Who are Narayana Murthy's role models?

N R Narayana Murthy, the legend who gave a new identity to the IT landscape of India, shares his vision about role models, leadership, the art of decision making and much more.

Do you believe in role models? If so, who are yours?

Vivek G, vivekgopi765@gmail.com

Yes, I do believe in role models. They are extremely important. They serve as a guide in handling tough situations and resolving dilemmas. I look up to two people as role models — the first person is Mahatma Gandhi because he 'walked the talk' and led people by example; and the second person is Lee Kuan Yew, the former Prime Minister of Singapore.

In my own lifetime I have seen him taking his country from the third-world league to a first-world country stature. He led the nation from the very first frontiers.

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Well, there are a lot of people out there who look up to you in the same awe and respect. What would you advise to all those who consider you to be their role model?

Vivek G, vivekgopi765@gmail.com

I have to say I'm flattered. I am grateful to them. I will continue to work hard and smart and live up to their expectations. I will never let them down.

What in your opinion and experience are the main qualities required to manage people, manage company, manage partners and manage customers?

Sham

In all these areas you need a sense of integrity. Integrity is about doing the right thing. It is about being fair to others, having the courage to tell others not to do wrong things. Integrity is about delivering on promise. It is also about being truthful. I believe integrity is one quality that is the foundation of all relationships, whether it is your customer or partner. That said, it does not suffice if you are only an honest person. It is very important for honest people to condemn dishonest people publicly.

There are different leadership styles that a person develops, for example "Directive", "Expert" or "Consensus". What is your leadership style? Can you give instances on how you could effectively use that style?

Narendra Shikaripur, nshikaripur@gmail.com

I listen to everyone. I take inputs from everybody. However, after taking inputs from everyone, I use those inputs to fine-tune and modify my decision. I welcome participation, but I take the final decision. I also take responsibility for the outcome of that decision. I don’t like a situation, which says “I did not take that decision”.

How is Infosys grooming its next set of leaders? What kind of leaders are required in the contemporary competitive world?

We need leaders who have high aspirations, who lead by example, and who are courageous to take big and tough decisions. We need leaders who are fair and have integrity, who are firm, and are willing to take bottom-line responsibility. We need leaders who share the credit with others in the company and who are willing to accept that they are wrong. We need leaders who are human beings. We don’t want Gods or saints.

Do you have any political ambitions? Will Mr. Murthy be donning the hat of a Chief Values Officer / Chief Belief Officer for Government of India?

Aamir Siddiq, aamir@gmail.com

I don’t have any political ambition. In 1999 I had an offer to become a cabinet minister at the center but I refused. However, I do want a good political system. For instance, I am on the board of the 'Jaago Re' campaign. This forum is about registering voters and improving the quality of candidates. But I do not have any political ambitions.

Can you share your toughest experience about handling a client? How did you convince them?

Dilip Babu, dilip.babu@bmp.com

In 1983, one of the multinational companies was looking for a data center installation. There were a couple of IT companies with state-of-the-art machines who were also in talks to clinch the same deal. I came to know about this just a couple of days before the last date. I went to them to talk about this deal. We had very low financial strength. I also realized that our strength was mainly our technical expertise. The other two companies had money as well as experience. They had worked on such projects earlier.

This multinational company was very skeptical about dealing with us. I sat down and created a mathematical model to demonstrate and explain to them how our computing system was so much better than the competing ones.

I asked them to give me an hour's time for the presentation. The meeting went on for four hours. I told them that your strength is financial strength. Your strength is organizational strength. Our strength is our technical expertise and our strength is making sure that you can utilize the time sharing system very effectively. Therefore you should find out from our competitors if they have this kind of strength and you can ask them the questions that I have raised with you. This multinational company was impressed and we won the deal.