When Board Meetings Are a Way to Spend Time With Family

The childhood of George Alexander Muthoot was unusual. From a young age, he was involved in the family business. Even while attending school and college, Muthoot had to visit the office to learn about the business. This was a common practice for all his brothers. Early exposure to the business gave him a significant advantage, making him well-versed in company operations when he officially joined after his studies. However, it also meant he had less time to form friendships.

For Muthoot, personal and professional lives are intertwined. His wife often complains about the lack of time spent together, as most plans revolve around the business, including holidays. Now that he can afford vacations, Muthoot is trying to make up for it by going on holidays with her.

Whenever he has time off work, mostly in the evenings and on Sundays, he likes to watch films. A fiction lover, he has read most of the books by Jeffrey Archer, John Grisham, Wilbur Smith and Sidney Sheldon. He has a large library, which also has a lot of comic books. As for sports, Muthoot used to play badminton, which is now replaced with a lot of walking.

Being at the helm of a family business can become tedious at times but Muthoot tries not to be tense about too many things. He tries to find pleasure in everything, and happiness for him is having fewer problems.

Travelling for official purposes formed a major part of his work until recently. “I used to travel a lot till about 3–4 years back but now I am taking it a little easy because the next generation is coming up,” says Muthoot. At that time, he would travel to the company branches to know the ground reality. “I would want to know what exactly is happening at the ground level because I always felt that I should have a pulse of what is happening first-hand,” says Muthoot.

After spending his career at Muthoot Finance, he wants to share his experiences by writing a book. “How the business evolved and what were the challenges we faced at each step are worth writing down,” he says.

There were many challenges when the company decided to get listed. At that time, people did not even know what an organised gold loan business is. In South India, people knew about it but in North India, it was not a common knowledge. There was a lot of convincing that went behind making the company known. “We started the North India operations with the first branch in Nehru Place in Delhi in 1979. People could not even pronounce the word ‘Muthoot’. They would say, ‘Jaan chali jaae par biwi ka sona girvi nahi rakhenge [Even if I die, I will not pledge my wife’s gold]’. But afterwards people came to know that it was the smart way of getting loans,” he recalls.

Every month, a two-day family board meeting takes place with all the male members of the family involved in the business. “Other than the statutory external directors, we have a family board. That is something which we as a family do. We need to keep them all together. We discuss our opinions during these family meetings so that we have a uniform voice on company policy,” says Muthoot.

Out of the six brothers, four of them took interest in the business. The eldest one passed away, and his sons have joined. The youngest, Muthoot thinks it is the joint effort of the family that the company has earned a name in the gold loan business.

A supportive leader, Muthoot welcomes mistakes. “I personally encourage the staff or the seniors to take decisions. Even if it goes wrong, I support them. Problems may come but they can be solved together. It does not remain just that person’s problem, it becomes my issue too,” says Muthoot.