Naina Lal Kidwai – An Inimitable Leader!

Every once in a while, a leader comes along who shakes up the fabric of conventional belief systems. An iconoclastic leader with an independent mind, unafraid to challenge hitherto accepted notions of what and how things ought to be done. Such a leader finds it natural to question the status quo, and becomes a symbol of enduring excellence within an ecosystem too often satisfied with mediocrity. Over time, they serve as a harbinger of change and a beacon of inspiration to others around them. Eventually, after years of toil and sustained success, a legend is born!
 
Naina Lal Kidwai is one such legend. Recently, I had the pleasure of interacting with her and was blown away with the multiple facets of this inimitable leader. And the simplicity and humility behind the corporate demeanour. 
Before I move on to the more pertinent parts of our discussion, it behoves me to delineate the significant facets of the woman who has made a mark for herself around the globe. 
 

Studying to be a Leader

Naina’s quest for excellence started at an early age. Studying at the scenic Loreto Convent school at Shimla, she was foremost in her class, year after year. It wasn’t all studies though, as she bagged the Best All Rounder accolade too. She excelled at basketball and badminton in school and played these two sports at a State level. She represented the school in debates, elocution and dramatics. Perhaps unbeknownst to her at that time, the latter two skills would come in handy during her higher education and her corporate career. Her brush with leadership responsibility began at school where she held positions like House Vice Captain, Library Squad Captain and eventually the School Captain.

 

Unlike most people her age at that time, Naina had a fairly clear idea about what she wanted to do in her career. This led her to undertake a Bachelor’s degree (Hons.) in Economics from the prestigious LSR at Delhi University. The drive to excel continued there and she was the recipient of the Award for outstanding qualities of Leadership. This was followed by Chartered Accountancy, which she completed over the next three years while working as an Articled Trainee with Price Waterhouse & Co at Delhi. The next step was a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the iconic Harvard Graduate School of Business. While a lot of Indian men had previously passed through the hallowed portals of HBS, Naina broke that barrier, becoming the first Indian woman to graduate from Harvard in 1982. It wasn’t just the folks in India though who were compelled to contemplate the change. Even at an otherwise diverse institute like Harvard, there were those who were in for a surprise. HBS has a culture where students are expected to speak up in class and present their views. On one of the occasions, when Naina had finished making her presentation, a bunch of American students approached her and expressed wonderment at how eloquently Naina had spoken in English. They were curious to know how Naina was able to communicate so well in English. Naina smilingly responded, ‘Because I speak in English’. She was amused at their surprise that someone who didn’t look like them could speak English as well or better than them. This was the beginning of breaking of myths for Naina; something she has continued doing over her long journey as a banker and more recently as a social worker. 

A Bankable Banker!
 

Naina has come a long way from being better known as the first Indian woman to pass out of Harvard. She has to her credit more than three-and-a-half decades of experience in the Banking and Financial services sector. 

Her stint in Banking started in 1982 in India, with ANZ Grindlays Bank PLC (now Standard Chartered Bank) where she managed the Western India operation of the Bank which constituted over half the Deposits and retail assets of the Bank, through 12 branches and 920 people. She established and directed the Global NRI Services of the Bank, overseeing NRI Centres in New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, the Middle East and London. She also managed the Investment Banking operations of ANZ Grindlays Bank which ranked among the largest foreign investment banks in India and amid the top four banks in the country. 

In 1994, when Morgan Stanley set up office in India, Kidwai was hired to lead their Investment Banking business. Over here, she exhibited exceptional canniness to identify and focus on emerging sectors. This included Telecom and Information Technology, among others. In her role at Morgan Stanley, she managed IPOs of companies, which went on to become market leaders in their industry. Three years after joining Morgan Stanley, Naina was instrumental in engineering the JV between Morgan Stanley and JM Financial. By the year 2000, the merged entity - JM Morgan Stanley - was one of the leading investment banks in the country. 

In 2002, Naina joined HSBC as Vice Chairman and Managing Director at HSBC Securities and Capital Markets, She was responsible for directing the capital markets, securities broking, trading, research and investment banking businesses of the firm. Between 2006 and 2009, she was CEO of HSBC’s Indian banking operations during which period, HSBC’s income tripled and they emerged as one of the fastest growing banks in the country. She spent a decade-and-a-half with the group in India, eventually retiring as Executive Director on the Board of HSBC Asia Pacific and Chairman of the India operations comprising 34,000 people in the various group entities. 

After exiting HSBC, she was Chairman, Max Financial Services Ltd between 2016 and 2018.  

The Social Worker

Around the time she joined HSBC Securities in 2002, Naina stated in an interview with Time magazine that she didn’t want to work anywhere except India. In her words, ‘In the U.S. I may have brokered bigger deals, but here, it's much more at the cutting edge of reform, the ability to influence, to shape.’ Powerful words! And in some cases, it might have been just that - words. In Naina’s case though, the words ring true even now, twenty years since she made this statement. 

 

The former banker and Harvard educated doyen of the corporate sector is actively engaged in seminal work pertaining to WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) in India.  She is the Founding Chair of the India Sanitation Coalition (ISC). Her book, ‘Survive or Sink: An Action Agenda For Sanitation, Water, Pollution and Green Finance’ has been distributed across more than one-and-a-half lac students across the country to spread awareness about the need for a holistic strategy to the sanitation challenge in India, including factors like urban and rural responses, government and civil society responsibilities. 

Naina Lal Kidwai is a frontrunner among global leaders. Closer home, she is an inspiration to women across the country to break through the shackles of social mores and self-imposed limitations in order to realize their dreams. She has proven that there is no glass ceiling but the one that we allow to form over us. 


global leaders