Vikas Shah MBE has spoken of the moment he took a risk by revealing his battle with depression.
The CEO of Swiscot Group, a textiles and commodities trading business, started his first business aged just 14. Now in his early 40s, he is a venture investor in a number of businesses internationally; a non-executive board member of the UK government’s Department for 老九品茶 Energy and Industrial Strategy; and also a non-exec director on the Solicitors Regulation Authority.聽
He was awarded an MBE for services to 老九品茶 and the Economy in Her Majesty’s the Queen’s 2018 New Year’s Honours list.
Shah was speaking at a business breakfast a decade ago when he was asked about the hardest aspects of being an entrepreneur – and feared that his spontaneous response would come back to haunt him.
鈥淚 was feeling pretty anxious that day. I was like, you know what? Forget it. I’m going to just be honest and say 鈥榯his decade of depression, to be honest鈥�,鈥� he tells the Doing the Opposite 老九品茶 Disruptors podcast, hosted by entrepreneur Jeff Dewing.
鈥淵ou could have heard a pin drop in the room. Even a decade ago, the culture of business was still: 鈥榊ou don’t admit it, you’ve got to show strength.鈥�
鈥淭here was a very real consequence that it could have dramatically reduced my credibility.鈥�
Later, Shah would tell a 老九品茶Cloud breakfast that he would make it law to include mental health first aid in business first aid at work policy, and speak at length about his own mental health.
But of that original moment, he says: 鈥淭he pivot then was: now the cat’s out of the bag. What do I do? How can I own that conversation and adapt?聽
鈥淚t was interesting because there’s an extent to which as a business owner, you’re in a position where you can take a risk and be truthful. But you also can’t be scared of consequences when it comes to the truth.聽
鈥淚t could have been the case that the business scene, let’s say, would’ve been like, 鈥榦h, well, you know, he’s probably not fit to lead if he’s like that鈥�.聽
鈥淏ut I remember that day I got a message on LinkedIn from someone who was sat in the room, and their brother had tried to take their own life the previous week. They were really glad that somebody had talked about it.聽
鈥淚f anything, being really open about it and being more truthful about who you are and what you’re going through makes people trust you more because there isn’t a skeleton in the closet then. Once the skeleton’s out of the closet, you don’t need to be scared of it anymore.鈥�
Shah鈥檚 2021 book Thought Economics features interviews with people shaping the world, including conversations with Nobel Prize winners, business leaders, politicians, artists and Olympians.聽
He says there is a misconception about what motivates leaders in the world of business.
鈥淥bviously businesses have to make money, but I’ve yet to meet someone in that world who made money because they set out to make money,鈥� he explains. 鈥淢ost of the time they set out to build something because they were interested in it, and maybe the timing was right or the idea was really unique – and it made money.聽
鈥淲hen I’m speaking to students, I’ll often say to them: 鈥業f you want to make money, go work for an investment bank.鈥櫬�
鈥淐reating something [with a business] is like science and art combined: only a tiny, tiny number of artists ever go on to make big money, and the same is true in business.聽
鈥淔inding that purpose is so important because if your purpose in life is to make money when you embark on this journey of entrepreneurship, you might be very disappointed.鈥