MEET THE EXPERTS: SIRAJ KHAN — GLOBAL CFO
Kazi Najib Ashraf
VP Sales & Account Operations | Sales Leadership | Revenue Analysis | Sales Process Optimization | Digital Transformation | B2B Revenue Strategy | Spearheading Growth through Strategic Sales & Innovative Tech Solutions
This had been an unlike chat as compared to the other interviews I have conducted in the past, a conversation more than enquiry, learning at every step during the several conversations over Zoom calls. The physical distance between Boston and Dubai would dilute once the conversations went into motion and the shared stories brought two people together as if they’d known each other for ages. I am a buff for experience and would always prefer it over qualifications, no matter how grandiose and enshrined it may manifest on a piece of paper from any prestigious institution. This doesn’t mean that individuals shouldn’t be identified to be trained, but when it comes to critical tasks then the experience could eat the qualifications for lunch. But what if the experience is also entwined with appropriate qualifications as well? This, in my opinion, would be a perfect recipe for success.
Mr Siraj Khan to me may be a new-found friend, but an enigma at the same time. Every aspect of his expertise shines brighter than the other, once you get talking you won’t be able to put your finger on exactly what is it that should define him in totality. A true professional, a music buff, humanitarian, traveller, or a champion of women empowerment, maybe I need a few more sessions or a face-to-face meeting to ascertain this. However, I found it befitting to bring forth these conversations for the audience to appreciate this treasure trove of knowledge and wisdom.
This is neither an interview nor a profile, rather a scattered conversation among two individuals, who haven’t met yet in person, which I have managed to rake in like the leaves of a majestic oak tree.
Najib: I consider myself fortunate to have been introduced to you by our mutual friend Mr Nazar Haidri, whose interview I had published a while ago. It is interesting that we never managed to meet in Dubai when you were here 2016 through 2018, and here we are speaking across thousands of miles, oceans, and continents.
Siraj: I am a firm believer in destiny, that there is a place and time for everything, and that people of similar traits are bound to cross paths at some time. So yes, better late than never and as fate has connected us at the tail-end of this pandemic, there is a good chance that we could be meeting in person, sooner than later. I cannot stay still for long, as `I am always on the go, travelling across the world. The pandemic has stalled me for too long but it has also taught us many lessons under lockdowns and quarantines. Hope is helping us get along.
Najib: What does Siraj Khan have to offer to the world with his many across-the-globe travels and working many years across regions, faiths, and cultures.
Siraj: We will dig deeper into this subject, but in a nutshell, my work is like religion to me. What would that mean? One has to truly believe and have faith that there is an unseen force observing and keeping you on a straight path. Similarly, I conduct my tasks with what I would define as self-imposed perfection, and it has been this approach that has become my roadmap, working across diverse industries. In addition, the global outlook to everything has helped me go to any country, I mean even the backwaters of the world even at short notice, and get functional from the next day. No jet lags for me.
Najib: You had mentioned that retirement isn’t a part of your vocabulary?
Siraj: Neither tired nor retired. By the Grace of God, I am as active now as I was at the beginning of my career, probably more so as the grey hair has equipped me progressively with better ammunition to hang around longer. Consequently, I remain active, both in my profession and passion; the global perspective providing me with skills that I apply in establishing systems that are being used by several global corporates as well as non-profit organizations. I am a financial manager by training, but over the years have somehow become more oriented in the internal audit, compliance, and risk management space.
Najib: Let's digress a little, I want to get your perspective on the current health of the global economy, what are your thoughts on this?
