Leadership, Networking and Entrepreneurship

 

Haven’t we all at sometime or the other been told: “you are too young to do that”, “you have to grow up” or “you are not strong enough”? Every child has been told this at some point in time or the other.

Can you imagine what we would have missed should Sachin Tendulkar have paid heed to such a talk.

27^th of September was a historic day for the alumni of the first and the largest B-School set up within the IIT system: Vinod Gupta School of Management, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur when they had met up at the chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore to commemorate 15 years of the B-School. They had interestingly chosen “Leadership, Networking and Entrepreneurship” as the theme for the day and this is because they were standing at an interesting point in time:

The B-School has completed 15 years and though it has achieved many a feat, that most B-schools take decades to achieve, it is a young institution set up within the oldest and the biggest IIT (Kharagpur).

As Indians they are in a time about 15-18 years since the liberalization of the Indian economy, which too is at an inflection point and looking forward to becoming a super power.

As individuals they are well qualified and had all spent 15 or fewer years in the industry are about mid-way towards their glorious careers.

It is also a point in time when the economic world order is moving east and people are talking less about the American Dream and more about the emergence of India.

It is also a point in time when the qualified Indian youth is slowly moving over from seeking secure government jobs to becoming successful entrepreneurs.

Hence the meet with its timing was just apt with the IITians who have traditionally produced many entrepreneurs (so much so, that a couple of students from the yet to graduate batch have already taken the entrepreneurial plunge) and members of LeadCap brainstormed about the dynamic relationship between networking, leadership and entrepreneurship.   The IIT alumni network around the world has time and again showcased their commitment towards their Alma matter through initiatives such as PanIIT annual World conference. They have shown us how to stay connected and well networked and are arguably the strongest alumni network amongst the Indian Institutions. They believe in embracing, supporting and mentoring fellow alumni and also committing time, efforts and resources for further strengthening of such nation building institutions as the IITs. It is this very same commitment that resulted in the birth of VGSOM 15 years ago with the help of an endowment from an IIT entrepreneur: Mr. Vinod Gupta. It is these networking capabilities that get the students of this B-School annual invitation to meet Mr. Warren Buffet and attend the annual shareholders meeting of Berkshire Hathaway.

 

Entrepreneurship requires a lot of passion, hard work, support and a little bit of luck. Jerry Collins in his book “Built to last” said most visionary companies that have thrived for decades were not born of a great Idea, but out of sheer passion and commitment to build organizations. I have always believed that resources including funding are only secondary concern and what is needed the most is the talent, passion and some mentoring. So with the myth of a great idea and the concern for material resources out of the way what is now required is leadership in the form of conviction, passion, skills and talent and also support from the eco-system in the form of mentoring and maybe even resources. The later is greatly influenced by the networking capabilities of the leader, which brings us back to a strong alumni network and creation of a community that nurtures its members and fosters mutual growth which inevitably results in the overall growth, recognition and prosperity of the community. This also has been the story of brand IIT and the IIT community which sets an example for the rest of India.

 

When an individual, institution or a nation has the youth and agility of a hare along with the maturity and wisdom of a sage it is destined to grow leaps and bounds. This is true about India with its young population and the tradition of knowledge and culture. This is true about VGSOM with its youthful students, distinguished professors and the great parent institution of IIT Kharagpur. This is also true about a strong alumni network where the young and the recent alumni with all the talent and passion can choose to achieve great feats with the support, wisdom and mentoring from the older alumni. This is the kind of movement that was envisioned during the discussion amongst the IITians and LeadCap. A movement towards building individual leadership capabilities, a movement towards institution building and creating an eco-system that breeds leaders and finally, a movement towards that larger goal of Nation Building.

 

                                                                                       

 

 

 

Connoisseur and Curator of History 

 Short is a man’s life and shorter is his memory. The world is blessed with wonders and marvels for those who have an eye for them. It is also blessed with enough men and women with the ability to create and re-create history. But given our short lives and shorter memories, how do we preserve and appreciate those moments that were turning points, those events that made an impact and those men who influenced the world?

History needs two contributors: the creator and the preserver and without the two it either never gets created or dies an undeserving death. The world is quite appreciative of the creator and honours him well, but often tends to forget the expedient for being able to admire and appreciate the creator. I salute those connoisseurs, collectors and curators of history who have dedicated their lives to preserving so that posterity can relish the marvels of history.

I had the rare fortune of a glimpse through decades and centuries preserved by one of India’s greatest collectors and promoters of art, culture and history: Mr. H.K.Kejriwal.  A multi-faceted man, who has lived many lives within one and one who has truly been there and seen it all. He has been a successful business man and also has built institutions such as the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath. A man, who has conferred with the highest echelons of the society at one hand and on the other, continuously strived to make a difference to those at the bottom of the pyramid. The journey of his life, where he crossed paths with many greats like the Kennedys, Gandhis, Birlas, Wadias, Tatas, nobel laureates and many great artists and nation builders, awe-inspiring as it maybe has also been well captured and preserved. How many of us will be lucky enough to get sight of the last letter written by Tagore or hand-written letters by Gandhi, or ancient mogul masterpieces of art? Not many. But for the men like Mr. H.K.Kejriwal even the lucky few wouldn’t have the privilege and fortune. It takes immense efforts, dedication, skill and a generous and kind heart to preserve for future generations. To him, it is about giving back to the society and nation while expecting nothing in return as he is a firm believer in this John F. Kennedy  quote “ask not what the country can do for you, ask what you can do for the country”. He not only has a huge personal collection of ancient artifacts, paintings and sculptures some of them dating back to 2-3 B.C, but has donated many to create a great institution of art and culture and a vibrant community called the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath in Bangalore.

    George Santayana once said “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it”. Hence those who have observed and studied history are wiser and bound to make fewer mistakes. In the pursuit of wisdom, studying history doesn’t mean immersing oneself in the depths of the ancient world. History can also mean a day ago and hours ago and studying it means closely watching the course that the world is taking. It is this realization that gets this modern age sage to read as many as 9 newspapers a day and keep abreast with the NOW. The bookshelf of this extremely well learned man has space alike for the oldest of the philosophical books and the latest of the modern day management books giving him the widest breadth of knowledge that can dazzle anybody.

   Many of us with not so important engagements and not so great achievements often complain about the busy life we lead and how “time flies by”. Many of us complain about the busy metro life we lead and the time we don’t get even to stand for a moment and introspect. But here is a living example of a man who lived the life of a successful businessman, connoisseur, philanthropist, mentor, an institution builder, thinker and even a jockey(who has won a gold medal) and yet had the time to preserve TIME and HISTORY. A poet once said "time taketh away" and the collectors like him are at battle with time to preserve. I wish this hero great health, long life and all the success with the numerous plans he has for future including his vision for a primary school in every village.