The bank CEO with a flair for musicals

K-Rep Bank is now Sidian Bank. Of course. Titus Karanja who joined the bank last year steered this transformation.
He previously served as head of investment and merchant banking and head of co-operative banking at Co-op Bank; and, as the head of Kenya securities for the African Alliance Investment Bank.

Titus looks like a banker — suit, tie, black shoes, minimum facial hair, stiff lower lip — but his temperament isn’t of a banker.

He’s like whisky in a packet of milk; surprising. He’s a fun and brilliant guy to converse with.

We met for an unhurried—and laughter-filled — lunch at the Serena Hotel.
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Surely, why Sidian? Isn’t that an odd name for a bank?

I don’t know about odd. Sidian is a coin name inspired by the obsidian rock. It’s a name that allows us to make it what we wish. If you had a young child today, by the time he’s an adult, we’ll have made this name into what we wish it to be and they’ll not be saying what you’re saying—that it is a strange name for a bank—they’ll identify it with financial services and it’ll be nurtured. So that’s the journey. Starting from scratch.

Do you enjoy banking, honestly?

Yes.

You’re immersed in it, you’re passionate about it?

I’m in it. From an early age, anything to do with finances, money, playing around with that, I’d do. So I like banking by extension. My primary career was stockbroking and then I moved into corporate advisory, fund management, investment management, then banking. The common thread is, as long as it involves cash, I’ll be in it.

Do you have to enjoy money to enjoy banking?

Yes. Well, you have to enjoy working with money. Not spending it. Bankers are not good spenders. Good bankers are not good spenders.

Are you a good spender?

No.

So you’re a good banker?

If I say so myself. Now that you got it out of me. (Laughs).

Do you worry about money? Like, “I’m not making enough, if I make enough, will it be enough?”

I don’t worry about money and enough. Somehow that concept doesn’t register in my psyche. Without being trite about it, there’s nothing like enough money, but also that, I don’t think I’ve really ever worried about making money. It comes.

At your age, 40, do you think you struggle with the same challenges as say, a much older CEO of a different bank?

No. Not at all.

What’s the distinction?

This might sound bad. (Pause) Here is the difference between me and a much older CEO. There’s a guy sitting somewhere and the challenges he’s grappling with are in exactly the same banking industry I’m in today and more or less the same set of surrounding circumstances. But he has gone through a lifecycle that puts him in a situation where, whereas I’m worried about “After this gig, what will I do next?” “Will my name still be intact?” There’s somebody somewhere who doesn’t have to worry about that.

Because?

Because he’s on his last leg. He’s figuring, “This is my last assignment” and so he tends to worry about different things and so you’ll find that younger CEOs worry more about what the next chapter will say versus what the previous chapters said. Is that coming out as a distinction? It’s a big deal. It’s a very big deal.

So you still have a long way to go?

There are infinite possibilities and because I do not intend to make this my retirement gig, you spend more time thinking about how this will look in the broader context.

Then what is your biggest insecurity as a CEO?

You see the problem is that when you’re sitting in certain positions, fear is a real complex and multifaceted beast that you’re facing. It has like three heads and they’re not exactly in the same place. But if I was to summarise it, I think the biggest thing I could fear is the people element of things. You know what the goal is.
I mean, goals are usually fairly clear, you know the how to get there but the people element of how we’ll get there on two long divides. There’s the Kumbaya method of we shall all sing Kumbaya and get there together.

Then there’s the other method of slash-and-burn where you’re either with us or not and anyone who falls behind gets left behind. You’ve got to do a really delicate balancing right there. So I’ve no fear at all that we’ll get to our goal. The issue is how and what it will cost.

You just turned 40, was there any sort of apprehension when 40 neared?

Not yet. I suspect it’s looming somewhere. But I suspect it’s because it just passed in a whirl. It was like, Oh birthday! When? How?

In your things-to-do tray, what things spilled over into your 40s?

I’d certainly have liked to travel more. I’m a bit methodical so there was a list and it was not met. I was also supposed to be at a much higher proficiency on the guitar than I am right now.

You play the guitar?

Yes I dabble in the guitar. But there’s a new level of proficiency I need to get to before I can say I play. When I was younger, I was happy playing the clarinet because it was a bit of a challenging instrument, multiple keys. But it’s a wind instrument. There’s nothing else you’re going to be doing while you’re blowing into the thing. Then I took up the saxophone because it looked nice and it was easier than the clarinet. If you can play the clarinet, you can pretty much play the sax.

Then after that, I took a bit of a break. Then I thought, “Okay, I’m going to pick up a new one.” It was either going to be the piano or the guitar. So I chose the guitar because it’s easy. Not easy to play, but because it’s easy living. You can actually play it in relaxed, non-technical situations —when you’re not just out to achieve something. You can be playing and talking or play and sing along. You can play and entertain. You’re not going to play the trumpet and watch TV.

Do you have any regrets? Things you’d want to undo?

Oh yeah! Of course. Surely, I don’t think you get this far unless you missed something along the way. I’m hoping you won’t ask what the regrets are but yes, certainly. Unfortunately I can’t share them. (Laughs).

You have kids?

Yes I do.

How many, or you also don’t count children?

Three. The eldest is a girl. She’s now 11, and followed by a boy who is eight and the last born is four.

How has fatherhood surprised you?

The biggest surprise was, I actually thought it was a lot easier. Our parents seemed to do it without breaking a sweat. They were always doing it and they had no uncertainties—well, that you ever saw— then it breaks out on you and you go “Whoa! What’s going on here and how long has it been going on? How long has it been this difficult or is it only for us? Is it only for me?” These little fellows who are individual personalities of their own rights, live in a world where you are trying to understand. At the same time, you’re trying to figure out how much of guiding should be done to them. I’m a great believer in benevolent neglect when it comes to finding their way, but increasingly you find out that’s not what the environment is calling for and you do need to have a bit more of a grip.

Describe Titus at 50 years?

[Gives me an odd puzzled look]

I’d hate to be asked all these questions. I’m so glad I’m not the interviewee. So let’s have an answer.

(Laughs) Do you deliberately structure them to be that hard?

Yes, just for kicks. But I only ask hard questions to smart people.

(Laughs) Thanks for the compliment but let’s not do this. (Laughs) Let’s make it a little easier. (Pause) Titus at 50… At this age and over the last 10 years, I have been always on full speed, full tilt, full running—I can’t power down. Whether I’m on holiday or not in the holiday, whether I’m in the office, I can’t power down at all. I expect at 50 to deliberately ease up. Not retire, but ease up.

Being a husband and being a CEO. If they were to do an appraisal, which one do you think you’d do best in?

So who’d be doing an appraisal? (Big smile).

Independent bodies that you can’t bribe or bully.

(Laughs) I have this suspicion that being CEO would come ahead by a nose. Only a nose. I try to balance.

What do you do to let your hair down?

Such as it is with a receding hairline, my best times are when I’m around cars, I relax quite quickly.

What car is your personality closest to? If you were to be a car, what car would you be?

That’s a bad question.

Give me a good answer. A bad question deserves a good answer.

Land Rover. Land Rovers are very quirky, but also very dependable and easy. No high maintenance stuff on Land Rovers.