It is rather surprising as well as a matter of pride for every Indian to know that Infosys was started with a meagre sum of Rs.10,000/- in 1981. What is more surprising is that the starting capital was provided by his loving wife, Sudha, who had saved it for a rainy day. What happened later is permanently etched in the pages of history!!
With the aforementioned initial investment of just Rs 10000, the company surged forward under Murthy's dedicated vision and exemplary leadership skills. The company grew from strength to strength, with Murthy serving as its CEO for the first 21 years of its existence. The company’s stock option schemes created many millionaires. In 1999, Infosys became the first Indian company to be listed on the NASDAQ.
Murty's achievements:
- Murthy is seen as the man behind the global delivery model which is a very important element in the success seen by the Indian IT services outsourcing industry
- He has served on the boards of various organizations including Unilever, HSBC, the Wharton School, the Rhodes Trust, and the Indian School of Business, the Ford Foundation and the UN Foundation
- Not only is he an IT wizard, he has successfully led key corporate governance initiatives in India
- He is an IT adviser to several Asian countries
- Is a of recipient of numerous prestigious awards like the 'Padma Vibhushan', 'Legion of Honour' (awarded by the French government), etc
- His leadership lessons are most sought-after, not only by Indians but even by managers in other countries
On adversities and challenges
He espouses that one of the leader's core jobs is to raise the confidence of the followers. Tough time and challenges are essential parts of the life and they will come out better at the end of it. According to him, a leader has to sustain followers' hopes and their energy levels to handle the difficult daysOn building trust
Mr Murthy is of the view that trust and confidence can only come when there is a premium on transparency. "The leader has to create an environment where each person feels secure enough to be able to disclose his or her mistakes, and resolves to improve," he emphasizesOn Values
Mr Murthy has always highighted importance of a value system in an organisation. And, compliance to a value system creates the environment for people to have high aspirations, self-esteem, belief in fundamental values, confidence in the future and the enthusiasm necessary to take up apparently difficult tasks. What he's really stressing here is that having a value system is not all. Leaders have to follow it themselves and thus lead by exampleOn Success
Mr Murthy's definition of a successful person is “one who when he/she walks into a room, people's eyes light up. If he/she brings a smile to people's faces, then irrespective of whether that person is educated, not educated, self-employed, employed, I would still consider that person to be successful”- On People He Looked up to
“When we started our business, there were already well-established business leaders who had founded and expanded their companies while sticking to sound ethical principles,” says Mr Murthy. People like JRD Tata, Ghanshyam Das Birla (Birla Group), Laxmanrao Kirloskar (Kirloskar Group), T. V. Sundaram Iyengar (TVS Group) were his role models at that time. He also admired Bill Gates, and the trio of Intel founders Gorndon E. Moore, Robert Noyce and Arthur Rock
10 LEADERSHIP lessons from Narayana Murthy
- Seize Your Gandhi Moment
- You might fail, but get started Learn from mistakes and move on.
- Think Big. Don’t Hesitate to Start Small
- Cut Yourself a Slice, Not a Large One AlwaysLend a Hand and Throw in a Foot Too
- Lend a Hand and Throw in a Foot Too.
- Own Up, and Then Clean Up
- Trust in God, But Verify with Data
- Keep the Faith
- Get Involved
- Sharing is Caring
To sum it all up...IT in India would have never been the way it is without one man:
N.R. Narayana Murthy.
