IIM Bangalore hosted a fireside chat on, ‘The Art of Building Legendary Companies’, featuring Mr. N. R. Narayana Murthy, Founder of Infosys and Catamaran, and Mr. Aditya Puri, Senior Advisor of Carlyle Asia and former CEO & MD of HDFC Bank, earlier today, which was moderated by Mr. MD Ranganath, Chairman of Catamaran and Member of the Board of Directors of IIM Bangalore. The session was facilitated by Catamaran, which funds high quality entrepreneurship over a period of time.
Setting up, nurturing and shaping organizations to last and create impact
The one-of-a-kind exchange of ideas saw Mr. Puri and Mr. Narayana Murthy sharing their thoughts on how to build and nurture a large, globally respected organization, drawing on decades of leadership experience.
Mr. MD Ranganath, who has worked closely with both the leaders said that both are “passionate institution builders, hard task masters, and yet generous leaders”. Mr. Puri shared that he was inspired by NRN who was instrumental in his coming back to India from Malaysia where he was heading Citibank. “Here was a man who stayed away from bribes and created a world-class culture in his organization. He walks the talk, is committed and passionate to his work.”
NRN also said that he holds Mr. Puri with a lot of admiration and thinks he is the finest entrepreneur that India has produced, post-independence. “He took the company’s profit to 180 billion dollars. To do that in the banking industry, which is regulated by government norms, politicians and bureaucrats, requires a high level of resilience, steadfastness and adherence to truth and conviction. And he has added value to both urban and rural India.”
Regarding the purpose of setting up the organizations that they did, Mr. Puri said the main motive had to be benefit for all stakeholders. “We wanted to build a bank in India with the pluses of both multinational and nationalized banks. We had to deliver on the ground. With competent people with passion and understanding, domain knowledge, market information, risk taking ability, there is no reason you would not succeed.”
About the key aspiration set for the company when he built it, NRN said that since he came from a very humble background, money was not a priority, but contentment, excellence and generosity were. “Revenue or market capitalization was not the driving force. I wanted Infosys to be the most respected organization in the eyes of all the stakeholders – customers, employees, investors, vendors, as well as the government. But earning respect from society is the most important objective of any corporation based in any part of the world.”
Mr. Puri also explained that to achieve the ideal product-market fit, one needed to set appropriate systems and culture from Day One, otherwise you cannot build sustainability. “But remember, the product fit keeps changing, so you cannot remain static.”
On qualities he looked for in leaders, NRN highlighted leading by example, fairness, values. “I was willing to settle for a low salary, I distributed equity, and hence others realized that I was in it for something more noble than money. I instilled faith in others, thereby building an enterprise powered by intellect and driven by values.” It is widely known that what makes Mr. Narayana Murthy stand out from other leaders are the values he stands for. He strongly believes in honesty, transparency and fairness.
Regarding trade-off between profitability and revenue, Mr. Puri pointed out that both go hand-in-hand.
Responding to Mr. Ranganath, NRN laid special emphasis on austerity, especially during the nascent stages of building an organization. “You have to make money legally and ethically. That can happen only if you accept deferred gratification. We spent less than the revenue earned. Leaders have to be unequivocal in talking about values. We wanted to demonstrate that the only way to solve poverty in the country is through entrepreneurship and creation of jobs. With noble intentions, sacrifices become a part of life. Grand vision and noble objective bring peace of mind, happiness and pride…and makes you worthy of respect from society.”
To achieve consistency in being profitable, Mr. Puri listed clear values, culture, passion, domain knowledge and competence among the top qualities. “You need an agile CEO to execute at scale and speed. You need to create trust, salience, and give back to society. Also, you need to be a moving organization, encourage innovation, and expand geographically and product wise.” What makes Aditya Puri especially remarkable is not just the size of the bank he built, but how he built it. He believed in growing carefully rather than chasing quick profits, managing risk responsibly, and hiring people with strong values.
NRN further explained that how he helps others inculcate his own values is by leading by example. “If you want to build an organization with strong values, you as a leader have to walk the talk. Value will not come from speeches, but from actions – your words have to match your actions. We have to demonstrate our commitment to our community and society, and we need to do this from time to time to keep the memory fresh. Leaders eat last – is the principle that we follow.”
Answering Mr. Ranganath, both the stalwarts shared that they would like to be remembered as being fair in every possible situation.
The discussion was followed by an extended Q&A session, during which NRN pointed out that the role of the company Board is significant in ensuring that corporate values and good governance are maintained, there is accountability, and that there is no disproportionate benefit. “To boost India as a brand, we have to be smart, work very hard, have high aspirations, be disciplined and promote innovation. India has to be economically strong and be unique.” He also focussed on learnability and education, which he termed as assets for economic growth.
Mr. Puri drew attention to the fact that corporations need to keep evolving and change with the times, without changing core values. “Do something better with the tools available, focus on skill development and ensure flawless execution. But above all – stay away from greed and ego”, he added.
Earlier in the afternoon, while delivering the welcome address, Prof. U Dinesh Kumar, Director In-charge, IIM Bangalore, referred to data explaining how rare and tough to achieve ‘success’ was. “One out of 3000 ideas becomes successful and one out of 11 products becomes successful. Today’s talk by these two super successful leaders will offer tremendous value to all those present here.”
