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Dare to dream big
British American Tobacco Bangladesh’s MD Shehzad Munim says at The Daily Star’s The Chief Executive Show powered by Marico
Munim became the first Bangladeshi managing director of BATBC when he was appointed to the top position in 2013. On Saturday, he talked about his journey to the top, opportunities and challenges facing the current generation and the need for nurturing future leaders at the first episode of the Chief Executive Show.
DS : How was your childhood? You may not have found a role model to follow the footprints compared to the current generation.
Munim : We are discussing this issue at a very opportune time. Leadership is such a thing that we have to nurture it.
The civil servants who worked in the Civil Service of Pakistan played a glorious role after the Independence of Bangladesh. There was no such noise in the private sector and corporate jobs. So, our experience grew in keeping with the progress of the country.
I went to educational institutions in Bangladesh. I was in the first batch of the BBA programme at the Institute of Business Administration at the University of Dhaka. Many had little knowledge about studying business. Perhaps, we were the guineapigs.
I did not dare to think that one day I would become the CEO. My parents taught us to try to build an honest and disciplined life.
The company I worked for was always headed by a foreigner. So, our maximum aspiration was to become a functional head. But as we passed through more stages, we gained more courage. We learnt to take responsibility.
In many cases, we had to learn on our own. But I can’t say that there were no role models. There were many role models. I learnt following them and was inspired. The contribution of the people who helped me in many ways throughout my journey can’t be forgotten. They guided me.
The periphery of the dream was not that big during our time. It has got bigger brick by brick. I think it can be even much bigger.
DS : Now the current generation can look up to you and feel that they can strive and achieve what you have achieved. What are the steps they can take?
Munim : Those who are joining our company now or are already in the mid-level, they can see that a Bangladeshi is the CEO of the company. So, the periphery of their dream should be far wider than what we had.
We have to understand the values. You can’t be successful if you just chase profit. There is a far bigger thing and responsibility of a CEO. We have to adopt these things very quickly because the young generation should be doing our job much earlier than we did. Then, they have to leapfrog and aim to become the global CEO of a multinational organisation.
The way our economy is growing, I think about a Bangladeshi multinational company in the coming days. There are organisations in Bangladesh which are already doing business beyond the country’s boundary.
The demand for management and corporate leadership has already been created in Bangladesh in a significant way. Bangladesh is 50 years old. The industrialists and entrepreneurs who established industries of significant size since Independence have started to retire. Either they are handing over the management to their next-generation or planning to hand over the responsibility to professional CEOs.
How would these sizeable companies make the transition to the next generation? We would like to see that the next generation would prepare themselves as the iconic CEOs because the good performance of a CEO can take the company in various directions. We have to see how we would grow our people and institutionalise it. One can’t be a CEO by chance.
DS : There is a trend among mid-level managers to migrate to other countries. But they are leaving behind good positions and settling at a far lower position. What do you say about this?
Munim : This is part of life. We are a country that is going through a demographic dividend. We have a big young population. Our people are going abroad and they are working there. One should not feel bad about it. A company would be dealt with a short-term blow if some of its people at the mid-management level whom it has been grooming and who are doing well suddenly leave.
So, we will have to prepare ourselves. We have plenty of resources. We have to train the new generation. Nobody is indispensable. I am today running this organisation. If I don’t continue, the company would function and there would be no problem.
There is a feeling that a lot of expatriates are working in Bangladesh and a lot of money is being spent for them. The answer is we have talent. It is possible to groom them. If we can elevate them quickly to a position through right exposure, the need for expatriates would come down.
When I joined British American Tobacco, the top three officials were foreigners. Now, there is only three to four expatriates in the entire company in Bangladesh. The company is running very well and even better than in the past. So, it is possible to replace them. It is our responsibility.
Policy intervention is needed. Every organisation should have the responsibility of how they are developing talents and whether the people being hired from outside are working to develop local talents as well.
DS : Our current generation can’t become CEOs overnight. It took 16 years for you. It is a journey. So, how will a corporate set the goal for various small stages?
Munim : We progressed step by step. If we think that we will overnight become CEOs or somebody, we may get distracted. For example, I am now holding a position. My next goal should be to get promoted to the position currently being held by my direct boss. I have to prepare myself accordingly.
I can’t sit idle just by learning my current responsibility. I have to deliver more than I am expected to do. I have to prepare the person below my position so that he or she can replace me smoothly when I move up.
It is a step-by-step growth approach. I have to help the people who report to me by delegating some work. My boss would have to delegate some work to me so that I can learn.
If I make progress step by step, time will come when I will be in a position to carry out 60 to 70 per cent of the tasks of my boss. Or at least I know how to execute them. Then the company might think that I can move up a position.
If such a situation emerges, the company may also hire from outside if I am not prepared. But it is more expensive for a company to hire someone from outside than promoting its own.
There is also a question about the responsibility of a company whether it is giving me enough scope to learn and investing for my training and development.
We have to work on the overall environment so that a friendly atmosphere can be given so people can progress.
Sometimes, it happens that some people are trained up and some of them leave the organisation very quickly. We have to keep in mind that a certain portion of the people will go. There is no way to avoid it. That does not mean that the company would not organise any training programmes for its people. If the company does not train up people, it will stop growing.
DS : We have never seen any pandemic. How is a leader managing an organisation during the pandemic, changes that are being brought on and the effects it is having on everyone?
Munim : Organisations faced two approaches: one is to believe that operations can continue running even during this situation on the back of whatever opportunities are still available in the market and take organisation forward.
The pandemic could also create a situation for many businesses for which there is no demand at all. So, this group of companies has to backtrack and preserve energies. And when the opportunity surfaces again, they would resume their operations. Until then, these businesses would have to survive, have to cut the cost and have to be leaner and cleaner.
We have had to adopt different things. We have carried out various activities from home and we are still doing that. Some tasks can’t be performed sitting at home. We have to run the factories and make sales at shops.
We work with farmers. We have to buy crops from the farmers. We have to continue these tasks by maintaining as much safety as possible.
The periphery of the dream was not that big during our time. It has got bigger brick by brick. I think it can be even bigger.
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