N.R. Narayana Murthy is an IT industrialist and co-founder of Infosys. As of September 2015, Murthy has been listed by Forbes Magazine as an entrepreneur having a net worth of $1.8 Bn. Infosys, from starting in 1981 with six people, is now a company with 92, 000 people, 10-12 million square feet space, $4 Mn+ in revenue, a billion dollar plus in profits, have around $20 Bn market cap and is operating in 39 countries.
Narayana Murthy is one among those people whom lives are real life epitome of success. To learn a bit from his experience, here are 10 points from Narayana Murthy to be a great leader:
Be Nimble
In Murthy’s words, today it’s the nimble one who eats up the bigger corporates as they lose the value they used to have 50 or 30 years ago. So, in that sense it’s important to keep innovating and bring new ideas and paradigms to the platform.
Start Mentoring
The primary objective of every leader should be to ensure that there is successive generation of leaders. And one of the instruments for doing that is mentoring. A good mentor can not only train the team but can also get the best from each member. “I am the first among the equals as far as mentoring process is considered.”
Be Courageous
Courage is the most important attribute of great leadership. One should be courageous to dream big and to take bold decisions. As Murthy says that one should have Courage of Conviction, Courage.. to go against conventional systems and Courage..to travel the road less travelled.
Respect Your Competitors
One should never ever underestimate their competitors.”Always respect them and learn whatever you can. And that’s the way you can beat them.”
Stick To Your Ideas
Always believe in your idea and despite of any challenge, stick to it. “When we started, the environment was completely business unfriendly. It took a year to get the telephone connection and three years to get import license for computers. But we know, there was a huge global opportunity and we stick to our idea.”
Be In A Great State Of Mind
Most of our energy is based on what our mental state is. As long as one is full of enthusiasm, hope, confidence and Joy, then physical energy will come to him on its own.
Walk The Talk
A leader should be able to imbibe a great value system in the company. If you have gained the respect of our stakeholders, investors, consumers or anyone around you, revenues will follow on their own. Although it seems difficult to achieve, but as per Murthy, “Once you have demonstrated your value system by deed, then grapevine travels so fast that it replicates itself.”
Be Prepared To Seize Luck
Luck is an important part of any journey. There are many smart people who have worked so hard in their life but have reached nowhere. But as they say it, Luck comes to all, but only those who are prepared for it can seize it.
Be Trustworthy
“I have learnt that leaders have to be trustworthy first before being high performers.” One should always bring bad news to the investors early on a pro-active basis. “Let the good news take the steps and bad news the elevator. Investors will respect those organisations that disclose their mistakes and resolve to improve themselves.”
Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously
One should not let expectations around to pressurize his way of doing things. For instance, a golgappa seller will always maintain the same pace in making rounds despite of increasing crowd at the stall, to maintain his counting and avoid losses. “While we take our work seriously, we don’t take ourselves very seriously.”
