Even the high and mighty can fall prey to tall talks

In the Gulf,every company had one Mr C.Why C? Because he was Chairman, CEO, CFO, CMO, CTO, CXO all rolled into one,the owner himself or a member of his family. Mr C was one lucky son of the desert. He spends three months at his home in Mayfair,London, two months at his chalet in Switzerland, one month at his apartment on Upper East Side New York, one month at the Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai. One month was reserved for pilgrimages, one month for nips and tucks and one month for rest and recuperation between travels. That leaves two months at home in his oversized mansion for celebrating occasions, meeting fellow Mr C’s and lest people forget he is very much in charge – showing up at work in his red hot Ferrari or stretched-out Rolls Royce.The more Mr C travelled the better his companies performed.

But there were exceptions. Mr C at Khaleej Times (KT) was Mr Galadari whose empire included automobiles, trucks & heavy equipment, hotels, real estate, dairy, printing & publishing etc. This Mr C was one of the exceptions. Apart from leading a posh over-the-top life, his expertise lay in hiring the right brains and rewarding them well. Khaleej Times was facing some heat from an aggressive new entrant. In the previous columns we wrote about Mr C hiring the Indian publishing world’s successful entrepreneur Khalid Ansari who in turn had invited me to join him to head the ad business.

Khalid had completed nearly two years in the hot seat at KT. Having put in a strong team in the right spots, threat from the new entrant dispensed with, with KT once again the toast of the town, Khalid felt his job was done. He decided to call it a day and to move back to the hustle and bustle of Mumbai where his pet newspaper project was making waves. In walked Qasim Noorani, a suave manager of Pakistan origin in the hot seat. Everyone was a bit surprised since Noorani’s claim to fame was organising cricket tournaments. Mr Galadari also brought in one of his close associates Qassim Mohamed as his deputy.

Six months down the line Noorani, having been placed in an awkward position, put in his papers and Mohamed stepped into the hot seat. He was a savvy boss with an astute sense of business as well as  great sense of humour. Mohamed went on to become one of the most hands-on, successful MDs that Mr C’s company ever had. But even the best among us can err.

Managing Director of Khaleej Times is an important position and invitations to attend business conclaves and celebrity dinners are the norm. At one such event a totally unknown Englishman spun  empty yarns for our otherwise astute boss and Mohamed hired the man almost on the spot and brought him in as my boss!

I was surprised and very disturbed. I had successfully turned the ad business around and this came as a rude shock. My team was behind me. I decided to put in my papers. Mr C hearing this came over personally to talk to me, requesting me to hang on. I told him I will not report to anyone except the MD. I proposed  an alternative that we divide the responsibility with me looking after ROP (Run of the Paper) business which was over 80% revenues and the Brit look after supplements etc. Mr C convinced Mohamed to accept my suggestion and the impasse was resolved. The Brit didn’t last long and just disappeared one day.This was 1992 and I occupied the hot seat till my retirement in 2009 at the ripe young age of 79.
I want to end remembering the words of Dr Martin Luther King Jr “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands during times of challenge and controversy.”

The author is a well-known stage personality