Chander Prakash Gurnani, or CP as he’s recognized in IT trade circles, has hung his boots after a dream run of 42 years, the final 19 of which had been spent in Tech Mahindra. Although well-known within the IT trade previous to the Satyam saga, he shot to limelight together with his flamboyant dealing with of the disaster, after Tech Mahindra gained the aggressive bid for the troubled Hyderabad-based IT agency.
His dealing with of the disaster – the acquisition, the knotty authorized points, company, human assets and the merger, is usually a typical enterprise administration case research. He, together with Vineet Nayar, steered the ship safely out of the storm, and helped it emerge among the many Prime-5 IT majors within the nation.
The powerhouse that he was, CP’s sheer presence may infuse confidence within the workers and assist them overcome the stigma connected to a doomed agency. Taking into confidence leaders from the previous guard, similar to ASM and T Hari, he rapidly rallied the workers round him, and the targets set for the agency.
He was a reporter’s delight. All through the Satyam disaster and its subsequent merger with Tech Mahindra, he by no means stated ‘no’ to a journalist. He all the time had a solution to any query posed to him. And every of his solutions despatched a transparent message to traders and the consumer – that they meant enterprise and had been critical about lifting the corporate out of the disaster it discovered itself in.
His smile is infectious, his voice booming, and his presence magnetic. Although Gurnani had a powerful advertising and marketing and gross sales background, he was very conscious concerning the want for technological excellence. He was among the many first IT leaders to recognise the significance of newer applied sciences similar to Blockchain, AI, synthetic intelligence, and GenerativeAI, and arrange devoted practices to discover and faucet alternatives.
When he set an formidable goal of $5 billion for the corporate in 2013, I requested him how the $2.7-billion firm may obtain that objective in simply two years. He replied: “It’s a stretch objective. Once you stretch, you put together your complete physique for it. You want a push,” he stated.
Although it took the corporate 4 extra years to get there, the ‘stretch targets’ he set labored miracles, as the workers focussed on the objective, placing behind them the nightmare that shook the nation in 2009. He instructed the workers – finally, it’s about particular person excellence, and you could construct a staff that may make up in your weaknesses.
“There’s grace in studying prefer it’s your first time at one thing, and wonder in delivering prefer it’s your final – and also you want each on daily basis,” Gurnani stated in his parting message.
“My message to you is easy – in the course of time in my life, I’ve been every considered one of you. So, you could know that you possibly can be wherever, should you put your coronary heart to it. That is about particular person excellence, and you must goal for nothing however the first, prime, finest spot on the stage. It’s in your arms, make one of the best use of your expertise and time. Construct your self,” he stated.
In an attention-grabbing experiment in administration, CP recognized younger leaders throughout the organisation and groomed them as ‘Younger CEOs’ to move new companies and groom future leaders. He headed Nasscom as its Chairman and was conferred 4 doctorates from completely different universities. He additionally performed a key function in shaping Mahindra College, the educational initiative by the Mahindra group.
A chemical engineer from IIT Rourkela, Gurnani was the Founder and Chief Government Officer of Perot Techniques, earlier than transferring to Tech Mahindra.
His latest collection of posts on LinkedIn – Monday Recollections – have grow to be an instantaneous hit within the IT trade and administration crowd. From Anand Mahindra to Vineet Nayar, and from Shiv Nadar to a few of his former colleagues, he ran a collection of posts each Monday for over six months relating the teachings he had discovered from them, via his 42-year-old profession that ended on December 19, the day he turned 65.
staff builder, CP believes groups play an enormous function within the success of people and organisations.
“At work, and in life, you’ll virtually all the time want a staff. You’ll lead one or be part of one, or each, nevertheless it’s unlikely that you’ll accomplish one thing large alone. Chances are you’ll run and win with out them, however you gained’t go an extended distance. Construct your staff,” he sums up in his parting message.
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