Siraj: The world is trying to navigate through an uncertain present towards an even more dubious future. Pre-Covid, new world order was already emerging with the hegemony of the United States on the decline and the eastern giant waking up to claim its rightful mantle. Post-Covid, uncertainty and anxiety levels have gone north, and everyone is waiting and watching. Everything from global supply chains to the production of microprocessors has been disrupted with no finishing line in sight. This waiting game has created dilemmas of decision making at the highest levels, what to say about the common man. The US$ dominance is still there but for how long, in the face of the ascendancy of the new power in the East? After living and working for Alcoa in China for three years in the late 1990s, I was sure that this dragon would rise one day. Even the Chinese kids were conditioned to the fact that China was the only real power in the world. This systemic brain-washing has been nurtured for decades and is now bearing fruit. Like it or not, China is now the factory of the world. My time in China has taught me the golden rule of understanding the culture of the people you want to work with, and this has become my mantra for life. There is more to knowing them than just going to Chinese restaurants. My success in the country as a result of spending time with the locals during an era when the dragon had not fully announced its arrival to the world and this exposure for me has been priceless. I used to refer to China as “the fourth world”. However, if COVID-19 has taught us one lesson, it is this; we are now all ONE world, and those old demarcation lines seem to have vanished.
Najib: Interesting, the rise of China is on everyone’s mind, and it is indeed a game of waiting and watching; this pandemic has defined boundaries and readjusted past alliances. Let us see how it all plays out. Let’s hear a bit about your profession as if someone else who knows you well was introducing you.
Siraj: Okay, this is interesting. I guess this is how I could be introduced; Here is a finance professional, who calls himself a “shattered accountant”, who has been on the road for 50+ years with management expertise acquired through serving several multinationals, non-profits and even family-owned business groups, across the globe. He has the ability to “Smell” the scenarios and the health of a business, as defined by Professor Sumantra Ghoshal in his classical talk on “The Smell of the Place”. He also has a knack for rapidly identifying the high and low points of a business and potential risks and recommends rear-guard action to mitigate those risks. Keeping a realistic and pragmatic approach is his forte that he carries like a medallion. In a nutshell, one could call him a “Do Tank” consultant, rather than a think-tank, a light-hearted term that he has carved himself.
Najib: Interesting, Do-Tank, never heard of this one before and I am sure to steal and use it in the future. What do you think of the global consulting firms and how do your services differentiate from them? I am not comparing the size, rather the approach?
Siraj: Firstly, allow me to define a consultant as somebody who basically borrows your watch to tell you the right time and then walks away with it. Not all of them are good, can get extremely expensive and, as you have seen in your own backyard in the case of Abraaj and others, they failed at not providing their client not only sound advice but also compromising their own professional ethics and standards. In my case, not only do I stop the client from digging the hole any further, work out the most effective way for them to dig out of it, and if they want me to, I also roll up my sleeves and steer them to a point where their in-house resources can takeover to take them where they would eventually want to go. My two recent assignments in the UAE with an Indian and an Emirati public corporation are examples of what I just stated.
Najib: Let’s shift the gears a bit and look at your passion, your love for music.
Siraj: I can go on and on and even then, we would probably still be scratching the surface. I discovered it and now firmly believe that music is the only universal language that connects the souls of individuals and binds them for eternity. It also builds invisible bridges and connects unknown people. This is the reason perhaps why I share it with others, whenever an opportunity presents itself. Looking back at life, I have to come to know more people in life through music, than through any other medium. Music is not just a passion, but an essential part of my life.
Najib: Your favourite musicians, guess this is a natural follow up question, anxious to hear this?
Siraj: Without a doubt, O P Nayyar, the legendary Indian composer, passed away in 2007. He is perhaps the only person I have idolized in my life and had a personal and spiritual attachment with him. Songs composed by him are as fresh now, as they were when they were released in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s and have become like friends over the years. He was a trail-blazer and developed his own signature style of fusion even back in the 1950s. I try to emulate his style and have learned to speak and perform like him on stage, even using his wardrobe in that process. He had an immaculate sense of attire with a well-articulated and unique disposition. I don’t know of any comparable figure today in Bollywood, who can rise to his stature and greatness in his craft. Although a fan of his music since I was a child, I did not meet him in person until 1995 (incidentally in Dubai) and the bonding had been immediate and so strong that even his death, fourteen years ago, has not created any cracks. The relationship and trust we had developed in his lifetime were such that he bequeathed part of his inheritance to me, which I used to form a Trust in his name in 2009, which is managed by a Board of Trustees — all in Mumbai, except me. The official website?www.opnayyar.org?is managed from Karachi under my guidance and supervision.
