Gurcharan Das on Dharma-based Management

IIM Lucknow added a new flavour to its Leadership Talk Series – Prodigies through a guest lecture by one of the most revered authors of current times Mr. Gurcharan Das. Mr. Das is the author of the bestsellers such as India Unbound and The Difficulty of Being Good.  Before becoming a full-time writer, he was Managing Director of Proctor & Gamble Worldwide and CEO of Proctor & Gamble India.  

 

Mr. Gurcharan Das delivering lecture on learnings from Mahabharata

Mr. Gurcharan Das discussed how contemporary leaders can learn some of the important lessons of leadership from one of the greatest Indian epic Mahabharata. He said that intelligence is overrated in today’s world and the three essential qualities a leader should have are – determination or will power, humility but not lack of ambition and integrity. Leadership is all about inspiring others through high energy, strong will power and most importantly through integrity. Leaders face moral dilemma throughout their career and what they choose and the motivation behind their decision defines their character.

IIM Lucknow students learning Management Mantras from Mr. Gurcharan Das

He drew examples of courage, dharma or doing what one ought to, loyalty or righteousness and compassion from Mahabharata. When Draupadi was humiliated in front of everyone she asked Bhisma why was he silent. Dharma says half the punishment should be given to the person committing the crime, quarter to the allies and the remaining quarter should be borne by those who remain silent. Mr. Das opined that today this is the biggest problem of our society - our leaders remain silent such as our respected Prime Minister when the entire nation is full of anger on so many issues.

Further, he talked about one of the greatest warriors (Kshatriyas) from Mahabharata – Karna. Karna despite being enormously talented and ambitious was not treated as a Kshatriya but a Soodputra (someone of lower caste). Krishna realized that Karna was the only person who could lead to Pandavas’ defeat. Krishna approaches Karna to entice him and make him switch sides by offering him entire kingdom, status of elder brother of Pandavas and Draupadi as his wife. But Karna denies saying a mother is not someone who gives birth but who raises you. This thought reflects on our caste ridden society and shows a sense of value, a sense of loyalty of Karna towards Duryodhna and a sense of right and wrong.

Finally, Mr. Das talked about compassion of Yudhistra towards a stray dog who accompanies him in his journey to heaven. Eventually, Yudhistra sacrifices heaven because Indra does not allow a dog to enter heaven, suggesting that one should help someone who comes for refuge to you.

 Mr. Gurcharan Das signing copies of his latest book

 'The Difficulty of Being Good' for the students

Mr. Das ended his talk with a note that message of Dharma is act of goodness and how his latest book ‘The Difficulty of being Good’ describes this in further detail.

Overall, it was a great learning experience for the students. The insights helped to understand that corporate life and life in general is not just about achieving success but also about making the decisions that are fair and hold moral high ground.

Article in HT: http://www.hindustantimes.com/Dharma-based-management-Lessons-from-Mahabharat-for-IIM-L-students/Article1-751163.aspx

ASK RBI: India’s Economic Performance – The Present & The Future

Keeping with IIM Lucknow’s continuous endeavour to provide students with exposure to a variety of  exciting opportunities and leadership roles, an interactive guest lecture was organized by the Industry Interaction Cell, as a part of Prodigies – The Leadership Talk Series.

Mr. Deepak Mohanty - Executive Director RBI

The students were introduced to the framework and nuances of India’s monetary policy by Mr. Deepak Mohanty, Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India. Following an address by Dr. Amrendra Sahoo, Regional Director, RBI Lucknow, who discussed India’s challenges and listed possible paths for the county to tread in the future, the keynote speaker, Mr. Mohanty, who has served as a special advisor to the IMF prior to his current position and holds post graduate degrees from JNU and Yale University, discussed the importance of monetary policies and their implementation by Central Banks. He then described the RBI’s framework before extensively explaining how the RBI conducts its operations. The main lecture concluded with a discussion on the challenges faced by the RBI in the present scenario.

The event, aptly titled “Ask RBI”,was a highly innovative concept wherein questions were invited from the audience via social media before the event. Most of Mr. Mohanty’s lecture was based around the queries of the students and those not addressed within the body of the talk were dealt with in detail in the ensuing Q&A session.

The experience was enriching for all in attendance and the rich flow of thoughts brought  new ideas to surface. It was surely an enlightening talk for all and the attending students had much to take back home from this session.

Citibank Head demystifies the world of LBOs at IIM Lucknow

The students of IIM Lucknow got their fair taste of  the world of finance through the guest talk by Mr Rahul Shukla, Head Corporate Banking, Citigroup, India. Mr Shukla, who had joined Citi in 1991,was most recently heading the bank's telecom, media and technology practice in the Asia Pacific. Under his leadership, Citi's TMT franchise was recognized as the best in Asia by Finance Asia and the Asset Magazine for 3 years in a row.

The theme of the talk was centered around leveraged buyouts and the mathematics behind the same. Mr. Shukla began the session with a brief introduction to the leading private equity players in the Asian markets. Mr. Shukla thereon extensively covered the various phases that constitute the LBO process. He highlighted the key drivers of an LBO, its illustrative transaction structure and financial model output that is expected of the analyst. Mr. Shukla concluded the session with LBO valuation and an extensive Q&A session. The students were completely at awe for his sharp rhetoric and in-depth understanding of the core issues.

The lecture was organized as a part of Prodigies – The Leadership Series by the Industry Interaction Cell, IIM Lucknow. This talk was in continuation of the institute’s endeavor to expose students to a variety of exciting job opportunities and providing them the necessary exposure to leadership roles.