Diary of a Rural Manager!

This post is in the continuity of the personal-finance series where earlier blog post: Personal Finance - Investment  was published in May 2020. RBI published a very important ‘ Indian Household Finance Survey ’ in August 2017. The report highlighted that: The average Indian household holds 84% of its wealth in real estate and other physical goods, 11% in gold, and the residual 5% in financial assets. A disproportionately high share of wealth allocated to physical (i.e. non-financial) assets, such as gold.  Under-investment in long-term insurance and pension products. Households can move up between 0.4 pp (percentage points) and 1.6 pp by taking on insurance to avoid the burden of emergency credit associated with medical costs Disproportionally large reliance on unsecured debt, mostly from non-institutional sources (e.g. moneylenders). ...

Management is the noblest of professions only if it’s practiced well. There are deep rewards in building up people and businesses. I identify myself as a social intrapreneur based on the behavior traits and initiatives displayed. What I lack is the endurance to iterate and scale an impact model. I was a useful professional at what I do, and was able to contribute decently, but not the man who carried the team. That changed in Rajasthan as I explored potential inside me and gradually a spark to siege the initiative. Leadership at the top levels of not-for-profit organizations tends to steer towards monopolization and loyalty culture. And the time of the leaders is mostly consumed in raising funds rather than building robust programs. That is why leaders always try to handhold individuals who demonstrate an 'entrepreneurial mindset'. The answer to this particular problem is quite clear - to create intrapreneurs. This scenario gives ample place to managers who can manage as well ...

As reading and writing are essential to participating in society, a person has to be financially literate today to plan for the future. This is essential without indulging deep into technical and jargon-filled financial concepts. The ability to save and the power of compounding is not quickly understood by many people. Investment can be done in various asset classes like equities through mutual funds and stocks, Bonds through mutual funds, Gold, P2P crowd-lending, National Saving Certificate, Public Provident Fund, Fixed Deposits through Banks, NBFC (HDFC Ltd.), Post Office, Real Estate and Currency. I have started my career in the shadow of the 2008 financial crisis and have been at the receiving ends of the global recession of 2020 due to Covid-19. Both catastrophes have revealed that we could all benefit from a clearer understanding of how markets work. Let us look at the 2007-2010 period for the fall and rise of Sensex. The meltdown in the global financial system proved to be the...

Parts 0 ,  1 ,  2 , 3,  4 ,  5 , 6 , and 7 of the Acumen virtual bootcamp series can be found here. This is the last part of the Acumen Bootcamp series. I had completed all sessions of the bootcamp. And the interaction with people helped me to define what leadership is. Leadership is an influence. Leadership is born when competence meets character, practical skills meet moral imagination, and urgency meets action. I would recommend the article: Crucibles of Leadership. The last session was a reflection exercise by the participants and moderators on the whole 8-week journey. I was introduced to a rich network of social-sector leaders from across the world, a.k.a Community of Social Innovators. The decline of what sociologists call ‘secondary associations’, where people come together to search and inquire, is one of the processes of atomization that leads to people being isolated and facing this mass of information alone. I hope a new association can help me navig...

VCB-N has launched a series of Webinars on the COVID crises to offer a platform for learning and exchange about the current situation. This is the summary of the webinar on impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on agricultural value chains by VCB Network . Speakers: 1. Mr. Barua Kaushik, Country Director IFAD Cambodia & Mr. Fabrizio Bresciani, Regional Economist IFAD Rome - IFAD perspectives 2. Anirban Bhowmik, Country Director, Swisscontact, Bangladesh – the smallholder farmers and the informal sector perspectives in Bangladesh 3. Mr. Andrew Wilson, Regional Coordinator Market Systems, HELVETAS – The market perspective 4. Prof. Liu Yonggong, China Agricultural University (CAU)- The market perspective from China Summary: 1. The COVID crisis does negatively impact households in three inter-connected areas i) food security ii) income and iii) investment ability. In rural areas, the down-fall of prices has diminished the investment ability thus working capital of smallholder farme...

Parts  0 ,  1 ,  2 ,  4 ,  5 , and 6 of the Acumen virtual bootcamp series can be found here. The topic of the 7th session was on Adaptive Leadership. All organizations want individuals to be invested in the rat race. This always shows a better return on investment in salary.  And we are also engaged in the dance of email, instant messages, and meetings. But reflecting in the midst of action is an age-old wisdom, and it is really difficult to achieve.  The crux of the session was on reflection amid action and vice versa The Practice of Adaptive Leadership , a book written by Alexander Grashow, Marty Linsky, and Ronald Heifetz, was referred for detailed reading.  The best part in the summarized reading was our  Illusion of the Broken System : There is a myth that drives many change initiatives into the ground: that the organization needs to change because it is broken. The reality is that any social system (including an organiza...

Parts 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , and 5 of the Acumen virtual bootcamp series can be found here. I approached our readings, 14 pages from ‘ On Identity by Amin Malouf , with great eagerness. Amin Maalouf,  born in Beirut, is a prolific writer of fiction, non-fiction, and operatic librettos. In 2010, he received the Prince of Asturias Award for Literature. The discussion was focusing on the issue of identity on a very basic level. The most marketable skill in leaders is the ability to abandon one's own identity and slip into someone else's. Most people have the privilege to associate with identities that can give them access to new opportunities through a network. This was the aspect that was visible in the group. Whatever people understand and enjoy in human products instantly becomes theirs, wherever they might have their origin. This is true in most cases. I stepped up and shared the experience that is related to imposed identities connected with stereotypes. Stereotyping and...