Podcasts

Sanjiv Mehta, former Chairman and CEO of Hindustan Unilever, joins us for a wide-ranging conversation on leadership, resilience, and the making of a business institution. From a middle-class household to the top of India’s most respected FMCG company, Sanjiv traces a four-decade journey defined by duty over ambition. He speaks candidly about being at Union Carbide during the Bhopal tragedy, choosing to stay and help the company weather its darkest hour, and why he believes careers are forged in storms rather than in placid waters. He also reflects on turning down Wharton, entering the Unilever bastion as a chartered accountant with no MBA pedigree, and transforming Unilever Bangladesh into a crown jewel as one of the group’s youngest country heads.

The conversation moves into the philosophy behind his book, drawing out his people-first thesis, how leaders spot a weakening culture before the numbers reveal it, and why humility and ambition must be held together. He shares his views on the many Indias that shape modern consumption, the rise of regional challenger brands, the instinct behind the Indulekha acquisition, and the three capabilities that turned HUL into India’s CEO factory. He closes with the most brutal feedback he ever received, the failures he values most, and why, at 65, he has chosen boards, a fund, and mentoring entrepreneurs over retirement.