Besides him, comes Madam Noor Jehan from Pakistan with her unique singing style and glamour, followed by none other than the master, Jimmy Hendrix.
Najib: What is good music?
Siraj: Anything that is pleasing to the ears, can and does vary from person to person, it relaxes and moves your soul and similarly. On the flip side, bad music can be excruciatingly painful as well. I have a special place in my heart for Spanish and Italian music, as well as Algerian/Moroccan music within the Arabic genre, in particular ‘Rae’.
BEGINNINGS
Najib: Take us to the beginning of your journey?
Siraj: I was born in Karachi on the 23rd of June 1951, my parents had migrated from India and I am the eldest of four siblings. My father was born and brought up in Raipur and my mother hailed from the city of the saints, Ajmer. My father who had a great influence on me had a Masters in English from the University of Allahabad (1945) and after migrating to Pakistan, worked for the Royal Dutch Airlines, KLM. My love for reading is genetic I would say, and this is one infectious trait that runs within the family. I went to the historic St Patrick’s High School Karachi and after my Senior Cambridge/’O’ Levels commenced my articleship with A.F. Ferguson & Co, Chartered Accountants at the tender age of eighteen, to do my CA. I spent the first twenty-five years of my life in Karachi. My father died young of a heart attack in 1978, leaving a legacy of hard work, integrity, and honesty for us to follow.
Najib: A bit about your early career?
Siraj: Looking back, it seems strange that rather than be assigned to a diverse set of clients, the audit assignments of my articleship took me to oil companies. So I spent the bulk of my training years in auditing ESSO, Pakistan Burmah Shell (PBS) and National Refinery Ltd and ended up getting labelled as an “oilman”. Soon after, I joined PSO (Pakistan State Oil) in its formative period and after about eighteen months, moved to Dubai in 1976 to take up my first overseas assignment with British Petroleum, which lasted for five and a half years. Towards the end of 1981, I was head hunted by Schlumberger and worked as Region Chief Accountant — Middle East, covering sixteen countries with headquarters in Paris.
Najib: What made you leave Schlumberger, and did you move to the US after leaving them?
Siraj: I had a great time working for them and, in fact, helped establish its offices in Cairo, Damascus and Islamabad and was the only Pakistani on the international staff. Unfortunately, the oil industry nosedived in 1984. The rate of return on stockholders’ equity for the top 20 oil companies in 1984, was the lowest since 1972. The company decided to merge the Middle East and the Far East regions to Asia Region in Singapore and my position in Dubai was made redundant. I had an opportunity to relocate to Caracas, Venezuela, but I decided to decline for various reasons, primarily security and the education for my kids. This is how I ended up in the beautiful island Kingdom of Bahrain, working for the Gulf Petrochemical Industries Co. and Gulf Plastic Industries. I lived there from 1985 to early 1991. Iraq had invaded Kuwait in August 1990. The Allied Forces had given an ultimatum to Iraq to withdraw by January 16th. Following Iraq’s refusal to withdraw from Kuwait, the coalition aircraft began striking targets in Iraq and Kuwait on January 17, 1991. As we had already completed the immigration process to the USA, we decided to move at that time. Our family left Bahrain literally on the last commercial flight out from the country on January 16, as the airport was to be used to run sorties to Iraq, under Operation Desert Storm. This is the background under which we moved to the US, and interestingly, on arrival here many took us as refugees from the Middle East. I was actually paid to tell my story and requested to sound like a refugee. Looking back at that time thirty years ago, it sounds utterly hilarious. What is certain is, that the Gulf War I has added another new narrative to my life.
Najib: A bit about your personal life.
Siraj: Well, looking back, I got married in 1976 in Karachi. My wife Yasmin was born in The Hague as her father used to work for the Foreign Office of Pakistan. In fact, he was the first official of the team to arrive in The Hague to establish the Pakistan Embassy in Holland in 1954. Begum Raana Liaquat Ali Khan was the first Pakistani lady to be appointed Ambassador and took up her first posting in The Hague. The Pakistan flag was hoisted on Dutch soil for the first time on August 14, 1954. I am happily married for forty-five years and blessed with a son and two daughters, all settled in the US. A son-in-law and two grandchildren as well. My wife is an executive with Haemonetics, a global provider of blood and plasma supplies and services that has offices in sixteen countries and markets its products in over fifty. Pakistan runs in my veins. You could get me to do (almost) anything in the name of Pakistan and I would be available for any task in this regard. I have several potential opportunities in the pipeline in Pakistan and I cannot wait to explore them as soon as the signals turn green. Pakistan first, any time.
