Sony Kumar's BLOG

Davos is a place where power gathers—political power, economic power, intellectual power. You walk through its halls and meet the people who shape policy, capital, and culture. Yet this year, amid the panels and predictions, one truth kept rising to the surface:

Both politics and business have drifted away from people.

Democracy was built on a simple promise: citizens elect leaders who will improve their lives and strengthen society. But today, political parties behave more like brands than public servants. They hire consultants, PR firms, and data strategists to sell themselves to voters—crafting narratives, slogans, and emotional triggers.

But in all that noise, one essential question is rarely asked:

“What value can I add to improve the lives of the people who trusted me with their vote?”

That question is the foundation of public service. Without it, politics becomes theatre—ego, ideology, and personal agendas replacing responsibility, humility, and problem‑solving.

And the tragedy is not that politicians are bad people. It’s that many have forgotten the simplicity of the role they were given. They were not elected to win arguments. They were not elected to defend ideology. They were not elected to perform for cameras or social media.

They were elected to improve the lives of many.

But the dislocation doesn’t stop with politics.

Business leaders are failing society too

In Davos, you also meet CEOs—leaders of companies that touch millions of lives. And yet, many of them are just as disconnected from the people they depend on. They speak about markets, margins, and shareholder value, but rarely about the human beings who make those profits possible. Increasingly, business leaders spend more time interacting with shareholders and financial markets than with the customers whose lives they profit from.

The truth is simple:

No business can exist without people. Without people, there is no profit.

So it makes sense—morally, strategically, and economically—for businesses to dedicate part of their model to improving the lives of the people they serve. Not as charity. Not as PR. Not as a CSR checkbox. But as a core operating principle.

Because the wellbeing of society is not something that can be outsourced to politicians.

Businesses shape daily life just as much as governments do. They influence how we work, what we consume, how we live, and what opportunities we have. When CEOs disconnect from society’s needs, they fail not only their customers but their own long‑term viability.

A business that does not invest in the wellbeing of people is a business quietly eroding the foundation it stands on.

A widening gap—and a warning

Both politicians and business leaders must start asking themselves a simple, uncomfortable question:

“Are we improving the lives of the people we serve—and meeting their aspirations?”

If the answer is no, the gap between institutions and individuals will keep growing. The cracks will widen. And over time, society will begin to implode—not through sudden collapse, but through slow erosion of trust, dignity, and hope.

People are not asking for miracles. They are asking for leaders—political and corporate—who remember why their roles exist in the first place.

Why HARLEY of LONDON Exists

HARLEY of LONDON was created with all of this in mind—as an experiment in doing things differently. It was born from a simple belief: if politics and business have drifted away from people, then someone must build a model that brings the focus back to human wellbeing. Not as a slogan, not as a CSR initiative, but as the core operating system. HARLEY of LONDON exists to prove that a modern organisation can be commercially strong and socially meaningful, that it can scale without losing its soul, and that it can place human lives—along with markets and ideology—at the centre of every decision. It is a reminder that leadership, at its best, is an act of service.

The purpose of leadership is service

Society needs to know that businesses exist not just for profit, but to improve the lives of their customers. Society needs to know that politicians exist not just to win elections, but to improve the lives of citizens. And leaders need to remember that power is not a trophy—it is a responsibility.

Davos is full of ideas, but ideas only matter when they return home with us. When they shape how we lead, how we serve, and how we choose to show up for others.

Maybe the real work begins not in the Alps, but in the humility of one question:

“How can I help people live better lives?”

“I’ve learned that leadership is not measured by how loudly you speak, but by how deeply you listen—and how courageously you act to improve the lives of others. If power doesn’t serve people, it serves nothing.”

Sanjeev Kumar