Professor Muhammad Yunus
A Leader Who Makes Difference.
By; Elsidieg Abashera
Introduction:
This paper is about professor Yunus, winner of Noble Peace Prize in 2006. He born in
1940 in a village called Bathua in country of Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a country located
in Asia, and more precisely in northeast of Indian Subcontinent. It was part of India till
1947 where became part of Pakistan, and it ,thereafter, became an independent country
by its own on December 16,1971. Population of Bangladesh at time of independence was
estimated to 120 million and now is estimated to be 150,448,339 (2007) (1). It is a poor
country. Dhaka is the capital , and at same time is the largest city, where its population
as a metropolitan area was estimated in 2003 to be 12,560,000.(2).
Professor yunus was born in a family that was working in jewelry business in city of
Chittagong , biggest port in Bangladesh, where his family owned its own store. Professor
Yunus full name is Muhammad Yunus, his father name was Dula Mia, and his mother
name was Sofia Khatun. The family where was born was a big family, “My mother had
fourteen children, five of whom died young. My elder sister , Mumtaz, eight years older
than me, married when she was still a teenager.”(3)
Professor yunus graduated in economics at college of Chittagong in Bangladesh. He
came United States Of America in 1965 on Fulbright scholarship where he did his Ph.D
at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. After obtaining his degree in 1969 he taught
economics at Middle Tennessee University in Murfreesboro until 1971. In early 1972 he
returned back to his country Bangladesh which has become an independent country on
December 16, 1971.
Professor Yunus As A Leader:
Professor Yunus leadership has reflected itself in two things that he has envisioned, and
Persistently he believes in their viability, first is Grameen Bank that he has established
And second is the concept of micro credit that he has crafted and promoted it. The main
Objective he tries to serve by these two means is reduction of poverty and even more is its
eradication, because he believes that could happen, “I have always believed that
elimination of poverty from the world is a matter of will”. (4)
In order to address the above two projects and see what qualities of leadership that
Professor Yunus has shown during the course of implementing them in people’s lives, it
is worth mentioning that we might need to differentiate between two phases in professor
Yunus’s life, which are before and after his coming to the United States Of America.
Before coming to United States of America, Professor Yunus was teaching economics in
College at city of Chittagong. A teacher who was, on one hand, influenced by his mother
Who was used helping poor people and relatives, “she was probably the strongest
Influence on me. Full of compassion and kindness, Mother always put money away for
any poor relatives who visited us from distant villages. It was she, by her concern for the
Poor and the disadvantaged, who helped me, discover my interest in economics and social
reform.”(5), and on other hand, by growing up, in fact, in a business family he was
able to develop that strong sense of entrepreneurship, where he established his own
business after his graduation and while he was, at same time, teaching at college, “I
quickly set up a packaging and printing plant, which employed 100 workers. Over time it
turned out to be a successful project making a healthy yearly profit”. (6)
What fore mentioned was most probably what characterized and represented main theme
Of that phase of professor Yunus’s life before coming to USA for study.
The second phase of his life refers to the years that professor Yunus spent in America as
student and as an economics lecture at Middle Tennessee University, and also includes
his years after returning to his home country Bangladesh. It is worth saying that when he
left for United States his country was part of an other country and that was Pakistan, and
on his return he came back to an independent country with its integral sovereignty called
Bangladesh. Independence of his country was part of his experience in America, and that
will be addressed later.
In America Professor Yunus was exposed to a completely different culture. The new
culture that he was experiencing not being different merely on educational aspect, but
socially and politically too. The major thing that had struck him was the way woman
treated, and how she has equal rights not only as law spells but as people do practice it
in daily life. The issue of woman was, in his country, a different story, “I will never
forget the first time I entered a restaurant in Boulder to have the waitress say “Hi, my
name is Cheryl, and offer me a big smile and a glass of water with lots of ice in it. No
one in my country or in South Asia would ever treat a stranger so openly and
forthrightly.”(7) He saw with his own eyes how women are involved in life, not only as
part of community, but even more as productive partners. That was a new phenomenon
to a person who came from a culture where woman, in general, doesn’t count! It could
be said that that specific new cultural experience regarding woman had great impact on
Professor Yunus’s thoughts. It had lately, reshaped his vision about role he gave to
woman in his main projects of Grameen Bank, and micro credit, where percentage of
women among those who benefit from them has reached 97%, “Unlike conventional
bank Grameen bank provides credits (micro credit) to the poor people without any
collateral. As of may 2006 it has 6.61million borrowers, 97 percent of whom are
women.”(8)
Professor Yunus came to America during the Sixties where political life and activism
were at peak. It happened that during same time his country was start fighting for its
independence from Pakistan. He engaged heavily with other Bengalis scholars,
professionals and students, in United States of America, for the cause of his country. He
participated in organizing campaigns, meetings, talking to media, and even demonstrating
at Capitol Hill in Washington DC. The activism of all Bengalis in America had
Contributed positively to stop Pakistani army from committing genocides against civilians
in Bangladesh, and finally their activism help their country to get its independence.