Najib: I would like to talk to you about your memorable assignments, but can you touch a bit again regarding the Do-Tank concept?
Siraj: Well, for a project on the desk of a think tank there is research, advocacy and policy-making involved, defining postulates and then theories that may or may not work. They need not be executed and could go in any direction. In my concept of a Do-Tank, teams have to fully execute the project that has been planned and agreed upon; one has to eat the pudding they have cooked rather than just displaying it on a fancy shelf. Another great aspect is that during the execution, there is no U-turn or taking an early exit. The task has to be fully executed, one way or another. If there are roadblocks, an alternate route has to be found out and implemented. The team is carefully selected and composed of a cross-section of expertise of diverse skills, and every member is driven by the team dynamics, with a vision towards a common goal. And this is what I offer — a one-stop consultancy service that does everything for you from conceptualization to full delivery, cost-effective and delivered in time.
MEMORABLE ASSIGNMENTS
Najib: This is truly inspirational, and I am sure that your clients love a one-stop solution. Now I would like you to delve into a few of your memorable assignments. I know that this is a tough call but please dig deep as I am sure that our audience would benefit a lot from this.
Siraj: I would like to start with China. The country was opening up to the outside world in 1996 and ALCOA Inc. wanted a piece of the action, the global demand for aluminium at this stage was led by the dragon. I was sent to Tianjin, the third-largest city in China (at that time) to assist in establishing the local operation with absolutely no knowledge of the local language or work culture. ALCOA wanted a presence in China and the prominence given to the country was obvious — they wanted to get into action and wanted it fast. Although I was appointed as Chief Internal Auditor for the Asia-Pacific Region, my task wasn’t limited to a finance role but rather to establish Alcoa’s systems for its China operations. I achieved the results benchmarked by the HQ. Unfortunately, I had to return home to Boston after three years because there was no American school there for my children to attend. I was entitled to fly back to Business Class for a week after every two months to catch up on the home front, but the long-distance family dynamics were posing to be quite a challenge. Do I regret the decision of leaving ALCOA, most certainly, as it had been one of my most interesting assignments with a Fortune 500 employer, and that I had obtained tangible results in a totally new environment was very satisfying? Additionally, what I also learned was the brilliance and appreciation of the Chinese culture and witnessed the dawn of new world power from the East, which was to emerge on the global stage.
Second in line would be British Petroleum, the global boss of the oil and gas industry. BP had they're tried and tested a colonial style of management with processes and procedures etched in gold. It was a people’s company that appreciated the human capital and invested in it abundantly. Of all the traits, the most I remember are the constant training and development and an emphasis on relentless learning. (I owe my ACCA credentials entirely to BP). Their exploration of natural resources had been a game-changer for the global oil industry, especially with their discovery of oil in the North Sea in 1975. When I joined BP Middle East in Dubai in 1976, it was my first job outside Pakistan and I spent the next five and a half years in this esteemed organization in the early part of my career, laying an ideal foundation. Towards the end of 1981, however, the UAE Government decided to nationalize the retail operations of BP, Caltex and Shell. I was part of the transition team which helped establish EMARAT Petroleum. Although BP still wanted to retain me for their (non-nationalized) aviation and lubricants operations, I got an opportunity to move to Schlumberger and to reposition myself from a British to the French style of management.
I was appointed Region Chief Accountant — Middle East Region with Schlumberger in Dubai itself, reporting functionally to the Paris HQ. The territory managed was all the way from Egypt to India. During my tenure, I assisted in establishing our offices in Cairo, Damascus, and Islamabad and each one of these projects is a story and a memory in itself. I did mention earlier my reasons for leaving Schlumberger and if it weren’t for the global uncertainties that pushed me to take another assignment, I would have loved to retire from this vibrant workplace, with a corporate culture where everything operated at a fast pace.
