Happy to say that we have the pleasure of the company of Mr Vivek Gambhir, the Managing Director of Godrej Consumer Products, in London in a few weeks time. It’s just for the one day so alas we are very constrained on slots. You can try me, but I can’t promise anything. Be that as it may I think I’ve told you before I have a soft spot for this excellent company.
Reflecting on the early days of my career in financial markets as a fund manager with Barings I would probably have to, grudgingly, concede that I was not really a numbers focussed sort of guy. I wasn’t as hapless as an Aussie broker I knew who, when allowed to sit in on company meetings and offered the opportunity to ask a balance sheet question, would inquire with a straight-face “What’s a balance sheet?”. But I suppose I did rely more on a psychological, rather than numerical, approach to navigate Asian equity markets. I had – still do of course - an open mind as to what might constitute a source for conviction one way or another and to that end have maintained a keen eye on corporate mission statements. You see some gems travelling around the region, but rarely have I been so amused than by one on a poster in the reassuringly shabby reception room of Godrej Consumer Product’s office on a visit to India a few years back with an enormous long only client of mine.
We had driven north out of bustling Mumbai into the countryside and down a drive which led to the Godrej Group’s site, a large plot which seemed more like a plantation than the headquarters of one of India’s leading corporations. Nevertheless, despite the rural and agrarian setting, the motto on the admittedly somewhat gnarled poster seemed a little incongruous for a company whose primary business is in household and personal care products. “Having a goat is a state of happiness” I read out slightly hysterically to my client. “Best company moto ever”. He looked at me not a little condescendingly and told me the word was goal. He then fell into a drainage ditch. All in all, it was a great visit.
Talking of goals, Mr Vivek Gambhir maintains an interesting blog which I found via a link on the corporate website. Flicking through some recent posts of his it seems that goal setting remains central to this splendid company’s ethos and spirit. Take the one below for example which I enjoyed very much. I am already planning a family meeting to set out some targets for each of us in 2016. Seriously….I am. Should have implemented this long ago. Ill disciplined rabble that they are.
http://www.monday-8am.com/goal-setting-with-your-family/
Regrettably I missed an opportunity to do this last weekend as we had close to a quorum. Hen paid us a rare visit as she was photographing an 18th birthday party in Newmarket. Her rates are going up by the way though they are still very good value if you care and are planning a jolly. She is extremely professional and absolutely doesn’t drink when working, but there was a bit of a scare the day after her job when she complained of feeling dizzy and unwell and indeed was subsequently physically sick. It wasn’t an excess of alcohol or one of the canapes – as she does allow herself a few of those. No. Turned out that morning she had wandered into the kitchen and found a half full glass of water. It was a bit cloudy she had noted and paused for a moment apparently contemplating whether it was Bob’s backwash. That thought would have put most of us, but not Hen. She necked the water from what transpired, on later investigation into the source of her sickness, to have been a receptacle for a selection of wild flowers and undergrowth that Bob had assembled a few days earlier and given as a rather manky and wilted Valentines Day gift to his girlfriend. (Yes….a girlfriend! Who knew eh?). Yuck.
Just in case I have insufficiently bored you today I can’t resist including a quote from Ronnie O’Sullivan – one of my sporting heroes – bemoaning a dull day ( on which, incidentally, he had rattled off 300 unanswered points against a hapless opponent ) at the Welsh Open snooker tournament in Cardiff earlier this week.
"Today I've had a haircut, I've been in the Chinese, I've been for a coffee, I went to Bill's cafe for a couple of hours, I've had a kip, I went to Marks' and bought a bit of grub. What a day. It's certainly not glamorous." Welcome to my life Ronnie!
You know that “Japan Matters” product of mine? In a moment of quiet reflection yesterday I worked out that if I stapled all 53 editions together I’d have a book not far short of the length of War & Peace.
