learned from Lolo, I’d like to create a larger context on why his ideas made so much sense and meaning given how the world moves and changes so fast.

Gandhi, once, claimed that man is the centre of a circle which has no circumference. That is truth, yes.  The bigger truth is that man is, really, the centre of a sphere with no boundaries in any direction. Man and his interconnectedness is not dimensional, it is multi-dimensional. Each of one of us being thus and without borders, we are also, therefore, all that we do creates ripples and effects all across the universe.  In truth all the ripples which we create, over time and space, also come right back at us affect our lives.  This fact of interconnectedness and synchronicity is now being recognized much more than it was a few decades ago.  Now we know, understand and believe that when a butterfly flaps its wings in Batangas, it can create a ‘bagyo’ [storm] in Bombay.  Now we know that chopping down trees in Brazil can create rainstorms in Brussels.  Now we also know that excessive and reckless lending of money by banks in America can generate joblessness and hunger in Asia.

Lolo Makhija, I remember, had a sense of this. He had an unspoken and a deep understanding of how waste, frivolity and abuse can seriously exploit nature, humanity and life.

Lolo, even though he was substantially rich for his times, used to have a minimal number of personal clothing.  He lived in a small home and would use public transportation most of his commutes and travel.  He also had another habit too which I, as a kid, and many other family members used to tease him about.  Lolo used to pick up and gather little nuts, bolts, coins, etc., from the street and bring them home.  He had a way of sorting waste way before the word recyclable and reuse made any sense to people on the streets. In the early 60’s he used to gather and store milk bottle caps_a habit that was unheard of and rarely practiced in those times in our part of the world.  To many a people, my grandfather was parsimonious lunatic. To me he was a man, environmentally intelligent, and way ahead of his times.

Here are certain things he told me that I haven’t forgotten about life and timing.  These where tops  on personal development and self leadership since my one grand and  actions can be disconnected  from the community and the ecology that surrounds me His tips also became  value for organization and, even, global development.

Lesson One: “Invest in leisure, luxury and ostentatious behavior only if you can afford it 10 times and over”

“Gee!” I screamed then, “You mean no champagne and caviar unless I can afford it ten times and over” I do not remember his response but, think of it, it does make massive sense.  Every successful individual and organization that surfs through hard times is the one that has cash reserves handy and in plenty.  Taipan Henry Sy, of the Shoe Mart fame in the Philippines, made his best deals and investment in the early 80’s when the country was undergoing political and economical turmoil. When everyone else was closing shop and moving funds across borders and economies, Henry Sy bought of a chunk of land and at the tail-end of the crisis his first ‘mega-mall’ called SM North Edsa. It makes Sun Tzu kind of strategic sense to always be ready with more than enough ammunition to conquer adversities and capture opportunities.  Business acumen is the right hand of success and frugality, like that of my Lolo’s, makes up the left hand.

Lesson Two: “First, have, at least, one revenue stream that is steady, safe and sustainable and only then indulge in other investments.”

The world, because of its interconnectedness and ripples created by other entities, is in a constant flux and motion. Using my earlier metaphors, one never knows where and when another butterfly will flap its wings and create storms around you.  It is always good business strategy to be standing on solid ground.  If one is not standing on steady ground how can he aim correctly his actions towards his targets in life? Here Lolo Makhija was talking about acquiring a certain discipline in making investment moves.  If all our income sources are volatile and chaotic then the welfare of the organization and its stakeholders will remain at high risk.  Finding and starting from solid ground again and again, makes every warrior a lethal and strong one.  Finding solid ground and working from that angle is a matter of strong discipline and allows us to unleash unlimited power towards all opportunities.  Nurturing a discipline of consistently finding stable ground builds strong bridges, in business, between aspirations and accomplishments.

Lesson Three: Stay detached from the temptations of slinky, smooth skin and shiny objects that go “clink!”

This lesson, in my youth, wasn’t an easily acceptable one.  Skin and shine was all my inexperienced but burning with passion mind could comprehend.  But the truth is that Lolo Makhija’s point was way deeper meaning than it obviously seemed to suggest.

No matter what age we are or of and what growth levels our organizations are, most all of us can become short-sighted and end up making our appearances and financial bottom-lines our glorified obsessions.

We all know better than that!

If money was the only goal then all those chasing it would be on the right track to success and happiness.  On the contrary, the opposite is the truth.  Those that chase curiosity, creativity and stay committed end up being truly wealthy, successful and fulfilled. Likewise, business entities which focus upon innovation, true growth and socially responsible constructivism succeed phenomenally.  Companies and business groups like Ayala of the Philippines and Tata of India are shining examples of such a paradigm.

Lesson Four: When engulfed in a whirlpool, stay calm and use its energy rather than fight it”

This particular tip from Lolo came at a time in my life when my personal life, my career and my financial status had made a home in the dog house.  Everything around me was spinning at a crazy pace and I seemed to have no control at all.  I remember sitting at his window still—angry and upset at everything that was happening.  “You are in the midst of an emotional storm,” he said, “the more you fight it the worse it’ll get.  Be less frantic, complain less, bear more, put your head down and work away. Soon time and providence will find you a way out.”  

He’d said this without me having spoken a single word about the status of my life.  The old man was a part-time mind reader too!  Though I did not act right away on his advice but over time, through the thick and thin of life, those words and the sound of his voice became a mantra and a meditation for me.  Over the years I have benefited powerfully from living calmly through all crises.

For businesses, patience, positioning and proper timing becomes a powerful synergy.  Becoming intrinsically and strategically “cool’ drive our actions and judgments to become more proactive and powerful.

Lesson Five: “Look after all family, near and far.”

From his fifties right until his moving on to the next world, Lolo Makhija, kept supporting and sponsoring the growth, the welfare and the education of near and distant family.  His employees, his associates were always well looked after. Though he led the family quietly and firmly, he never claimed recognition and applaud.  He was, also, always grooming others to take over and take charge.

In business, it makes profound sense to have leaders who build other leaders and not followers.  It makes profound sense to run a smooth, harmonious, happy, and efficient and an effective organization.  This idea regards an organization’s people as its chief and powerful resource.  Having every member humming in harmony towards one vision helps all soar towards success and fulfilment. Lolo believed that a family unit or an organization is like a ship where everyone must be groomed and, always, prepared to take the helm. 

This amazing sense of family and community is intrinsic to human regardless of cultural diversity.  In the Philippines I have seen proof of its existence during the People Power Revolution of the 80’s and most recently during the onslaught of typhoon Ondoy. During these times ordinary people from the street came together as one and looked after the welfare and relief of the larger family—the country.

My take on Lolo Makhija’s amazing personality is that the man was made out of a very special stock. In a time and age when people were just content with safe, Iong-term jobs, in a place and country where people struggled for food and simple household needs, he managed to walk taller than all.  My contention is that deep within him he had this raging desire to be different, to stand apart and to be, always, strong and supportive.  He wanted it so much that one would sense it in how he walked, how he talked and how he lived his whole life.

What really and truly drives every individual and organization to be different is that same “raging desire” to be different. This deep, burning desire to succeed and stand apart in all our trials and tribulations is the key to success.  Thus, for us to always succeed at achieving our aspiration we need to ignite ourselves in a such a way that people from far and wide should come watch us burn.

Raju Mandhyan                                                                                                                                          Author, Coach and Trainer                                              

www.mandhyan.com         A World of Clear, Creative and Conscientious Thinkers!   http://mandhyan.blogspot.com/                                                            http://www.youtube.com/user/RajuMandhyan