Here I would like to add another assignment that I cannot possibly ignore, although you had asked me for my top three — it is Pathfinder International. I was appointed as the Director of Internal Audit & Compliance in early 2006, which was also a dramatic switch from the hitherto corporate to the new world of global non-profits. In addition to the traditional functions of internal audit, risk management and compliance across twenty-six countries and that too, covering some of the most interesting ones on the planet, it also involved opening and closing of the field offices. From terrorists in Yemen, Boko Haram in Nigeria, cannibals in Papua New Guinea and pimps and commercial sex workers in India, beggars and drug dealers in Bangladesh, I ended up interacting with all. This is where I travelled constantly across Asia and Africa and observed poverty at close quarters. This dilapidated human state brings you really close to life’s ground realities and gets one to introspect regarding the vagaries of the overall human condition. I had to work on projects funded by USAID, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and others related to HIV/AIDS, maternal/child health to poverty alleviation and aspects of women empowerment in absolutely malnourished populations. This had been a dramatic change of routine from the usual work environment and there were no accolades, one had to be a self-starter and motivator to make a difference, in highly risky and at times, hostile and unchartered territories.
I observed and navigated through a system of massive corruption and irregularities that had become a norm and interacted with some brave women who still went ahead and made a difference in those societies. I literally went through a crash course in “crime and corruption” during my fieldwork in Nigeria and other African countries, great people but where corruption had seeped in their very foundations to the extent that it was normal.
I have been privileged to travel across 75 countries to date and have worked with both, wonderful and at times difficult individuals. Have been treated royally at some places and also targeted at other places, but have survived it all to tell my story. Life experience, in the end, is a collection of many fleeting moments for individuals who dare to take the challenge. For others, it’s just a monotonous routine where anything new is a disturbing change of scenery. To me, perpetual motion is the beauty of life that defines me as a person. To live life without struggle and challenges is no life at all. Look around you, most people do not live, they just exist.
Najib: We did digress again and discussed General Zia Ul Haq’s martial law in Pakistan and the magnificent poetry and in particular the poem “Hum Dekhein Gay”, Siraj Sahib had a great story with respect to this poem as well, something that I won’t be relating in this interview but would copy the poem and its transliteration for reader’s pleasure. This poem has become an anthem for the revolutionaries across the Urdu speaking community in the Middle East and Asia. I still cannot comprehend the state of mind under which Faiz Saheb had conceptualized and penned this classic.
Hum Dekhein Gay
We shall see
Lazim Hai ke hum Bhi Dekhein Gay
Certainly we too will see/ We shall see
Woh Din ke Jis ka Wadah Hai
that day that has been promised us
Jo Loh-e-Azl pe Likha hai
Which is written with God’s ink
领英推荐
Hum Dekhain Gay
We shall see
Jab Zulm-o-Sitam ke Koh-e-garaan
When the mountains of cruelty and torture
Ruii ki Tarah Urd Jain Gay
Will fly like pieces of cotton
Hum Mehkumoon ke Paun Talay
Under the feet of the governed
Yeh Dharti Dhard Dhard Dhardkay gi
this earth shiver, shake and beat
Aur Ehl-e-Hukum ke Sar Uper
And over the head of the ruler
Jab Bijli kard Kard Kardke gi
When lightening will thunder
Hum Dekhain Gay
We shall see
Jab Arz-e-Khuda ke kabay se
When from this God’s earth’s (Kaa’ba)
Sab but Uthwaaiy Jain gay
All the idols will be removed
Hum Ehl-e-Safa Mardood-e-Haram
Then we, of clean hearts–condemned by
zealots those keepers of faith
Masnad pe Bithaaiy jain gay
We, will be invited to that altar to sit and Govern
Sab Taaj Uchalay jain gay
When crowns will be thrown off
Sab Takht Giraaiy Jain gay
and over turned will be thrones
Bas Naam rahay Ga Allah ka
Then only God’s name will remain
Jo Ghayab Bhi hai Hazir Bhi
Who is invisible and visible too
Jo nazir bhi hai manzar bhi
Who is the seer and and is seen
Uthay ga Analhaq ka Naara
When the anthem of truth will be raised
Jo Main bhi Hun aur Tumbhi ho
Who I am too, And so are you
Aur Raaj karay gi khalq-e-Khuda
And the people of God will rule
Jo main bhi hun aur tum bhi ho
Who I am too, And so are you
Hum Dekhain Gay
We shall see
Lazim Hai ke hum Bhi Dekhain Gay
certainly we, too, will see/ We shall see
Hum Dekhain Gay
We shall see
Siraj: We will surely discuss this poem in another session, but here is a link to the story that I had penned regarding Faiz Sahab and the history of this classic.
