Tribute: A man with soft voice and strong footprint

If you ask anyone here, what do you do, he'd say I'm doing a job here, but I want them to say instead that they are running their own business here, this is what Mr Latifur Rahman, our LRN used to tell us. He believed in igniting aspiration among others; he used to take pride in the achievements of his people. I'll never forget how proudly he introduced me to his fellow MCCI members as the first female professional reaching the height of being a General Manager in marketing arena of pharma industry, when I was promoted as the General Manager, Marketing of Eskayef in 2007.

I joined Eskayef as a Senior Executive 10 years earlier in 1997. The unfortunate demise of his daughter Shazneen happened a year after that. Amidst the shock and disbelief of the gruesomeness of the whole incident, we found MrLatifur Rahman resuming work in next few weeks' time. That's when I learned about his inner strength of facing life, however unfair and cruel fate turned out to be!

Talking about his humility, there was a saying in Eskayef that no one could give salaam to him before he did, and I personally can vouch for that, as it happened every time I met him alone or in a group. In 2005 at the first Asia Pharma Expo at Bangladesh China Friendship Conference Center (now Bangabandhu International Conference Center), soon after inauguration, as we were showing our products to the then Prime Minister in our stall, from her expression of surprise getting to know that Eskayef was one of the concerns of Mr Latifur Rahman's Transcom Group, we actually could comprehend LRN's humility as he clearly told me later in the evening when he visited the stall that he wants Eskayef to be known by its people and products, not by him.

He never fell short of being a perfect family man and that is why I believe, he knew how to treat us who served in his organisations as his family. In November 1998 when medical representatives of Eskayef, distributed the first printed copy of daily ProthomAlo to all the doctors they visited across the country, LRN appreciated us saying that is how a new member is introduced to the world by other members of the family. My husband Prof Anisur Rahman operated on his sister at Apollo Hospitals Dhaka and while commenting on that during an occasion on a later date, he told me, "DrShagufa, your husband is not only a great surgeon but also a very good soul." Such insight with such honest assessment come only from years of sharp observation, which LRN had.

In our quarterly board meetings at Eskayef while I presented company's achievements and future projections in topline numbers, he always used to ask me in his soft voice, "at what cost,DrShagufa?" This became so ingrained in me that I never went and spoke in front of him about any figures or volumes, without knowing the probable expenses to be incurred to attain that. In all our meetings he used to be the most attentive, engrossed and engaged participant, which many a time put others to shame,those who used to side-talk or whisper.

His leadership across his enterprises exuded a unique blend of professionalism and immaculate perfection, making us all strive every day to be at par with his expectation and set level of standards. It was an honour to have had the opportunity to learn profoundly from Mr Latifur Rahman, for more than a decade of my tenure in Eskayef, which shaped my beliefs and ways in my professional life to face the challenges ahead.

Latifur Rahman, a man of soft voice with his humble belief, practice and preaching, who never believed in flamboyance and flaunting his organisations without giving due to its people, has left his strong footprint on our lives to cherish forever.

Dr Shagufa Anwar, left pharma industry back in 2008 as General Manager of Eskayef Bangladesh Limited to join country's hospital sector. She can be contacted at dr.shagufa.anwar@gmail.com