That experience, which was part of his American experience, had helped to sharpen
Professor Yunus’s leadership capabilities, even the way of his thinking and understanding
Of things including his own life and future role, “I knew that I had to return home and
Participate in the work of nation building. I thought I owed it to myself.”(9)
After returning home, he went back to teaching economics at his old college in city of
Chittagong, but at same time he was thinking to help poor population, especially women.
He was quite convinced that something has to be done about poverty in his country. He
had come to the point that financing on micro level might help in reducing poverty rates
among population. Many poor people are skillful and could be productive if they have
that small money to buy materials that they can use for producing their products. The
way Professor Yunus started his project seems like an utopian dream, but it turned to be a
huge deed that has real potentials that did benefit million of people not only in
Bangladesh and other poor countries, but in developed ones too. His vision was to solve
problem that poor people do face, which was lack of financing. Solution he suggested
was to make finance accessible through micro credit. He dedicated himself to that vision,
“There is perhaps no greater authority on how to make credit available to the poor than
Muhammad Yunus, the founder of the Grameen Bank.”(10)
Professor Yunus has started his rural banking in 1977 – Grameen Bank by virtue of loan
he guaranteed from one of the commercial banks in Bangladesh called Janata Bank. He
quit teaching economics at college and became a full time director of Grameen Bank. He
decided from the beginning that his bank must be different from conventional banks. The
first thing he did to make it works different from conventional banks was the way his
Bank should handle its loan operation, “in structuring our credit program, I decided to do
exactly the opposite of traditional banks. To overcome the psychological barrier of
parting with large sums. I decide to institute a daily payment program. I made the loan
payments so small that borrowers would barely miss the money.”(11)
Grameen Bank adopts recruiting of young people and its policy is that employees work
with borrowers person to person in fields, by traveling from one village to another to
meet with poor people and offer them micro loans. Employees were trained to accept that
way of working which is a new way of banking, and matter of fact is a challenge, and that
was exactly what makes Grameen Bank a different bank. Grameen bank has set and
established its own organizational culture, whether in reference to its operation or to its
targeting of poor people. Professor Yunus might have summarized that clearly when
wrote, “We immerse each new young worker in the Grameen culture and the culture of
the poor, teaching him or her to appreciate the unexplored potential of the destitute.”(12)
The projects of the Grameen Bank and micro credit were successful, and numbers don’t
lie, within five years members of the bank were 28000 members, little less than half
were women, and “as of may 2006, it has 6.74 million borrowers, 97 percent of whom
are women. With 2259 branches ,GB provides services in 72,833 villages, covering more
than 86 percent of the total villages in Bangladesh.”(13)
the bank has built its policy around encouraging engagement of its members and
borrowers in regular meeting , where they discuss their common affairs and to
democratically choose their leaders. Choosing of women to be leaders in poor country
side of Bangladesh, was a new emerging tradition, it was not known before, and that what
Grameen Bank has done. By adopting popular participation in his project and by
encouraging it, Professor Yunus has proved that he is a participative leader, not only does
believe in it, rather does practice it consistently.
On the other hand Professor Yunus has broken through a conservative culture when he
enabled women in his home country to play a role in their communities by becoming
productive members of their society and even by assuming leadership to carry change
out in values, beliefs and in people perception about women, and in this sense professor
Yunus has stood out as a transforming leader, “the transforming leader achieves ‘
significant change’”. (14)
The new experiment and endeavor of reducing poverty advocated by professor Yunus
was recognized by international organizations like the World Bank, International
Monetary Fund, ..etc, and almost by whole world, even in The United States there is
Grameen Foundation (GF- USA), based in Washington DC, and there are some active
micro credit programs in different places like Dallas, Texas, Harlem, New York, and
others.
Professor Yunus has not only, through his vision of new banking and micro credit,
challenged the old known methods of fighting poverty, but on intellectual level he
challenged some economic concepts such as development, credit worthy. He had
confronted banks at national level, international agencies, and international organizations
such as the World Bank and others. He thinks those organizations do adopt scaring tactics
in dealing with issues like poverty, population, and development in underdeveloped and
poor countries, “Governments and population agencies are not putting nearly as much
effort into changing the quality of life of the poor as they put into their scare tactics, such
as pressuring illiterate men and women to physically remove their ability to procreate.
UN studies conducted in more than forty developing countries show that the birth rate
falls as women gain equality.”(15)
professor Yunus has, in his vision, been driven by his content that right to credit should
be considered a human right rather than a privilege .Fact of the matter by going into that
direction he has taken the concept of “ right to credit” and “credit worthy” to a high level
of intellectualization, and that in final analysis might have enabled him to fascinate and
touch many people around the world.
