thoughts

Monday, March 26, 2012

Sam's Mantra for Management

The ubiquitous bright yellow STD / PCO boxes are said to be a manifestation of his efforts. Satyanarayan Gangaram Pitroda -- Sam Pitroda as he popularly know shared the '10  lessons he has learnt in life.' at Great Lakes institute of Management, Chennai.
The list of the lessons is not complete, Pitroda said, " I 'm not an expert. I still keep on learning, keep learning how to manage my life."
The man acclaimed for introducing small rural exchanges in the country, communicated with management students in the city through a video conference, from Mumbai.
Pitroda the chairman of London Based World Tel, began his speech stating that he possessed no degree from business schools and gave a brief sketch of his life. Born in Titilagarh , a small village in Orissa (Odisha) he completed his schooling in Baroda and spent over 40 years in the telecom sector . He went to the US in 1964, built a business, made money and returned. In India then he spent 11 years in the telecom technology business. The trust areas that he emphasized before the students included:

  • Character is a great currency. It is something nobody can take away from you. Very few MBA schools teach how to build character.
  • Family and friends are the ultimate wealth for any person . Life would be empty without them.
  • Build your own ecosystem. Learn to have an open mind rather than having a tunnel vision.
  • Adopt a collaboration model of getting things done . There should be collaboration between various stake holders, like social scientist, politicians, NGOs, academician and businessman. A sense of give and take is necessary.
  • Be open to Multi-disciplinary approach to problem solving of late this approach is gaining momentum.
  • Ability to change constantly is a great management lesson. Change is only thing that is constant in business. One who cannot change will be left behind.
  • Innovate so much still needs to be innovated, so many things are waiting to be invented. Our social system has to change. We have to change the whole way of ho  we do things.
  • Be simple -- simplicity requires a great deal of complex thinking .A lot of thought goes into it.
  • The ability to communicate is a piece of art. It is also part of the art of listening.
  • Finally a business module is essential.

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