Ajay Banga, former Executive Chairman of Mastercard

[Archive interview from May 27, 2021]

“I believe that businesses cannot prosper in a failing world,” Ajay Banga, the Executive Chairman of Mastercard, tells The HOW Institute Founder, Dov Seidman, on a new episode of HOW Conversations.  Ajay explains why he thinks capitalism as we know it needs an overhaul and why business is in need of values-based leadership. “This [wealth] inequality, this climate inequality, they don't work for me, and they don't work for my children, and they don't work for you.”

Ajay, who is a founding Board Member of The HOW Institute, and Dov also discuss Mastercard’s decision to keep all employees on the payroll during the pandemic even though the costs hurt the company’s bottom line, “It's a tough hit, but it's the right hit for the long term, you know why? Because those very people are far more loyal today. And by the way, the skills they have is what's made our company what it is.” Ajay explains Mastercard's company morals, establishing a respectful culture and he shares leadership advice for emerging moral leaders.

READY TO START YOUR MORAL LEADERSHIP JOURNEY? Moral leadership is more imperative today than ever before. The HOW Institute for Society was founded on the belief that those in positions of formal authority should also have moral authority.  We are creating the tools leaders need to make principled, ethical and values-based decisions.  We are a nonprofit organization dedicated to building a world rooted in deep human values and trust in our social fabric. The Institute channels philosophical reasoning to address modern problems. Today, HOW we do what we do matters more than ever and in ways it never has before.  

Learn more at https://thehowinstitute.org/