Najib: Siraj Sahib, we are almost coming to the end of our conversation, please do let me know the kind of people you avoided and still like to avoid, when and where you can.
Siraj: There are quite a few individuals who have the quality of navigating through fiction rather than facts, and often successfully, if I may add. I would rather deal with reality, no matter how unpleasant, rather than deal with unrealistic scenarios, leading to nowhere. I am also not a huge fan of surprises, especially when they tend to become too frequent.
Najib: What does the world lack today and how would you like to address it?
Siraj: Clearly, lying has become the new truth and everyone is trying wilfully to fool each other. I like speaking and interacting with smart people but not those who take you as a stupid fool and underestimate others. The mantra which has worked for me is keeping my goal intact and doing my bit, and I find that others just gravitate when their thoughts align with mine.
Najib: A bit more about your passions?
Siraj: Performing arts provides spiritual nutrition. I direct concerts and performances, to build bridges between people and boundaries. Thankfully, my?3E?formula of?Engage /?Entertain / Educate has rarely let me down. In the end, good art is always about a message — from the ancient cave paintings to the modern works — and I believe that if the message does not get across, then it could be something else, but it is not art.
Najib: With so much going on in your life, is there still something else that chews up your working day?
Siraj: Somehow the Almighty makes sure that there are always things on my plate. Firstly, I am a featured contributor for several journals in Pakistan, India and here in the US. I also sit on the Board of several non-profits in the US, Pakistan and even in India. One of them is the Pakistan Association of Greater Boston.?www.pagb.org?whereas its President, I serve the American-Pakistani community of about 3000 families plus international students from Pakistan, across Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont. This is the second time I was elected after 16 years. The pandemic provided its own set of unforeseen and unknown challenges, but we tried to keep the community connected, as best as we could. Last November, PAGB celebrated its 30th Anniversary while paying tribute to the legendary Faiz Ahmed Faiz on his death anniversary. This May and June, we dispensed first and second doses of COVID vaccines to about 400 people. So never a dull moment and I always loved it this way.
Najib: Sir, this had been a great conversation and I appreciate your time and attention, I do look forward to seeing you soon in your next travels.
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3 年I too believe when Siraj Khan ji says that he believes in destiny. There is a reason for whatever happens in this world. Great.
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3 年Wonderful to know Siraj Khan ji more. Your scattered conversations made a very interesting read. Though I know him as a fan of OPN, I came to know more angles of him thro this interview. Ty
Chief Executive Officer Pinnacle Strategic Consultancy
3 年Siraj khan comes from a very accomplished family Fate brought us under roof of AFF (training for Chartered accountancy )Alma mater in 1967 In ME we shared existence in Dubai and then flew out in varied directions ,to yet again in new century and Atlantic away I have great memories of Siraj and better half Yasmin -epitome of culture civility and kindness
Realtor
3 年Siraj and I have known each other since 1965. We did our O Levels in St Patrick’s High School in 1967. Since then we were in and out of touch and at present are quite regularly in touch in our twilight years. I am proud to say that he is my friend. Ej
Founder & CEO at R3 Factory | Repair, Renew , Reuse | B2B/B2C | Transforming E-Waste into Opportunity | Empowering Eco-Warriors for Sustainable Future | Bootstrapped Since 2017
3 年What a deep interview Najib Ji! Very well done.