Through Grameen Bank operation and micro credit practice, big communities of
borrowers were formed all over Bangladesh. Individuals of these communities become
sharing common values and very much believe in mission of their bank. The
understanding and assimilation of cooperative spirit that whole project advocates, by
borrowers had helped Grameen Bank to have a high percentage of loans repayment
which has reached 98%, and that was one of fields in which Grameen Bank outpaces
conventional banks.
Grameen Bank’s borrowers’ communities became gaining political influence, specially
on local levels in Bangladesh, “in 1992, some four hundred Grameen borrowers were
elected to union councils, and in 1996, Grameen borrowers led the way to an almost
unthinkable feat more women voted in the national election than men, which help to
nearly wipe a political party that had taken positions against women’s rights out of
parliament” (16). It worth noticing that Professor Yunus and all those who associated
with project of new banking and micro credit were succeeded to create some kind of
communities completely different from ethnic clans, and religious sects, specially in a
poor country that could be considered right environment for breeding of fanaticism on
both levels of ethnicity and religion. In that regards, what might have helped was the fact
that poverty does, as a human phenomenon, not discriminate in those poor countries on
base of ethnicity or religions, as it goes across.
In standing for his vision, it is important to say that professor yunus has fallen short in his
criticizing of other institutions, specially international agencies and organizations. He
underestimates benefits of training that those organization see its importance for people
in fighting poverty, even he does question its viability, and undervalues its role in
alleviation of poverty, “Government decision- makers, many NGO’s and international
consultants usually start the work of poverty alleviation by launching very elaborate
training programs. They do this because they begin with the assumption that people are
poor because they lack skills…. I believe that many training programs are
counterproductive”. (17) This stands as an inaccurate addressing and even as a damaging
simplification of issue by Professor Yunus. It is known that training won’t done for its
own sake, but would be done because there are projects to be carried out. Those
Organizations, in general, do training in association with specific projects. Yes, it is
understandable to disagree with some projects which designed to alleviate poverty, but it
will be out of context to deny existence of projects , and engulf whole
objective and end of those organization in training and training only!
The main premise of professor Yunus was that human beings are skillful by nature, “I
firmly believe that human beings have an innate skill”. (18) .So, that might be the reason
he was thinking that poor might not need, for instance, all those “very elaborate training
programs”. In reality premise of professor Yunus doesn’t hold on, because the way
Grameen bank does business, it sends its employees to remote villages to see people and
get them enrolled as borrowers and members, and even helping them to hold their
meetings, and educate them how to follow policy of Grameen Bank, and its directives
for benefiting from its micro loans, and no doubt all those practices in essence do imply
training.
On other hand, all that bright success of Professor’s Yunus vision could not only be
attributed, all together, to his abilities as a leader. Matter of the fact it wouldn’t be
possible without him having those associates and managers who weren’t only believed in
the mission, but they have worked hard for its materialization. An other factor needs to
considered, and that was help that been offered to Professor Yunus whether on official
level or on personal level. Such projects, as Grameen bank and micro credit, that generate
high popularity won’t see light in underdeveloped countries, specially when those
countries under military regimes, unless somehow some help offered by some good
hearted people who believe in good causes, “ Fortunately for us, the secretary of the
finance ministry, Mr. Syeduzzaman, was another friend of Grameen. Muhith enlisted his
support and took my proposal directly to the president. As a military dictator, the
president had no political legitimacy and perhaps he saw in Grameen a chance to score
some political points……in late September 1983, while I was on a tour of rangpur, I
received a call saying that the president had signed the proclamation and that the
Grameen Bank was born. That was a day of rejoicing.”(19)
As a conclusion, Professor Yunus proved, as a leader, that he was a man of vision. He
was well convinced of it and worked diligently to carry it out. He started addressing,
practically, the issue of poverty in his local community, but when bar was raised to
national and even to world wide level he accepted the challenge and led his organization
in a way that made it deserves the due respect and recognition for its role in helping poor
people and proving that poverty could be alleviated. It has been well pointed out
On October 13, 2006 by Noble Prize Committee when it has released that, “The
Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2006,
divided into two equal parts, to Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank for their efforts
to create economic and social development from below. Lasting peace can not be
achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty.
Micro credit is one such means. Development from below also serves to advance
Democracy and human rights” (20).
References:
- infoplease.com
- infoplease.com
- Yunus, Muhammad “Banker To The Poor”, P 6.
- P248.
- Ibid P 5.
- Ibid P 15.
- Ibid P 18.
- muhammadyunus.org
- Yunus,Muhammad, “Banker To The Poor”, P 29.
- Rajan, G Raghuram & Zingales, Luigi, “saving Capitalism From the Capitalists” P4.
- Yunus, Muhammad, “Banker To The Poor”, P 61.
- P101.
- muhammadyunus.org
- Cauto, Richard, “The Transformation Of The transforming leadership”, Essay in “the Leader’s Companion” edited by J. Thomas Wren, P 103.
- Yunus,Muhammad, “Banker To The Poor”, P134.
- P 196.
- Ibid, P 141.
- Ibid, P 140.
- Ibid, P. 119.
- nobelprize.org
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