 "R Gopalakrishnan")
R Gopalakrishnan
R Gopalakrishnan
R Gopalakrishnan has been at top of corporate world in India for over three decades. He is former Director of Tata Sons and Vice Chairman of Hindustan Unilever. He has over 30 years of board experience and currently serves as an independent director of listed companies, Castrol India and one of Sri Lankan conglomerates, Hemas. He also worked as independent director of Press Trust of India. He has been appointed as Distinguished Professor of IIT, Kharagpur and Executive-in-Residence at SPJIMR, Mumbai. He studied physics at Kolkata University, engineering at IIT Kharagpur and attended Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.
R Gopalakrishnan has been at top of corporate world in India for over three decades. He is former Director of Tata Sons and Vice Chairman of Hindustan Unilever. He has over 30 years of board experience and currently serves as an independent director of listed companies, Castrol India and one of Sri Lankan conglomerates, Hemas. He also worked as independent director of Press Trust of India. He has been appointed as Distinguished Professor of IIT, Kharagpur and Executive-in-Residence at SPJIMR, Mumbai. He studied physics at Kolkata University, engineering at IIT Kharagpur and attended Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.
Page 5 - R Gopalakrishnan
"There is a divinity that shapes our ends..."
The complete denial of luck or coincidence in leadership success/failure seems misplaced
Immunising a corporation from invisible attack
Managers must reflect on ways to unleash passion, a purposeful culture and positivity within the organisation
Build to last
In the second part of a series, the author notes down some lessons for start-ups
Wisdom for startups from grown-ups
Startups add value only if they build a sustainable business model. When will Indian startups understand this?
 "Wisdom for startups from grown-ups")
Beware of competence without humanity or humility
A cardinal principle in succession planning by boards is to scrutinise the "wake" of a candidate and not rely only on performance metrics
 "Beware of competence without humanity or humility")
Judgement + character + humility = Board wisdom
Not just decisions but their implementation should also be wise
 "Judgement + character + humility = Board wisdom")
Building trust is a process...
...and to be able to do that you need transparency and public scrutiny. A tough call but valuable nonetheless
 "Building trust is a process...")
Debates about entrepreneurship & growth
This is a crucial issue at a time when global business leaders are committing themselves to stakeholder interests rather than only shareholder interest
 "Debates about entrepreneurship & growth")
Building ethical assets
Managers must learn to teach business ethics and values
 "Building ethical assets")
Building startups and companies that last
The tendency to announce near-victory is a pervasive disease. This is exemplified by the reports on ease of doing business
Enterprise, education and eudaemonia
India needs and welcomes short-term fixes like the tax cut, but we must remember that this is jugaad economic planning
 "Enterprise, education and eudaemonia")
Directors must act on signals
Every recent case of corporate governance failure had developed through a trail of early signals
 "Directors must act on signals")
Listen to kibitzer
Smart leaders know nobody is too small to make an impact
 "Listen to kibitzer")
We need more business institutions, not just companies
There is an art that 'shapers of institutions' deploy compared to 'leaders of companies'
 "We need more business institutions, not just companies")
Leadership mindset hazards
The only solution is for CEOs to behave at exemplary standards, well above the legal prescription
 "Leadership mindset hazards")
Competitor obsession promotes hubris
Cycles of human folly have played out for centuries, so why would people not continue withe their foolish acts?
 "Competitor obsession promotes hubris")
The concept of 'promoter' is dead
It is as credible as a biological mother who thinks that she can intervene (or interfere) in the marriage choices of her 30-year-old son
 "The concept of 'promoter' is dead")
When a director senses smoke
Act, talk, share, counsel, but don't sit around and keep thinking
 "When a director senses smoke")
Old truths, fresh startups
Startups are not confined to yuppies, bursting with irrepressible technology ideas
 "Old truths, fresh startups")
Mahabharata of corporate governance
How a mythological story connects well with today's stories of governance failure