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.

Anjuman 2011 - The Annual Leader's Corporate Luncheon

Anjuman – The Annual Leader’s Corporate Luncheon, is one of the most anticipated events at IIM Lucknow. Anjuman 2011, structured along the same lines as its predecessors, brought together iconic leaders as key note speakers and provided an ideal platform for corporate heads, alumni, IIM Lucknow faculty and a select set of students to interact and learn from one another.

The theme for Anjuman 2011 was “Renaissance 2030: Shape the Change” and the keynote speakers this year were Dr. Devi Singh (Director, IIM Lucknow), Mr. H.K. Dua (Padma Bhushan and MP, Rajya Sabha), Mr. Sanjeev Bikhchandani (CEO, Naukri.com), Mr. Ashank Desai (Founder, Mastek Limited) and Mr. Baru Rao(COO, Capgemini, Europe).

The event was flagged off by a keynote address from Dr. Devi Singh (Director, IIM Lucknow) who succinctly summed up the salient challenges facing India, and the possible paths the country should tread in future, to ensure holistic development.

Mr. H.K Dua (Padma Bhushan and MP, Rajya Sabha) expanded the ambit of the discussion by stressing on the role of youth in India’s development. Exhorting the young management students of the campus to take an active interest in the administration of the country, Mr. Dua harped on the need of fresh ideas for sustaining India’s economic growth in the new millennium.

Mr. Sanjeev Bikhchandani (CEO Naukri.com) gave a personal tinge to his discourse as he enumerated examples from his life to describe how an individual’s endeavours fit in the greater scheme of things.  Stressing on the need for entrepreneurial skills, Mr Bikhchandani praised the Indian social system for consistently churning out new ideas, which according to him are invaluable in shaping the future course of the nation.

Mr. Baru Rao (COO, Capgemini, Europe) regaled the crowd with his immaculate Urdu, as he successfully speckled the serious discussion with humorous anecdotes from his life. Marvellng at the great growth that India has achieved in the past, he talked about the need for inclusive growth and social integration, as necessary measures to rein in India’s continued prosperity.

As the sunny morning progressed into forenoon, the event shifted into an interactive session where the guests sought to engage the key-note speakers on a wide array of issues relevant to contemporary India. The rich flow of thoughts brought newer ideas to surface as the leaders balanced their positions vis-à-vis the inputs from the crowd. 

The event concluded with a sumptuous lunch which presented the lighter side of the leaders, as they opened up to informal discussion with the attendees. Even as the orange hues of the evening sun signaled the successful closure of the luncheon, the campus was abuzz with the reflections of the event gone by. Speaking about the event, Karan Sehgal, a first year student of IIM Lucknow, remarked “Events like Anjuman are few of the unique ways in which industry interaction is facilitated at IIM Lucknow. By bringing together such a diverse set of leaders, teachers and corporate, Industry Interaction Cell has successfully amalgamated the best of campus education with industry experience.”

Samvit in National Media!

IIM Lucknow hosts leading bankers at Samvit 2010

Samvit, IIM Lucknow's Leadership Summit, ended today on a high note. The two day event drew to close today with some of the biggest names in the corporate world and economists coming down to the campus for a panel discussion. The theme for this year's event and the topic for the panel discussion, "Financial Regulation & Development in India: Challenges & Prospects" saw the very best of the corporate world and policymakers thrash out ideas that could lay down the growth platform for the country in the years to come. The Master of Ceremonies for this year's panel discussion was Mr. Bhupesh Bhandari, a senior editor with Business Standard.

The key note speakers for this year's event were - Mr. Atul Khosla (Country Head Oliver Wyman), Mr. V Bunty Bohra (CEO Goldman Sachs India), Mr. Vikas Vasal (Executive Director KPMG), Mr Sanjiv Bhasin (CEO DBS Bank) and Mr.Suresh Senapaty (CFO Wipro Ltd.) and Mr. Amitabha Ghosh (Former Governor, RBI).

 Mr. Bhandari set the tone for the event by driving home the importance of financial regulation. He said that the Indian economy has a unique identity of its own and that any resemblance it shares with the US economy in terms of structure or policies is a matter of happenstance. He also remarked upon the key roles which the soon to be instituted Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) has to play.

Speaking on the topic, Mr. Amitabha Ghosh (Former Governor, RBI), commended the role of RBI in formulating policies for the economic wellbeing of the economy, but was also critical about the scale and efficacy with which these policies are being implemented. He was of the opinion that instead of government bodies formulating policies, an environment of discipline wherein all the financial players have a set of "Self Regulations", a practice that once incorporated at the top level would percolate to the lower levels and ensure overall economic health.

Mr Sanjiv Bhasin (CEO DBS Bank) quipped that regulations might be something that might not go down too well with a few, but the regulation is of immense importance in the current volatile macroeconomic environment. He said that for regulations to achieve their true purpose they should be relevant to the market and the overall macroeconomic scenario. Elucidating his stance he mentioned that these regulations have a widespread impact on common people, so the regulators have to be very cautious while laying down norms.

Mr. Suresh Senapaty (CFO Wipro Ltd.) delivered a spirited speech in which he talked about the various phases of economic reforms and the importance such reforms hold for the future. He said that with limited or no social safety cover , the policy makers should come up with policies that mitigate any risks that might emerge in the capital or the debt market.Pressing on the importance of a deeper secondary debt market, Mr. Senapaty spoke about an environment of confidence in which all segments of the society can prosper.

Mr. Atul Khosla (Country Head Oliver Wyman), delved into the topic of inclusive growth. He stressed upon the enhancement of risk coverage in public as well as private markets. Mr. Khosla said that overall consumer protection should be at the apex of any policy initiative.

Mr. Vikas Vasal (Executive Director KPMG), pointed out that the focus of economic activities have shifted from the west to the east. In the new light, it is important to device strategies to tap the massive growth potential that India has. Commending the core Indian values of prudency, Mr. Vasal said that it is due to these virtues that we largely went unscathed in the worst economic crisis after the Great Depression.

Mr. V Bunty Bohra (CEO Goldman Sachs India), was of the opinion that higher inclusion and robust capital markets are the need of the hour. He also highlighted the importance of governance stability and oversight.

The discussion was followed by a Q&A session in which the students and faculty of the institute probed the leaders on a variety of topics concerning the financial sector. Samvit - 2010 drew to a close with the event Consilium - The policymaking event, in which two member teams presented their views on fiscal and monetary policy.

The two day extravaganzas saw teams from other institutes such as MDI and IIM Indore come down to the campus and participate in the various events organized as a part of Samvit. The event was cordially accepted by both the faculty and the students. Speaking about the event, Ayush a first student said, "The event has been a revelation of sorts to the students at the campus. Not only have we been treated to a host of competitions, but also we have gained insights into the current and future economic conditions of the country".