The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Play to win but don't play dirty, Godrej tells MBA graduates

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 28, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Play to win but don't play dirty, Godrej tells MBA graduates

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: How does one morph from being one among the crowd into a leader of men?

According to Adi Godrej, chairman, Godrej group of companies, the secret lies in a five-fold formula: Go for leadership, do not listen to those who say, "It is not done that way," play to win but don't play dirty, dare mighty things and make your vocation your vacation.

In essence, these are the core qualities that will energise young Indians to become passionate leaders in their field, and this will help India to lead the world, Mr.Godrej told the graduating Class of 2006 of the Great Lakes Institute of Management here on Thursday.

A total of 130 MBA students were given their diplomas by Mr. Godrej.

India was poised at "a crucial inflexion point [and this depended on] how its young leaders capitalised on their strengths." The country was likely to emerge as a major low-cost, high-quality global hub for outsourced engineering services and research and development. How thousands of educated youth in the country grabbed opportunities in leadership development would determine the country's future, Mr. Godrej said, delivering his convocation address.

The mantra to leadership was innovation, and India had the potential to be the leader in the "global gold rush" for leadership through innovation, K.B. Chandrasekhar, Chairman and CEO, Jamcracker Inc., USA, said.

Today, a robust knowledge ecosystem existed across various disciplines, and untapped opportunities were opening up in rural India, which called for engineering solutions at the lowest possible cost.

The GLIM campus recruitment drive for this year saw participation from all sectors of industries — automobiles, FMCG, peripherals and software. Companies such as Cognizant Technology Solutions, Infosys, Wipro, Satyam and TVS Motors recruited students, Bala V. Balachandran, founder and honorary dean, GLIM, said. The average annual salary was Rs. 7 lakh.

Apart from diplomas, 35 students were given awards for their extra-curricular excellence.

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