Anand Mahindra: Passion fuels plans

For Anand Mahindra it is all about loving what you do and doing what you love

Charming and blessed with good looks, Anand Mahindra is the poster boy for Indian business world. That he has excellent communication skills and is mellow only add to the allure. So when he took on as the chairman and managing director of Mahindra and Mahindra, the corporate world and media applauded. Known for his attention to detail and a healthy appetite for challenges, Mahindra has steered his company from strength to strength since he joined the company arm, Mahindra Ugine Steel Company in 1981.

His leadership skills have been recognized not only within the company but also in the corporate fraternity and he has been awarded several awards for the same. He received the outstanding business leader year of the award at the CNBC-TV 18 India Business Leader Awards in 2009 and was named as recipient of Global Leadership Award by the US-India Business Council this September. 

For Mahindra, the motive to excel in business comes from his general take on life – enjoying what you do. So, while he graduated magna cum laude from Harvard and was passionate about filmmaking, he took to business and management with equal ease when that was the course he had to follow. Soon, it was about inorganic growth and a foray into Greenfield business development. You can’t but mention the acquisition of Satyam, Reva Electricals and the Ssangyong Motor Company. And then there is Scorpio, which single-handedly changed the face of the SUV sector in India. Today, Mahindra and Mahindra Group among the top companies of India

As a leader of his team, Mahindra gives as much importance to feedback as he gives to a significant degree of autonomy in the team. With over 350,000 followers of his Twitter account, Mahindra has become a brand in himself.

Mahindra’s passion for pursuing different things spills on to his personal life and he is known to have taken up sailing and photography, while showing a strong interest in film. In fact, such was his love for the Blues that he helped with an annual Mahindra Blues Festival in Mumbai last year and plans to keep it up. Like one says in music parlance, play on.