Banga - A Leader Listens

Chairman Naik and members of the board of governors, Director Nanda, faculty, families and, above all, to the graduating class of 2015, congratulations! Well done! You came to IIM Ahmedabad to forge your own destiny, to shape your own future. You understood what Tagore wrote so many years ago: You cant cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.

Tonight, we can say that the waters that first beckoned you here have now been crossed, and that you have reached a farther shore. What a great moment! To those who have supported, loved and nurtured you along the wayfamilies, faculty and friendsthis achievement is yours as well.

It means a great deal to me to be back here thirty-four years after my own convocation. To join all of you in recognizing this years outstanding graduates, to gather here at Louis Kahn Plazawhich is as stunning and grand as everand to mark the fiftieth anniversary of IIM Ahmedabads first convocation.

This is truly a privilege of a lifetime.

When you look back fifty years, you find some interesting milestones. For example, fifty years ago, IBM introduced the computer mainframe; the first Star Trek pilot was made; and Warren Buffett became the head of Berkshire Hathaway. By the way, a $100 investment in Berkshire in 1965 would be worth nearly $2 million today. There is of course an even greater investment thats been made since then: the investment in the education of leaders here in India and around the world, thanks to this institution. Its an investment that we pay tribute to tonight and continue to be grateful for a half century later.

Coming back here invokes a wellspring of wonderful memories. Its a homecoming of sorts. This school gave me a great education. It gave me a family. I met my wife here, who is in the audience tonight. That meeting produced a lifelong partnership that is the bedrock of my joy and happiness. It also gave us the most precious gifts of allour two daughters. So, not only does IIM Ahmedabad rank among the worlds elite business schools, it also possesses the alchemy for matchmaking! In a broader sense, IIM Ahmedabad has also given my wifeRituand me an extended family of very dear friends and a robust network of contacts.

A number of these friends are in the audience this evening: Chintan Parikha member of your board, and Vinayak Chatterjeechairman of Feedback Infrastructure and probably one of my closest friends, who flew in for this evening with his wife. Today, I wish for each of you equal richness in gifts Ive received from this school.

To the class of 2015, I want to begin by celebrating the journey you guys have been on. I couldnt be more delighted and thrilled for you! It feels just like yesterday when I was in your shoes... sitting where you are sitting. Granted, yesterday was more like three and a half decades ago. But thats the kind of impression this school makes on you. You never really leave it and it never really leaves you. I remember some seriously hard courses, brilliant but demanding professors, more than a few late nights and the first yearrealizing that if you can survive that, you can survive anything. I remember having the experience of a lifetimeforming friendships and bonds that would last a lifetime. I wish all of that and more for all of you as well.

Thanks to Director Nanda, I got a chance to meet with some of this years class when I was here this January for Vibrant Gujarat. I had spent the better part of that week working with todays leaders in business, government, international development and other fields. Then I came here to the campus, where I got to spend time with tomorrows leaders in those fields. Needless to say, it was a beautiful symmetry.

So, what I want to focus on in my talk this evening is leadership. Your leadership. How do you take the leadership potential you have and cultivate it so that you can begin to realize it along your journey? None of this is to say I have all the answers. I dont. My daughters who are about your age will tell you that. What I do have are some perspectives on leadership that I can offer. Ill share three:

First, Ill share some leadership attributes that I look for in myself and others.

Second, Ill talk about leadership and the importance of developing a global view of things.

Third, Ill talk about why leadership in its highest form facilitates doing well and doing good.

But before I proceed, I want to offer the following disclaimer: when I graduated, I was all of twenty-onewet behind the ears. And I had no clue what I was going to do with my life, other than join a great global firm like Nestl. That was my grand plan: Get with somebody good; get with somebody global; do something that interested methats it. So, dont stress if you havent got a detailed plan for your life. Anyone can have a good idea or plan; what makes it great is execution, which brings me to my first point around leadership attributes.